this is for anyone from PA or anyone farmiliar with emissions testing. i live in lansdale, PA 19446. its in montgomery county, about an hour from philadelphia. i really want to redo my exhaust. i am considering getting headers and/or taking out one of the cats (the rear one). (see signature for specs) i just want to know if i do take out a cat, if i will be able to pass emissions? i know theres alot of laws that deal with "tampering" with exhaust and i just want to know how much i can get away with. any help is appriciated. thanks, john

 

Death Rowe;

I own a mufflershop in San Diego Calif. My advice is to install a cat-back exhaust system in 3" and leave both your operational catalysts intact. Your catalytic converters from factory are a high flow design and create minimal backpressure. Your worst enemy is your restrictive exhaust behind the catalyst. Your biggest bang for the buck will be investing in this system. For a deep tone my advice would be go with the flowmaster muffler. If you want just more power and minimal exhaust tone install the dynomax heavy duty truck muffler. In any state it is a federal offense to remove any emission control device, so be leary of anyone who recommends you to take your converters out. In Calif. there are some catalytic converter companys which manufacture a single cat that replaces the two on your model truck. If you are experiencing loss of power or failure to pass an emission test you might want to look into the options.

I have over 45 years in the exhaust business with 18 years in my own business. My biggest part of business is designing performance exhaust. My shop has been featured in many magazines and I have written articles in one of the trade magazines. I'm just letting you know this so you know that you are getting some experienced advice.

Good luck and may all your pipe dreams come true!

 

Since we are on the subject any ideas on removing a 02 sensor thats rust on.I've tried the penatarting oil,heating up the pipe,cussing,praying,etc. I'm ready to pull the exhaust off but would rather get more input.Thanks John

 

"I've tried the penatarting oil,heating up the pipe,cussing,praying,etc. I'm ready to pull the exhaust off but would rather get more input.Thanks John"

As long as it hasnt been crossthreaded it should come out with a combination of heating and spraying(with a cooling liquid)....might take a few attempts.....

 

Honestly, The Magnaflow system is a better quality cat.back. system. 1) it's stainless steel (T-439 aircraft quality) 2) There are no internal baffles that impede exhaust flow/it's mandrel bent, too 3) There is no internal cab resonance. I have had the 50 series Delta Flowmaster for two years now, and I have decided that I'm tired of seeing the rusty seams on the Flowmaster muffler. I'm tired of hearing the ever increasing sound of the resonance. Flowmasters are outdated for our trucks. If you are interested in sound they're okay, but if you want the best for performance go with Magnaflow, Bassani, or Borla.

Just my two cents.

 

pypdrmz
let me see if I understand you correctly. For my wifes 2002 F150 Screw 5.4 truck...the best way to increase performance with exhaust is to just install a 3 inch duals after the cats with say some flowmasters? I am down in the south and I have a couple shops down here that will do whatever I ask/ pay for, but I want to make sure that one it still passes emissions, but picks up some performance and maybe some better gas mileage.
Thanks
Joe

 

I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT ON BRO."some of my fellow lightning owners think noise makes horsepower i just posted a post about converters this post should inform some of my not so informed lightning friends

 

Your not very far from me. Are you in the area that does the roller emmissions testing?
If so you can't take them off because the whole state has a visual inpection all the way back to 85.
You may want to know that there are front and rear oxygen sensors that the computer looks at in a special way.
The front sensors switch at a fast rate and the rear switches at a slower rate. This is how the computer knows the health of the cats by measuring the difference between switching rates.
You remove the cats and the sensors will no longer show the differences and may put a CEL lamp on.
The state inspection looks at the CEL for being operational and can reject the test just on that basis.
So you need to think about this a bit.
If these MIL devices can fool the computer to that degree then your ok.
Good luck.

 

I bought the wife the Magna-Flow cat back duals. We are very happy with the sound and seat of the pants improvement. I only did a 2.5 inch pipe back with 3 inch tips.

 

haha I don't have emission's tests. At least none that I heard about. But then, I do live in South Dakota, and not too many people know that it is indeed a state. I want to take out my cats, but I don't think I'll be able to do that.

 

I heard one time that the feds were thinking of taking back S.D. and making it into one big park for Buffulo and Wolves, because there is so few people living there!

 

haha. At least you heard about my state. There's about 650K people here. 27K in my town, Aberdeen, which is the 3rd largest city in SD.