Got a question about my truck. I'm driving a 1998 F150 4.2 and everything is stock, it pretty much has no sound to it and I was thinking about opening the headers on it for a little more sound to it. Now, if I open the headers will that cause any damage to my truck? I heard from a friend that if it's not a older model truck that it will damage the engine. Will it? In case you need to know it only has 48,882 miles on it. It's been well taken care of by my grandmother and is now mine. So any thoughts about opening the headers?
Some high compression engines require back pressure through the exhaust for them to operate properly. That is not the case for your vehicle, it has a lower compression ratio and the ECM will automatically adjust to compensate for the lack of back pressure. However you must keep the O2 sensors in the system, or your trucks EFI will not adjust automatically. This is a great way to add power, but many counties emissions standards prevent people from making this mod.
I would suggest a good aftermarket exhaust that adds a throaty rumble while maintaining emission compliance! You first need to know whether or not you want single or dual exhaust. Your truck came with single, but it can be upfit to a dual if you want to except the expense. I would suggest just swapping your existing system with a CAT back from FlowMaster, it will give you the rumble you want while saving you a few bucks!
Also you could add a glass pack, CherryBomb exhausts now offer emission compliant glass packs with their signature sound!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDXJ8jApxSA&feature=relatedhttp://www.cherrybomb.com/