Here are actual comparison pictures of the Torque Monster, Ford Motorsport, and OBX Headers.

[2Krngr]

Having the chance to compare all 3 in person, here are a few pics.

 

[2Krngr]

 

[Uncle Gump]

Good stuff...

@Jim Oaks might be worthy of capturing for the tech library

 

[fastpakr]

OBX on top, then TM followed by Motorsport?

 

[2Krngr]

OBX on top, then TM followed by Motorsport?

Correct, from pics I've seen there seem to be a few different versions or revisions of the Torque Monsters, I feel like I've seen maybe 3 different versions of them.

It would be interesting to more pics of other Torque Monsters out there to compare.

 

[rubydist]

Which of those (if any) are actually available to purchase at this time?

 

[2Krngr]

Which of those (if any) are actually available to purchase at this time?

Unfortunately none of them. Torque Monster doesn't respond to any inquires, Ford was discontinued over 15 years ago, and although OBX does respond, they say they have no eta on continued production.

There are alot of opinions on which to get, and which are better etc, but it's dry out there, I would jump on anything you find immediately regardless of which brand. And yes it will be expensive, that is just what it has come to unfortunately, the 'affordable' Explorer header days were over a decade ago.

 

[rubydist]

So you were just teasing us with unobtanium again...

 

[2Krngr]

So you were just teasing us with unobtanium again...

Sorry, no intentions to tease. Obviously it's rare to see all three in the same place and I found the collectors interesting having never seen comparisons inside, so I figured people may appreciate some photos.

I wouldn't say they are unobtanium, I mean I have been able to find them. But I am also always actively hunting for desirable Ranger parts.

 

[JoshT]

Correct, from pics I've seen there seem to be a few different versions or revisions of the Torque Monsters, I feel like I've seen maybe 3 different versions of them.

Those would have to be an early revision of the TM headers. The OBX were a knockoff clone of the latest version of the TM headers, and pictures I've seen of both they appear almost identical. Your pictures above and pictures on the TM website would seem to confirm this.

There are two versions available per the TM site, one for Expolorers without external EGR and another for Exporers with external EGR. I recall seeing back in the day that he would also make another version for swaps into the earlier TIB trucks, but I don;t recall what the differences were.

Which of those (if any) are actually available to purchase at this time?

Your best chancce of getting a set is to watch for OBX or Maximizer headers. They are the same thing, same manufacturer, and new inventory pops up on occasion. They are atleast twice as expensiver as they should be, only a couple hundred less than what the TMs were. I bought a set of the Maximizer branded ones through the WalMart marketplace back in March. Don't even have an engine donor yet, but wanted to get while available.

Supposedly Bob (IIRC) is back in business making the TM headers and a few people on the Facebook groups claim to have received sets from him in the past year or so, but I could't get him to respond to any communication attempts. He's apparently got the same issues as what put him out of business before. Slow, no communication, and payment up front. I'm all for supporting small business, but I can't support a business model like that. I could easily accept one out of of three. I'm not paying nearly $1000 up front then getting ghosted for 7-9 months. I'll send my money to china before supporting a business like that.

Keep your eyes open and jump when the chance arises.

 

[Dirt Rooster]

Supposedly Bob (IIRC) is back in business making the TM headers and a few people on the Facebook groups claim to have received sets from him in the past year or so, but I could't get him to respond to any communication attempts. He's apparently got the same issues as what put him out of business before. Slow, no communication, and payment up front. I'm all for supporting small business, but I can't support a business model like that. I could easily accept one out of of three. I'm not paying nearly $1000 up front then getting ghosted for 7-9 months. I'll send my money to china before supporting a business like that.

Sadly I feel like I'm in a bad boat with Robert. I was able to talk to him briefly through email in August about ordering a set, and ended up ordering. After that, I haven't been able to get him to respond to any of my inquiries. It's pretty frustrating, putting that money up front and then just hoping that something shows up at your door within a year. I did know what I was getting into after reading a bit on these forums, but still. It's disheartening. At this point, I am questioning the cost of going to a shop in-person and having them build me a custom set that will fit a 302 swap. It seems like exhaust headers are the bane of any ranger V8 swap.

 

[rubydist]

For some reason, I have this idea that it might be possible to modify some Tri-Y headers to fit. I saw a set of Tri-Ys that had a connection on the secondary pipes (I think this was custom work) and it got me to thinking that it might be possible to make a joint there and tweak the direction enough to get around the motor mounts and driveshaft. Maybe its just a wet dream, but its got me thinking about it...

 

[JoshT]

Tri-Ys have been used on older Rangers, maybe newer ones too. Like any swap, headers on these largely depends on vehicle options, engine placement, and transmission.

I know the Tri-Y style has been used successfully on 2wd TIB trucks running small bellhousing transmissions. I think some variations of the style have been used with the large bellhousing transmissions with minor alterations. Unfortunately the style won't work on a 4wd truck for (hopefully) obvious reasons.

The TM headers were really targeted at a very small market and their unique fitment issues. V8 Explorers with their oddball cylinder heads and especially AWD components that need to be worked around. They got a reputation for swaps because the Explorer bay is identical to a Rangers, especially the torsion bar versions. That makes for a super easy fit.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ll have to search around, I have a set of Torque Monsters on my green Ranger, and I took some pics before they went on. They look like the OBX headers shown above. Dad has a set of the Motorcraft ones. I should have pics of both and some comparisons to the stock exhaust manifolds which are suuuper restrictive in comparison to any of those. I can’t get my index finger past the first knuckle sticking it into the stock manifolds from the head side. It’s a wonder those things run as good as they do like that. The gains claimed by the TM headers likely aren’t an exaggeration at all. I haven’t got to try out my Ranger with them yet, but I have got to run it a little on open headers and man does it sound wicked.

 

[2Krngr]

For some reason, I have this idea that it might be possible to modify some Tri-Y headers to fit. I saw a set of Tri-Ys that had a connection on the secondary pipes (I think this was custom work) and it got me to thinking that it might be possible to make a joint there and tweak the direction enough to get around the motor mounts and driveshaft. Maybe its just a wet dream, but its got me thinking about it...

Please do try some more options if you can and post up the fitment quirks. Hopefully someday someone out there that can find something fits with some reasonable modifications. I've read some posts on various forums about some other brands that 'may' fit, but of course never any pictures.

The passenger side is much easier, there are probably quite a few headers out there that one might could make work by just cutting off the output collector flange (or a couple inches back) and re-angle it to the direction it needs to point down.

But the drives side is the biggest problem because of the steering shaft and frame rail, as essentially all 4 pipes need to turn 90 degrees to be flat agaist the motor to clear, and then somehow twist their way around to the back. The passenger side you have a bunch of space to do more normal turns and make sizeable loops outward.

The front driveshaft is pretty far away and only comes into play when making the downpipe under the truck, which is the easy part.

Of course what might work with the sparkplug angles is a different subject.