dcell152
Registered Member
Whats the difference between full length and tri-y headers? Hedman has ceramic coated for $70 cheaper than Thorley nickel chrome tri-y. The only deferince is the style and coating. CK5
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Header Question???????
- Thread starter dcell152
- Start date
Whats the difference between full length and tri-y headers? Hedman has ceramic coated for $70 cheaper than Thorley nickel chrome tri-y. The only deferince is the style and coating. 
tri-y's essentially don't keep all 4 tubes from the exhaust manifold seperate...the "pairs" of runners are joined before the collector, then you have two pipes hooked together that meet at the collector. (essentially the "end" of the header)
On a long tube header design (standard I guess you'd say) the pipes are seperate all the way from the cylinder head to the collector.
In a magazine article, the thorley tri-y's made less power than long tube headers. Can't vouch for their tune, or any other variables, except that on the exact same motor, long tube headers made more power. Tri-y's were a BIT better at the top end IIRC, but a fair penalty at lower engine speeds. A lot of people like them and run them, but I'm almost to the point that I think the tri-y is a gimmick. The headers themselves are high quality though apparently, so that is enough to stand on, except that they probably don't make as much power as long tube headers.
One other thing to consider is fitment and ground clearance. I'm not worried about my long tubes ground clearance, but if I was a rock crawler, I would. Fitment from my hedmans (part # 69890) is quite good, except the shackle bolt clearance. I suspect the Throley's have a bit better ground clearance as installed, and should clear the shackle bolt.
I don't know what coating the hedman elites I have run, but they are starting to rust down low, which is odd considering when I broke the engine in (with them bolted up too early) I overheated the upper portions of the tubes, and they aren't rusty at all there.
On a long tube header design (standard I guess you'd say) the pipes are seperate all the way from the cylinder head to the collector.
In a magazine article, the thorley tri-y's made less power than long tube headers. Can't vouch for their tune, or any other variables, except that on the exact same motor, long tube headers made more power. Tri-y's were a BIT better at the top end IIRC, but a fair penalty at lower engine speeds. A lot of people like them and run them, but I'm almost to the point that I think the tri-y is a gimmick. The headers themselves are high quality though apparently, so that is enough to stand on, except that they probably don't make as much power as long tube headers.
One other thing to consider is fitment and ground clearance. I'm not worried about my long tubes ground clearance, but if I was a rock crawler, I would. Fitment from my hedmans (part # 69890) is quite good, except the shackle bolt clearance. I suspect the Throley's have a bit better ground clearance as installed, and should clear the shackle bolt.
I don't know what coating the hedman elites I have run, but they are starting to rust down low, which is odd considering when I broke the engine in (with them bolted up too early) I overheated the upper portions of the tubes, and they aren't rusty at all there.
mtrdrms
1/2 ton status
I am running the Thorley tri-y ceramic coated headers and I love the durability, fit and finish and the top end power. However as you stated I feel a slight loss in power on the bottom. Now granted they are far superior than any stock setup but I need to build in more back pressure to my system (I think) to gain more low end grunt. Great product though.
just my .02
just my .02
fortcollinsram
1/2 ton status
I have the Thorley Tri-Ys on my 454 and they are awesome. They fit better than any header I have ever used and have awesome front driveshft clearance with a 6" lift. a little spendy but worth it. Oh yeah, I have 3" pipes with Flowmaster 50s and it sounds awesome...
k20
3/4 ton status
I got thorley ceramic Tri-Y's on my 496, had nickel tri-y's on my old 350, I love em. On my 496, running flow 50's, soon to lose the cats, and hope to add an H-pipe.....then we'll see how she sounds........sounds awesome now....
