3.4 headers whats the best?

yes i know its a subjective question and i have searched around but it seems that most header set up threads are related to 2nd gens. Ive been debating some headers in the future and while I am pretty poor now I think it would make a nice replacement if my manifold somehow mysteriously needs replacing . id say id like to gain the majority of my power as close to the low end as possible, i know it cant all be there but its my dd and i go easy on it most of the time. a nice sound would never hurt too. I really wanted trd headers but they stopped making them so what do you guys think I should get? Ive looked at doug thorleys, jba, and gibson. I already have a jba cat back and while i like it some i wish i went the trd route so Idk if that will reflect upon their headers. Thorleys look good but are a bit pricy and i dont know what type to get (tri y and whatever else, egr, no egr...). I dont know much about gibson so anyone with experience with any or all of these please chime in. im not quite sure how to set up a pole so if anyone can help with that id like to see some concrete evidence. Thanks again guys.

 

doug thorley if u dont care about passing smog. gibson if you do

 

how do you like your gibsons?

 

TRD's are best but are discontinued. Other than that I would go with the doug thorely's.

In all honesty though, if your not supercharged, there won't really be that big of a gain for the huge amount of work it takes to install them.

 

hmmm ill dwell on it some more i guess i really want a pair but either way itll be awhile with my money situation

 

Doug thorly won't pass smog?

 

Yeah, if you do some searching on here you'll find evertaco's threads on him installing his TRD headers. He was really happy with them but he had all sorts of problems with leaks and you have to cut the old y pipe out because the fit is so tight. I decided against them since I feel like the small power gain just isn't worth it.

 

the long tubes probably won't.

 

wasnt aware they made long tubes for the 1st gens. I would end up having these installed btw no way i could tackle this project

 

They might not make the long tubes for 1st gens, I don't know.

 

URD sells the JBA headers and two different sets of Doug Thorleys - one with an EGR, one without. Problem is I'm not exactly a motorhead so I have no idea if my truck has an EGR or not

Also - I've done tons of searching but I can't find any really good advice, I know that installing headers is a huge pain in the ass but is it pretty much bolt-on? I'm willing to put in the time if it saves me from paying my mechanic, but I can't weld.

 

LCE also sells two Doug Thorley headers for the 3rz engine, also one with and one w/o EGR and i also don't know what my truck has or the difference?

 

I like em! no big gains but definitly noticable on throttle responce and torque. Plus the price isnt bad. I live in CA so i had to get shortys to pass smog.

 

so I just found gibson headers on JEGS on sale...almost $200 off regular price...but they're not street legal?? I almost bought them but when I looked into it more I found something on the gibson website that says they aren't street legal, despite being part of a series of 50 state legal headers if anyone has these and could clear this up, that would be great.

 

first time ive ever heard of this...i passed visual at a smog place twice with them installed

 

here it says "50 state legal" -- http://www.gibsonexhaust.com/headers/

but here if you scroll to the bottom it says all the Toyota headers aren't street legal -- http://www.gibsonperformance.com/headers/headerslink.pdf

but if you can pass with them in Cali then I have no idea what's going on

 

emailed Gibson today about whether or not their headers are legal in PA and here's what I got:

"The headers are smog compliant but have yet to be approved by the CA EPA. Therefore I can only say they are not 50 state smog legal but are 50 state smog compliant."

I'm real confused. Does this mean I'd pass inspection or what?? How is "compliant" different from "legal"?

 

They mean that they havent got officially approved by all 50 states so they cant give you a 50 state smog legal sticker. They will pass inspection as well as the smog. Trust, if they pass in CA they will pass anywhere.

 

I have TRD headers on my 04 D-cab and think they were well worth the money. I didn't have to cut the old y-pipe to get it out, I just took my time and finagled it out.

I went with the TRD, over the others, because I figured they were made specifically for the truck, and wouldn't have any fitment problems. The only thing that I couldn't do myself was weld the flange that came with the headers to the cat. I torqued everything down according to the directions, rechecked them serveral times afterwards, and have never had any leaks. Keep watching ebay...they show up from time to time.