3rz Bang-for-Buck Exhaust build help

I've owned my 2.7l for a month now, using as a daily driver, and vacation toy. I've driven from west Washington to Montana, and have been slightly disappointed with the lack of power on the freeways.

My exhaust manifold is cracked. I'm on a relatively small budget, and need to replace the thing soon. My friend just recommended I replace the manifold with an OEM cast iron one and worry about mods when I have more money, but I really hate to replace a part with OEM if there's aftermarket.

I've narrowed it down to 3 choices:
NWOR - http://www.northwestoffroad.com/parts/triheaders.html
Doug Thorley - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DTE-506-C/
Pacesetter - http://www.racepages.com/products/?N=9215&Nr=OR%28AND%28make:Toyota,model:Tacoma,year:1999%29,AND%28universal:1%29%29&Vi=11782+4294963846+1725&y=1999&mk=Toyota&md=Tacoma

It seems that the DT's are the ones to get, but at $380 they seem pricey. I wanted to get the tri-y's from NWOR, but they aren't ceramic and don't even post a price on their site! From what I've heard, pacesetters are crap, but at $150, that's only about $20 more than a crap iron manifold!

What I want to know is:
Will a header twice the cost of the pacesetters give me twice the hp gains?
Are the pacesetters so crappy that they're worse than dorman OEM manifolds?
Should I get a new muffler (dynomax or magnaflow prolly) to really notice the gains?
Anybody have an NWOR header? How much did it run you?

 

bump.

 

Bump.

I might just buy the pacesetters if nobody tries to stop me

 

the pacesetter will be falling apart in no time. cheap thin steel....hello rust.

 

i thought doug thorley makes the better system dont they make tri ys? or is that only for the 2TR?

and you sont need a new muffler right now. it would be better for sound and performance if you had one. but id jsut worry about getting your header fixed. the header willl also give you an aded boost of high end power and low end torques. so it just changes your power band around

 

Ive had DT headers in the past and thought they sucked, welds broke, flanges not true.
Ive been running LC Engineering headers on 22re's for years and had no trouble with them- beat the hell outta my truck and the header held up.
I now have LCE 3rz header and it is a beautiful piece and seems (professional seat of pants review) to give good low end torque and lets the engine pull into higher rpm's as well. Fit was dead on and I have uber confidence that it is not going to fall apart.
Buy a 2.25 cat-back later, it will help to release some power but first get your truck running.

 

i have the dt headers, no problems, i got the ceramic coated set easy as hell to install and gave decent gains

 

Just called Northwest Offroad Specialties...$520 for the headers!

WAY out of my price range.

They only have a few left and they're discontinuing them after they run out.

Just thought you guys should know, if you've been thinking about them like I have.

 

Honestly I would not buy my Doug thorely longtubes again. They do add a little power high end but they lost a little low end. After VT ragweed and I installed them, I stalled my manual three times the first week they were on until I readjusted to the powerband changes

 

Ever since my third roommate moved out, and I ran into that rock and needed new leafs, I don't have the money to afford the NWORs...

I'm up against DT or LC, but maybe I should wait so I can actually pay rent this month...

 

Just ordered a set of Doug Thorley Ceramic Tri-Y's from TRDParts4U!

I was really considering the LC's, but I heard the crimped merge collector was kind of lame...

I really considered your input dgerm, but I'm getting the tri-y's, so low-mid power should be much better than the longtubes...plus, the guy at TRDParts4U hooked me up with a really good deal.

Thanks for all your help, TW!

 

my truck had a cracked manifold when i got it... 6 months later my replacement from autozone is cracked in pretty much the same place... i give up.... ill be going with headers soon

 

HAH! My best friend is the one who told me to just get a replacement manifold instead of headers, and she works at autozone, too.

If you want the tri-y's I got, you're going to have to email info@trdparts4u.com or call them.

They don't have them listed on the website, but they're definitely cheaper than any other Doug Thorley distributor, or LCE, and they're the only DT Tri-y's I've found on the net.

 

You can get an LC Engineering header setup for $369. Check this out http://www.toyotacatalog.net/M1WebG...UniqueID=9A2AF687-D170-4B69-9986-14E0E816A140

 

So I got my Doug Thorley Tri-y's in the mail yesterday. They look pretty decent, but it looks like they are the chrome headers, and not the ceramics I ordered.

The part # I ordered was THY-506Y-1-C, "C" meaning ceramic.

It has that number on the box, but on the headers, it only says 506Y-1, and they look pretty chrome to me, but I've never had headers before.

Can anyone here tell by looking?

 

chormey chrome chrome...frikkin sick though, let me know if you dont want them. ill be glad to take them off your hands...aloha