Adding long tube headers, worth the effort?

About a year ago @dirtydeeds made a custom 3 muffler performance exhaust to fit my 2007 5.7L RCSB. Because I had lowered the rear 3.25" the installation required shortening the tailpipe by 24", this required a drone killing resonator that is 6.0" longer than standard.



This picture was taken before I installed the longer resonator.



I am pleased with my BAMuffler exhaust using a single tailpipe, it has improved the engines low end torque and high end horsepower... now I am wondering if it is worth the effort to replace the stock manifolds with a set of coated JBA long tubes and custom mid pipes using OEM cats that bolt directly to my existing BAMuffler with a single tailpipe?

How much additional horsepower and torque would result from this change?
Will I need a larger diameter tailpipe?

 

Is your truck supercharged?

 

No, and I have no plans to add a supercharger.

 

Is it just worth the gas and time to just drive straight to @dirtydeeds and have him do Headers, exhaust, Bilstein 6112/5160, and whatever else he has laying around the shop. Maine to San Diego is around 2300 miles. 24-30 hours plus many pee breaks. From Georgia it’s probably 10 hours less. Or you could just ship the truck to him.

 

No, 4500 miles round trip isn't worth it.

But the question centers around the bang for my buck adding long tubes to my existing single tailpipe BAMuffler system, is it worth the money and effort?

 

I believe I have seem the numbers like 49 hp and 81 tq increase from long tube headers and the BAMuffler. Is it worth it to me? No, because I have to deal with yearly emissions and it takes quite a bit of labor to install it. If you don't have emissions, go for it!

 

No emission testing here... I think those numbers are with a 3" dual exhaust with an X pipe, I will be using the existing BAMuffler exhaust and a single factory tailpipe.

 

Do you have a dyno chart of that? I call bullshit that there's a 50hp/80tq increase from just exhaust on these engines. I'd be surprised if there was a 10hp increase.

 

I think long tubes as a stand alone modification are good for a gain of about 15 hp, higher gains than that are attributed to also adding improved exhaust pipes and mufflers, plus a less restrictive air filter and a tune.

 

I have the TRD Dual and he is currently making me a TRD Replacement. I also would be interested in LT Headers and mids.

 

Im skeptical as well. Toyota put some time into the exhaust manifolds compared to the old clunky cast iron of days past. 50 hp is around a 13 % gain from just bolt on parts. I find it hard to believe the Toyota engineers would have left that much on the table that could have beed advertised. I could be wrong, but whats the trade off? Seems like a lot

 

IIRC, Keith said single exhaust was better than dual so they Dyno may be with the single exhaust.

After a little more digging, you are right.
Here is what Keith posted in another thread:
JBA headers, no cats, BAmuffler true dual 3" with X pipe and BAmufflers custom tailpipes exiting behind each rear tire at a 45* angle and slash cut. The gains realized from the OBX headers and the same BAmuffler system in 2.5" are realized once again, and then some!! The combo is good for 49HP over stock!! 89LB TQ over stock!! It makes the truck run a very consistent 9.3 seconds in the 1/8 mile!! This system brings the afr to 12.5/1 at full throttle, literally perfect
https://www.tundratalk.net/threads/...ations-what-works-what-doesnt-and-why.215714/

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=tAb5Ki8aie4

https://www.tundratalk.net/threads/...her-2-5-or-3-pipes.144457/page-6#post-1542834

 

Toyota builds with focus around longevity. Agree they do put much thought into making sure parts will last a million miles.

I know first hand from my previous vehicle a Lexus ISF 5.0 V8 LT's opened that engine up. Gains were similar to Keith's claims on our Tundra. That alone was enough to convince me to purchase my ARH LT's recently for my RCSB.


Whether or not I can feel those gains on my combo is still up in the air as I'm still waiting for the correct mid pipes to come in. I will write up a separate review once it all comes together later this week hopefully.


One thing for certain is they sure is pruddy !

 

Looks like the headers hit really hard around 3500 rpm. Really nice gains. I’m having trouble picturing how many minutes per trip we spend driving at that rpm?

 

It's not the amount of time you spend at that RPM, it's the engines response whenever you do operate at that RPM.

 

I realize long tubes feeding my single factory tailpipe and BAMuffler exhaust won't make as much power as an X-piped 3" dual exhaust, but I don't know how much of a hit I will take ... that's the reason for my post.

 

Man...if PPE made EL headers for the Tundra...I’d be really curious what that sounded like.

I have their LS430 headers and they are as short as short can be.

 

ARH with a DAP tune

 

What kind of exhaust do you have after the LT's?

 

This isn't from my truck. However the truck had a full ARH exhaust.

 

Those dynos are impressive. I understand it would be really difficult, but it would be cool to see a dyno with just 1 thing at a time (tune alone), just exhaust no tune, just headers, just headers with exhaust

 

Or a set of Sikkys

Btw bet that 430 sounds good too

 

Its okay. Very tame. I’d say even more tame than a AMG or a Porsche with the stock sport exhaust. But I guess that’s fine since it’s a big body, no reason for it to be super aggressive. I do wish there were long tubes available. The runners on these PPE’s are very short. Shortest one is like 4” long.

To the OP. If you find your exhaust volume to be fine right now then I probably wouldn’t mess with it. But if you’re wanting a more aggressive exhaust note, go for it. You’ll probably only see that performance boost 3 or 4 times a year unless you mash down the throttle frequently.

 

I do mash the throttle frequently, but I don't want a more aggressive exhaust note, so I guess I can shelve the idea of adding long tubes once and for all. Thanks.

 

Lol I find it funny how people know so little about tundras. Theirs proof from dirty deeds that Long tube headers with 3in midpipe catted/non catted with x-pipe 3in true dual exhaust gains 49hp and 89 foot pounds to the wheels. With bulldog tune set on trail gains 7hp. 375hp/424lb to the wheels.

 

Damn bro, I guess if not knowing how much power exhaust gains determines someone's truck knowledge then you hit the target I don't know anything

 

If you have 2000+ dollars burning a hole in your pocket do it. It will sound amazing

650 jba LT
450 custom mid pipes add more if you need cats
1000 installation

 

Reading this post reminds me how the modular motors love long tubes. They tend to be choked with stock manifolds.