alrighty, ive got a question, i jsut took my flowmaster off my 01 ranger, and put straight pipe on it, and its is NOT much louder than it was with the flowmaster on it. Would it hurt anything to remove the catalytic converters? just wondering it if would hurt anything.

thanks
BigRed01

If you have emission inspection in your area, it will, lol. You would have to take ALL 5 CATS off to really make a difference. The 3.0 Ranger uses a multi-stage cat system for efficiency and minimum backpressure. There are 2 "preheat" cats on each branch of the Y-pipe that do some conversion and keep the exhaust gas hot before the main cat. 2+2+1=5 cats.

In '01, you have a catalyst efficiency monitor that reads the oxygen both pre-cat and after the cat and determines if they are working properly. If you remove the cat/cats you will have a constant check engine light.

It's illegal under federal law and I believe most state laws to alter the emission system by removing the cats. If you don't have state emission inspections then you may never be caught -- but it's something to think about.

But it doesn't hurt anything but the air we breath -- which isn't a great idea. You'll find some people on the boards who will tear you a new you-know-what for taking your cats off, lol.

Overall, I'd say don't do it unless your truck spends most of it's life offroad or racing.

The less backpressure you have the less toruqe and I know from driving other's 3.0, there isn't a whole lotta torque to begin with.

IMO I'd jsut put the flow back on or maybe get a dual flow with long 18" 3" wide tips. If it's the sound you are going for, that's your best bet.

True! The sound quality with the dual pipes is VERY deep and rumbly even on a 3.0. Some guys around here have done that.

But LOUD it is not.

You'll get very familiar with your check engine light. The fine for doing so is also very heav. You'll gain absolutely nothing, in fact you'll lose performance. Oddly enough, the vehicle was designed to run with the cats.

Absolutely. Dave, did you read my post about IAT and the FFV? Can you find anything out for me?