4.0 headers on a 3.0 ranger

[AZRANGERDUDE99]

I have a 2000 Ford Ranger XLT V6 3.0 4WD and I want to know if I could make 4.0 headers fit on my 3.0? What would I have to do? Has anyone done this? The 3.0 headers I found are supper high price and I need to save money if I can.

 

[Nez'sRanger]

I'm gonna go off a hunch and say no. The 3.0 Vulcan and 4.0 Cologne belong to two totally different engine families, and therefore shouldn't share any parts like that.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Unless you build up the rest of the motor, headers wont help any. Save your money.

 

[AZRANGERDUDE99]

Unless you build up the rest of the motor, headers wont help any. Save your money.

So the main reason I want headers is not exactly for performance but more because I messed up my old exhaust and I thought I should just upgrade

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

because I messed up my old exhaust

If you didn't mess up the exhaust manifolds then don't worry about new headers. If you buggered up the old manifolds then headers might be warranted. What exactly did you do?

 

[adsm08]

So the main reason I want headers is not exactly for performance but more because I messed up my old exhaust and I thought I should just upgrade

I have found headers to be more of a lateral move than an upgrade,

I have an 87 Ranger and an 88 B2, both 4.0 swapped. The Ranger has headers, the Bronco factory manifolds and Y-pipe.

The Ranger has headers less because I was doing a performance build and more because I had no Y-pipe and a damaged manifold, and the cost of those two parts was more than the header set.

The B2's engine came to me with headers on it that did not work in that vehicle, so I traded them for a factory exhaust.

I can pull the exhaust and trans from the Bronco by myself, no helpers needed. I can't loosen or tighten the Y-pipe in the Ranger without a helper, and it usually needs done once a year or so although about 7 or 8 months ago I put stover lock nuts on the bolts, so hopefully that is done with. The Bronco's Y-pipe is put in with 4 nuts and two lengths of all-thread each side, a setup that should have succumbed to rust a year in, but is still going strong over three years later.

Oh, and I have melted a speedometer cable, a clutch line, and an oxygen sensor pigtail against my headers. The only thing I have melted on the Bronco's exhaust was a magnetic drop light that I left stuck to the frame next to the cat when I drove off. It still worked until the battery died, but the charge port got melted so I couldn't charge it.

The only real advantage I have found to headers in a stock application is cost savings if you have to replace two or three of the pieces in the header kit.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

How exactly did you screw up the manifold?

Your best bet is finding one of the millions that lay in junkyards across the states.

 

[AZRANGERDUDE99]

So

How exactly did you screw up the manifold?

Your best bet is finding one of the millions that lay in junkyards across the states.

If you didn't mess up the exhaust manifolds then don't worry about new headers. If you buggered up the old manifolds then headers might be warranted. What exactly did you do?

So I didn’t mess up my headers at all I cut the y pipe cause I wanted to take the cats off I don’t have emissions here and I like the smell of no cats honestly but I can’t find a y pipe for cheaper than I could find 4.0 headers with the y pipe

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Id buy some strait pipe and true dual it out the ass end of the truck

 

[RonD]

I have a 2000 Ford Ranger XLT V6 3.0 4WD and I want to know if I could make 4.0 headers fit on my 3.0? What would I have to do? Has anyone done this? The 3.0 headers I found are supper high price and I need to save money if I can.

No, they shouldn't be used even if they fit

Get a stock set of exhaust manifolds from wrecking yard or Ebay, they are tuned for the higher RPM 3.0l Vulcan engine

Since the 1970s, and even earlier, car makers have been using "tuned" exhaust manifolds, they are usually mid-RPM range tune

Tuned means they are scavenging exhausts, they use the Velocity of the exhaust coming out to create a lower pressure at the exhaust valves at a specific RPM, so when near that RPM exhaust is PULLED out of the cylinders which leaves more power on the crank because it doesn't have to PUSH exhaust out

To build these takes a bit of math, and beyond my pay grade, lol
But the pipe size at the exhaust port and its length are what sets velocity, and then the Collector size(what the 3 pipes connect to) all set the RPM range where lowest pressure occurs
3.0l Vulcan is a high RPM engine, best torque at 3,500rpm, most engines, like the 4.0l, have best torque at 2,500rpm
So headers designed for a 4.0l would not work well on the 3.0l

Most after market headers are for low RPM range so lowest pressure sooner in RPM range for better start off power
Racing headers have lowest pressure at high RPMs

DIYer Exhaust systems are where the "Myth" of back pressure comes from
People that don't know that car makers have been using "tuned" exhaust for 50+ years will install "free flow" exhaust pipes, larger pipes at the heads
Then go for a test drive............"WTF, I lost power!!!!", "this engine must need back pressure"

They removed a tuned exhaust and replaced with a non-tuned exhaust so they lost the scavenged power, simple as that
No 4-stroke engine runs better with back pressure, stick a potato in the tail pipe and see for yourself, lol.

 

[Shran]

1: You may not have smog checks but it's still against federal law to remove your cats and it will be a major bummer for the next owner if that person has emissions testing.

2: 3.0 headers will not fit a 4.0 any better than Toyota wheels will fit on a Ford.

3: I would be hitting up a junkyard to find a Y pipe or just pony up and have a new one built. Chalk it up to a lesson learned - if you can't fix it, don't take it apart. I learned that the hard way too.

4: If you do have one built, don't expect the exhaust shops to be friendly to your remove-the-cats idea - it's a HUGE fine for them to work on vehicles that don't have cats. Some will just flat out refuse to work on your truck, others will tell you that they will put cats on it or not do business with you. Your truck is not going to run better without them anyway... it's not 1978 anymore, unless they're plugged, there is no reason to remove them.

 

[AZRANGERDUDE99]

Ye

Id buy some strait pipe and true dual it out the ass end of the truck

yeah I thought about that I rigged something up for now it’s just ugly a bunch of clams adapters and quicksteel. I made it into a single and it passes through a glass pack and that’s it right now I plan on either dumping it right there or poking it out in front of my rear wheel

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Ye

yeah I thought about that I rigged something up for now it’s just ugly a bunch of clams adapters and quicksteel. I made it into a single and it passes through a glass pack and that’s it right now I plan on either dumping it right there or poking it out in front of my rear wheel

If you have a welder handy id weld the pipe over clamping it. Or just weld your factory y pipe back on. Heres a question though, doesnt that truck have like 4 O2s? What did you do with those? If you hacked those off too youre really gonna be in for a lack of power.

 

[AZRANGERDUDE99]

First it’s

1: You may not have smog checks but it's still against federal law to remove your cats and it will be a major bummer for the next owner if that person has emissions testing.

2: 3.0 headers will not fit a 4.0 any better than Toyota wheels will fit on a Ford.

3: I would be hitting up a junkyard to find a Y pipe or just pony up and have a new one built. Chalk it up to a lesson learned - if you can't fix it, don't take it apart. I learned that the hard way too.

4: If you do have one built, don't expect the exhaust shops to be friendly to your remove-the-cats idea - it's a HUGE fine for them to work on vehicles that don't have cats. Some will just flat out refuse to work on your truck, others will tell you that they will put cats on it or not do business with you. Your truck is not going to run better without them anyway... it's not 1978 anymore, unless they're plugged, there is no reason to remove them.
[/QUO

1: You may not have smog checks but it's still against federal law to remove your cats and it will be a major bummer for the next owner if that person has emissions testing.

2: 3.0 headers will not fit a 4.0 any better than Toyota wheels will fit on a Ford.

3: I would be hitting up a junkyard to find a Y pipe or just pony up and have a new one built. Chalk it up to a lesson learned - if you can't fix it, don't take it apart. I learned that the hard way too.

4: If you do have one built, don't expect the exhaust shops to be friendly to your remove-the-cats idea - it's a HUGE fine for them to work on vehicles that don't have cats. Some will just flat out refuse to work on your truck, others will tell you that they will put cats on it or not do business with you. Your truck is not going to run better without them anyway... it's not 1978 anymore, unless they're plugged, there is no reason to remove them.

well It’s an old truck I don’t plan on selling anyway but I’ve done exhaust before

If you have a welder handy id weld the pipe over clamping it. Or just weld your factory y pipe back on. Heres a question though, doesnt that truck have like 4 O2s? What did you do with those? If you hacked those off too youre really gonna be in for a lack of power.

i has a welder and it broke but for the O2 sensors I bought cat simulators and added them in to the plug

 

[adsm08]

First it’s


i has a welder and it broke but for the O2 sensors I bought cat simulators and added them in to the plug

Please stop trying to work on your own stuff.