Which are the most affordable AMERICAN MADE headers out there?

I see chinese crap all over Ebay for less than 200 bucks but I know how that would end. That being said I can't really afford Kooks which would be my number 1 choice. Are there any modestly priced US made headers out there, long tubes by the way.

I see BBK, JBA, etc, which are about 1/2 the price of the Kooks, but are they US made and/or any good? There must be a reason some are 1,200 dollars and other 600.

Also, Is it really necessary to get the down pipe? Labor out here is extremely cheap, so if i can just cut the stock ones and put the flanges on them that would save me a lot of money, especially on shipping overseas.

 

I'm not sure what "downpipe" you are referring to. If you get a long tube header, you'll need a mid pipe and then also choose if you want a cat in it also.

The price variance relates to quality of the piece, but also how much R and D they put in to making the headers fit.

Some will make more power too.

 

BBK's and MAC's are USA made but they're cheaper because they're plain steel.

JBA's are 409 stainless (so it will rust, but won't rust through...I think paint holds up better on them than on plain steel headers though). I thought they were made in either the US or Canada but I heard they are making them in Mexico now. My JBA's fit great in the engine bay but I had some fitment issues under the car (collectors are not aligned).

Anyway, if you're looking to go the off road route, I'm sure someone could cut the stock H pipe and make it into a shorty with flanges with some work. I don't know for sure if the width would be right but that shouldn't be too hard to fix. If I think of it I could lay out my cut-off stock H pipe with my JBA H pipe and see how close they are.

 

I've been looking at the BBK's, and yes, what I meant by downpipes was that if they were really necessary or I could just cut the OEM ones to length and mate them to the headers.

 

I wonder how much it would cost to get the Mexican-made headers over Trump's new great wall?

 

That's President Trump to you. And once he slaps them with a 35% tariff, you will be able to buy them cheaper in the good old US of A!

 

Where's your sense of humor?

That's assuming that the manufacturers relocate back to the good ole US of A. Even then they might have to hike their prices by 35% to cover the higher wage costs of US workers.

 

I was replying in jest

 

I know you're looking for long-tube, but just as a point of reference, I have had JBA shorty SS ceramic coated headers on my 2006 Roush for 10-years and they still look good.

 

I went with American Racing back 7 years ago or so and love them but they arent cheap. They are american made though and have held up great.

I see prices are tons higher now though. I paid $1100 i think for my setup with H pipe. That looks like over $1500 now for that setup.