Im stuck...I cannot choose which headers to get. I cant decide between JBA, Gibson, OBX, or Headman Hedders. I've heard only good things about JBA but they're SOOO much more expensive than any others. Has anyone ever heard or had experience with OBX or Headman? Ive never heard of OBX and I know Headman makes good headers for other vehicles. The Headmans also come with a new Y-pipe....So lemme know what you guys think....

 

I was gonna do headers till people on here say it doesnt gain anything.

 

really??? on each company's website they say around 20 hp and 20 lbs ft of torque...

 

Yep, I have headers and I would agree that it doesn't do much by itself.

I even have all the "supporting mods" like a Magnaflow SS Cat-Back Exhaust as well as SCT XCalibrator-3 tweaked for the headers..but didn't see anything directly when I added the headers to the combo.


I have the titanium ceramic coated headers from JBA. Of the available finishes JBA offers, this version has the "highest thermal & corrosion resistance level" but you pay for it.

To be honest I didn't notice any real gains (especially not for all that $$$). Even before I put them on...I found most people here said in general, not to expect a huge difference on the 4.0. I would agree with that statement.

(Parts of the above was from a post of mine from a thread awhile back (https://www.ranger-forums.com/showth...light=headers))

Maybe on certain vehicles (w/ supporting mods) under perfect conditions...but not on a Ranger.

 

I have JBA's don't buy the stage 8 locking hardware unless you want to cut the flange or make the bolt fit.

I may have gained a mpg, but the engine is just louder under the hood. No dyno numbers, but i got the silver ceramic headers off evil bay for half price with no hardware.

 

so based on what you guys are saying they aren't worth it. I guess I'll just keep the extra money for re-gearing or something....

 

tuner will do alot and thats well worth the money

 

Yep, start with this...I found it gives the biggest improvement.

 

Biggest bang for the buck for me was my transmission mods.

Have yet to do the tuner thing, but someday the 5.0 in the garage will go in.

 

i found a e-fan and tuner did help, though im limited to the superchips. (shoulda got a sct) i was considering headers, but figure theres no point. with stock cats, they are useless. i will probably put a MBRP exhaust on though.

 

I'm running the Diablosport Predator and have been very much satisfied with it. With the 33's i'm getting 22mpg every tank full.

 

auto?

 

no, 5 speed. I was getting 17-18.

 

Alright guys so today i had some spare time and was in the neighborhood so i stopped my the exhaust shop that did my exhaust for me and asked my buddy what he thought about getting headers. He told me (he owns a B2300 turbo'ed and lowered...its pushin 400+ horses) that if he was me he would get a set. Hes been working with exhausts for more than 10 yrs and he said that a good set of aftermarket headers can increase your airflow by 40% and in combination with an air intake, throttle body spacer, etc....can increase it by almost 70%. Just thought that was some info you guys might wanna hear. Also he said the best ones to get would be the headmans cuz with JBA and Gibson your just paying for the name....that being said im about to order a SCT X3 from rogue performance but I need to know if I should buy headers or not before I order the tuner

 

another thing I just noticed is Hedman doesnt specify if theirs are for OHV or SOHC...

 

Hedman I think are OHV only.

These engines have crap cams and heads, they need to be addressed before any bolt ons will create anything noticeable. All the external flow will do nothing with the bottle neck stuck in hte cam and heads. forced inductions will help to work around it. Honestly this v6 was born as a 1.8 stuffed in a crappy 60's British sports car built in a shed, it needs to go.

 

I guess I don't know what more you want from us on this topic? I think numerous people have chimed in, all saying the same thing. Reread everyone’s statements above that have the actual headers on their basically “stock” trucks (aka not a truck with heavily modified engine work like your friend has). If your engine was heavily modified that would be a different story...but no list of "bolt-ons" will ever get you to that level.

I'm telling you...you won't notice anything crazy different with them. Not really worth the cash or time/hassle of the install. Again, this comes from someone that paid top dollar for the highest finish level JBA headers made for the SOHC and also has the SCT-X3 setup.

It comes down to this choice: If you want to get them - Get them (It's your truck after all). I knew it wasn't going to do much for me (performance wise)…but I still got them - because I wanted too. However, go into it knowing you will never see around a "20 HP increase" on a stock 4.0 SOHC engine by adding headers.

 

you are a wise man...and looking at your sig I noticed that your truck has the exact same engine mods as mine

 

Exactly...so basically, none.

 

HOW???? i run 32's and a superchip and only get like 15

 

I don't do anything out of the ordinary. I drive just like a normal person. My last trip was 21.74 to be exact. As far as mods I only have the tuner, a Volant CAI, and Flowmaster SI/DO. With the tuner it allowed me to change my settings to recalibrate the speedo and change my rev limiter. I've been thinking bout buying some headers myself but only because I want too. I'm not looking for any HP gains really just better fuel mileage.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I also only run non-ethanol 89 or 93.

 

soo since I was pretty much set on the hedmans and it turns out they wont even fit on my truck i think im gonna leave it the way it is. I only have about $600 to blow and im already set on getting the Xcal 3. So the only way I would have bought headers if I could pay for em with the money left over....

 

I like what your saying logan03CO. im just replacing mine simply because i want to and my current ones are warped and leaking. not expecting to see crazy gains. if i had a mustang 5.0 on the other hand that would be one of the things i would want to upgrade along with many other things.

i did go with JBA btw and should arrive soon. ill let you guys know how it goes expecting it to be real big pain the a**.

humm sheen...if i had 600 to blow...i would deff get a tuner. but besides that-probably a locker

 

That's the PERFECT way to go about it.

 

haha so despite what everyone has told me I went ahead and ordered some JBA headers! I had the extra money so I figured why not...if nothing else I'll have an even more badass sounding exhaust. Anyway they were waiting on my doorstep when I got home! Im so excited! Hopefully I'll get em on this weekend as well as my Xcal