Hey guys just really in the dilemma of choosing either tri-y headers and long tubers... Both of which are reasonably priced just wanted to hear some pros / cons by some of the guys who own mustangs.

 

Long tubes achieve better top end power, and Tri-Y's beat long tubes at lower rpm. Now, how you planning to drive this car?

 

tri Ys are suppost to help with low end torque/hp while long tubes are suppost to be better at the top of the rpm range. Ive seen dyno sheets that disprove this. but on one hand youll have a set of tri ys that outperform the long tubes throughout the entire rpm range. then on another site youll have a dyno sheet that shows the exact opposite. With headers you get what you pay for. what is your budget for the headers?

 

The setup you have will also dictate what type will be easiest to install and clear.
Do you have:
PS? - most require a drop bracket which is awful to use and some clear PS.
Auto - C4, AOD? - the AOD is much wider at the pan.
manual with Z bar? - some made to clear some don't
Start with that criteria of your set up and whittle down your choices.

All headers and Try-Y's are not alike, look for thicker pipes and flanges. 18gauge is thin, 16 gauge is better. 5/16" flanges are thin, 3/8" are better.
Jon

 

Get Dougs if you want excellent quality and fit/ground clearance. JBA is supposed to be good too.

As far as performance, LT's will make more power(generally) at higher rpm, and tri-y will make more power(generally) in the low and mid range. Some tri-y's, like the Dougs I use, have large header tubes, so they perform well at the top end too. Most tri-y headers use small primaries, so they perform poorly at higher rpm. But, LT length is tuned(generally) for street/performance cars to make best power at around 6,500rpm. The tuning length gives them an edge over tri-y's at higher rpm.

Basically, in a car used for drag racing, or a road race car with a narrow and "high and tight" power band(not recommended as most people lack the skill to road race a car in that state of tune), LT's. In a street oriented car, or something with a broad power band for road racing, or rally racing, or mild drag use with a broader and lower power band, tri-y's.

With a set like Dougs, both will have about the same ground clearance, with the LT's sitting a tad lower.

And just as a reference, the Dougs tri-y's I use are 1-5/8" primaries with 2" secondaries, and a 2.5" collector, and are a stepped tube tri-y. They boosted low end power so much that it causes the carb signal in the 2-3k rpm range to become extreme(which was already high on this engine), and I'm still trying to tune it out so the carb stops over fueling. Top end power is still excellent, and the mid range is very strong and responsive, but my car is set up for street/road racing.

 

I mean I'm just looking for good performing headers that won't put me in bankruptcy I could buy a pair of hooker long tubes off a buddy of mine for about 150 bucks I don't know if that's a good price yet considering i don't know if I want to go with the tri-y's or the long tubes... I always remembered Long tubes were generally higher power at higher rpms but just didn't know which would be the best way to go.

 

A good set of headers that will fit right, have ground clearance, be good quality and work well are going to run you $400 for something uncoated, $600 coated. On average.

 

Which comes right back to the question of usage.

And since I'm still not hearing a clear preference for making peak HP at high revs at some expense of low/mid-range, I think that you'd be happier building more for the midrange. For most street engines, I'd rather have 5 or 10 ft-lbs more torque in the 3000 to 4500 rpm range that I'll be using a lot than 20 more HP at 6500 that I'd only use once in a while (and only very briefly then).


Norm

 

Heh, of course depending on the headers too, you might pick up 20+ lb-ft in the low-mid range and only lose about 5-10hp up top. Most street engines aren't using a cam/head setup that'll maximize what a LT can do up top any way. And yeah, 99% of street performance usage is under 3,500rpm.

 

I have installed both styles on the same car..In general the Tri-ys are easy to install but I had clearance issues with the clutch linkage and bellhousing..This might not be an issue on an automatic...The long tubes I tried were a little more involved to install but still not bad and I had no clearance issues other than they hung down a little lower to the ground..I wouldn't worry too much about the performance issues between the two styles for just an average mild buildup..There is so much variation between headers unless you have the exact part# of the headers used it's hard to say which is better for your exact application....A drop bracket is required for most long tube headers of any style if you have power steering..