Upgrades and Aftermarket - 6.0L EngineUpgrading and adding aftermarket equipment to your 2003-Up Super Duty or Excursion with 6.0L Power Stroke diesel engine. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 6.0L Power Stroke engine.
Just wondering how hard it is to remove the facory down pipe and if it is worth upgrading to a bigger down pipe? I am planning a custom 4" exhaust to exit infront of the passanger rear tire and want to know if I should change the down pipe or not. I don't plan on any crazy horsepower parts down the road so is it needed or not. Also what brand and size is recommeded. Thanks in advance.
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2006 F350 Crew Cab Short Box
6.0L Powerstroke w/ 5 speed auto
Dark Stone/Arizona Biege
20" Stock Rims w/325/60R20 BFG AT's(winter)
17" Eagle Alloy 137 w/35" Toyo Open Country M/T's
Rev-Tek Leveling Kit
Spray in Box Liner, VentVisors
Chrome Nerf Bars
JBL 6x8 Speakers(Front and Back)
Muffler Delete with 5" S.S. Tip
Lost my cat somewhere
The factory downpipe is 3". Most 4" aftermarket systems use a 3.5" downpipe. Unless you are planning crazy mods (which you say you are not), the 3" will be sufficient, or you could go to the 3.5". But going to a true 4" downpipe will probably net you a loss of low end "grunt".
__________________ 2003 Toreador Red/Arizona Beige CC, DRW, Lariat, FX4, 6.0 PSD, Torqshift, born early Feb. 03, (still running the original flash!), AIC, MBRP turbo-back exhaust, Tuning by Total Diesel Performance, AFE PG7, Fumoto valve, B&W hitch, Di-Pricol gauges, Voyager brake controller, DIESELSITE Coolant filter, Timbrens, Rancho RSXs, Michelin XPS Traction's, a whole bunch of "bling", Connex 4300hp, JL Audio 275w amp w/ 12" sub, Alpine door and rear seat speakers. 376hp
I have the MBRP kit w/ 3.5" down pipe. Just cut the existing pipe forward of the tranny and then loosen the clamp at the turbo. The clamp can be a booger to get off - I ended up using a small pry bar to break it free. The clamp has a "C" channel design that snugs the down pipe to the turbo outlet and I think the intense heat really bonds it tight.
Once the clamp is off, the rest of the installation is very simple. Once nice thing about the MBRP kit is the factory CAT fits right back in place. You can also buy a muffler delete pipe, but frankly, I couldn't tell the difference with or without the muffler. The MBRP muffler is a pass-thru design - virtually no back-pressure. I'd save the money and skip the muffler delete.
As far as performance after the upgrade - I couldn't feel any seat-of-the-pants improvement. These trucks are awful heavy so I don't think we could feel a very small power improvement, if the exhaust actually even did improve power. I did notice a drop in EGT's when towing in the stock tune. Before I could hit 1200* on long grades very quickly. I just towed last weekend and the EGT's barely touched 1100*.
You'll immediately notice a reduction in EGTs - even with your cat intact and in place.
One thing you might want to take into account: The OEM DP is a double-walled tube. When you replace it with a single wall tube, you get more turbo whine inside the vehicle.
It may just be a van thing - the turbine sits about seven inches away from the passenger's left knee. I'm going to wrap my DP with header wrap and see if that helps.
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2003 Toreador Red/Arizona Beige CC, DRW, Lariat, FX4, 6.0 PSD, Torqshift, born early Feb. 03, (still running the original flash!), AIC, MBRP turbo-back exhaust, Tuning by Total Diesel Performance, AFE PG7, Fumoto valve, B&W hitch, Di-Pricol gauges, Voyager brake controller, DIESELSITE Coolant filter, Timbrens, Rancho RSXs, Michelin XPS Traction's, a whole bunch of "bling", Connex 4300hp, JL Audio 275w amp w/ 12" sub, Alpine door and rear seat speakers. 376hp
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