6.0 Suburban 2500 Headers And Exhaust?

[dragr1]

So I need a new exhaust for my 2000 Suburban 2500 with the 6.0 (factory muffler is coming apart) and it got me to thinking about headers too. I put Thorley headers and a 3" exhaust with a magnaflow muffler on my motorhome last year (454 TBI) and they made a huge difference.

 

Just wondering if long tube headers (made for torque not max power) would do the same for the 6.0 in my suburban? I tow with this thing, not drag race so I'm interested in torque. If not then I may just go with a catback exhast and save my $$ for 4.10 gears.

[dragr1]

Dang, nobody? Not even someone telling me to put my flame suit on and search?

[Spurshot]

First, I think you are interested in horsepower. Torque is a static force and does no work. You want the truck to do more work. That's the definition of horsepower: work. You say you want torque, but what you really want is more horsepower at a useable rpm where you tow/pass etc.

 

Long tube headers come in all different lengths, tuned for different rpms. The really short "shorty" type headers are just an inexpensive halfway step between the stock exhaust manifolds and ideally tuned headers for your application (whatever that is). An ideally tuned set of headers for a street car/truck would probably be generically called "long tube headers" by most of todays enthusiasts. But you probably already knew this.

 

Anyway, my opinion (worth a cup of coffee if supplemented by a few dollars) is that headers and a less restrictive exhaust system will provide good horsepower gains in almost all rpm ranges assuming fuel and spark are optimized. Headers would make me want to do a mixture analysis across the range of rpm to check it before and after the header installation. Optimizing the mixture after the headers could be worth some significant gains.