Everyone wish me luck

[WildHorse]

Luck for what ? The install ? It's straight forward.

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[RAVAGE88]

Where did you get that nice engine brace?

That's actually two braces. The one in the rear was a last minute trip to Harbor Freight because I wasn't satisfied with how the one that sits on the strut tower braces supported the engine unequally. I can't remember where I got the one that sits on the strut towers, but together, they do a great job.

MB

 

[RAVAGE88]

Right at six hours of work, 2Ms came out, Kooks went in. Here's a comparison between the two.

MB

 

[80FoxCoupe]

Glad you asked....although the materials and workmanship of the 2Ms is on par with others, design execution is severely lacking. The distance between the collector and where the mid pipe connects is longer than others, so 2M placed the upstream O2 sensor further downstream and the bung is welded on the horizontal centerline, not at an angle like basically every other quality header maker.

The problem this presents for an auto is the O2 sensor interferes with the travel arc of the shift linkage. Plenty of clearance while in PARK, but anything beyond NEUTRAL and the heat shield on the linkage union hits the O2. If I relocate the bung at an angle above or below it's current position, it presents other interference issues. If I move the bung upstream, the only clear spot places the bung forward of the collector cone.

After I installed them, I attempted to deal with this by placing a 90 deg adapter in the bung, but, of course, it served as a spacer and the wideband sensors have to be in the flow of the exhaust gases, so this presented a fueling issue, rough idle, and stalling. I removed the adapters to test the theory and it was rock solid, but, the car had to stay in PARK. Comparing data logs with and without the adapter told the whole story.

Since speaking to the folks at 2M was a total waste of time and energy, I ordered Kooks on 14Dec and they were delivered on 27Dec. I'm dropping the K-Member on Saturday, removing the 2Ms and getting the Kooks in place.

When I brought this up to other 2M owners with auto trans, they had no idea they've been driving around with their shift linkage jammed against their O2 sensor. The best I can tell, the manual trans presents no issues at all. I get it that folks are attracted to the price of the 2M stuff, which isn't why I bought them, but it's confirmed once again that one gets what one pays for.

MB

Just an FYI, I have ARH headers on my s550 and they fit great. So I bought ARH for my coyote swap in a fox. They wouldn't fit with the 3 new kmembers I bought for the car. So no, you don't get what you pay for. ARH didn't care that they wouldn't fit either.

 

[RAVAGE88]

Just an FYI, I have ARH headers on my s550 and they fit great. So I bought ARH for my coyote swap in a fox. They wouldn't fit with the 3 new kmembers I bought for the car. So no, you don't get what you pay for. ARH didn't care that they wouldn't fit either.

Gotcha. As I perused the options for the 2M replacements, I briefly considered ARH, Stainless Works, Texas Speed and some others that I can't remember at the moment. I'm happy I went with Kooks (not that I had any dealings with the others that prevented me from using their headers), but what I can't wrap my head around lately are vendors that don't support their product.

I read the entirety (48 pages I think) of your build thread and impressed with what you've been able to do.

MB

 

[GregO]

Right at six hours of work, 2Ms came out, Kooks went in. Here's a comparison between the two.

MB

I’ll be damned if those 2M Fab headers don’t look just like LTH brand Coyote headers.

 

[RAVAGE88]

I’ll be damned if those 2M Fab headers don’t look just like LTH brand Coyote headers.

Interesting. I've been hearing good reviews about the LTH brand.

MB

 

[80FoxCoupe]

Gotcha. As I perused the options for the 2M replacements, I briefly considered ARH, Stainless Works, Texas Speed and some others that I can't remember at the moment. I'm happy I went with Kooks (not that I had any dealings with the others that prevented me from using their headers), but what I can't wrap my head around lately are vendors that don't support their product.

I read the entirety (48 pages I think) of your build thread and impressed with what you've been able to do.

MB

I have a 2m ypipe for my truck, hope it fits LOL

 

[RAVAGE88]

I have a 2m ypipe for my truck, hope it fits LOL

Oof, me too, but what I'm reading in the F-150 group on FB isn't favorable.

MB

 

[GregO]

Interesting. I've been hearing good reviews about the LTH brand.

MB

I’m sure China is supplying the primary bend kits to more than a few domestic header weld shops.

 

[80FoxCoupe]

Oof, me too, but what I'm reading in the F-150 group on FB isn't favorable.

MB

I'm not worried about it, I can make it fit.

 

[RAVAGE88]

I'm not worried about it, I can make it fit.

I have no doubt....

MB

 

[80FoxCoupe]

I’m sure China is supplying the primary bend kits to more than a few domestic header weld shops.

Funny you say that cause on 2m website it says thier stuff is made in Idaho. My 2m f150 ypipe shipped to me from California. First thing I thought was that it was imported... made in Idaho but ships from Cali, right.

 

[RAVAGE88]

I’m sure China is supplying the primary bend kits to more than a few domestic header weld shops.

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

MB

 

[GregO]

Funny you say that cause on 2m website it says thier stuff is made in Idaho. My 2m f150 ypipe shipped to me from California. First thing I thought was that it was imported... made in Idaho but ships from Cali, right.

Made in USA from Globally sourced components.
I have a sneaky suspicion 2M, LTH, Texas Speed, etc are all buying from the same offshore bender that makes Stainless Power headers.

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