I just had my jba headers installed and once I got it on the road, I noticed the sound was different. The sound was coming from the upper exhaust where the headers are. So I called the shop and they told me that due to header design, what I was hearing was the sound coming from the separation of the cylinders. Has anyone heard of "tone separation" in headers ??

 

Ford uses cast iron exhaust manifolds to lower the total underhood sound emitted. All the headers that I've heard are louder under the hood. The metal is thinner, both metals have a different tone resonance, the exhaust pulses are separated a further distance, and a cool ting-ting-ting sound is the result.

 

Max
You're right man. After talking to JBA, they told me that with headers you will hear a little more engine noise. Not alot but some.
However I did take my truck back to the shop and everything was re-torqued. They found that the flange connection had worked loose. Don't hear as much engine noise now. I guess that's the trade off for gaining more HP. I CAN tell the difference !!

 

It's worth the power. A bit more HP can be had from a Superchip recalibration as well; maybe 5 HP. Have fun with your new headers. I had a few flanges that loosened up too and I used double nuts (not a sexual reference ).