Is  a header for a 96 Tracker worth the money? or is it just wasting money? Does it help with power?

You will see at least a 35whp gain....


Nah, not really, you will need some other items to see any real gains, like a free flowing exhaust(header back) and intake. The stock Ex mani does work rather well and will also work with the free flowing exhaust and intake almsot as well as a tri-Y header.

For me, this made the biggest difference of anything so far. I was quite surprised, the stock accordion boot was trashed so I installed this with great results!

I did a Calmini header, 2 1/4" exhaust with a Flowmaster and cat delete on my 8V. It made a big difference in slow chugging around on the trails. Felt like it had much better low RPM torque and power...

Zig

Is  a header for a 96 Tracker worth the money? or is it just wasting money? Does it help with power?

Every 16v exhaust manifold I've ever seen has been cracked between the 3rd and 4th runner, if only hairline, so you'll probably have to change it anyways.  I put the Calmini on my 95 Tracker and noticed a taste better performance and it's much lighter than the cast iron.

Quote from: mattstracker on March 29, 2012, 08:11:45 PM

Is  a header for a 96 Tracker worth the money? or is it just wasting money? Does it help with power?

Every 16v exhaust manifold I've ever seen has been cracked between the 3rd and 4th runner, if only hairline, so you'll probably have to change it anyways.  I put the Calmini on my 95 Tracker and noticed a taste better performance and it's much lighter than the cast iron.

Absolutely correct, I currently have a crack in mine and it bleeds fresh air into the exhaust causing the A/F readings to go lean and the ECU richens up the mixture significantly, this will destroy the cat eventually.

I put a Calmini header on the '91 4 door I had, opened up the exhaust and modified the intake much like Dond showed, and it did make a difference on the bottom end grunt.  Actual difference.... ?  Even if it was only 3-4HP that is a considerable increase given the horsepower the stock engines come with out of the box. 

Yes, for all the above reasons. 

He has a 16V guys, you are comparing apples to oranges, the 16V does not see the gains that are seen when a header is installed on the 8V engine.

I'm the Naysayer.... If you want more power you can feel buy some gears. A new header is about $250 and then your gonna hafta change the exhaust by adding a collector and most likely a different muffler. So your gonna end up in the $300 - $350 range approxamately.

Used gears from a Pick a part are $60 a chunk.  TC gears are $425 or bay a TC already done for $500. Either one of these will give you something you can feel in the seat of your pants and know you have something.

A header alone will not. It will be some nice bling under the hood and provide a different sound but without the aide of additional mods (cam, head / valve, injector, carb, ignition) it won't be that much of a noticable difference.

Yeah, but it's still cheaper than buying a new OEM exhaust manifold to replaced a cracked one and it's WAAAY lighter.  And who's selling tcases with gears for $500? That's a steal.

Yeah, but it's still cheaper than buying a new OEM exhaust manifold to replaced a cracked one and it's WAAAY lighter.  And who's selling tcases with gears for $500? That's a steal.

Absolutely! If the stock mani is cracked and welding isnt an option or has failed already, a header is the most cost effective route. I can go to a pick and pull and get a stock mani for 30$, but it can and probably will crack as well, LOL

And I think he is thinking sammy and not about track/kicks, 

I was replying to the posters question.... "Is a header for 96 Tracker worth the money?"

He didn't say anything about cracked mainifolds... Then maybe its feasable.... depending on parts availability.

Yes, you can but transfercases that cheap... I bought 1 from a seller on Zuwarrie with those gears and a updated input shaft for $525 shipped to my door.Then I sold my OEM transfercase shipped for $215. Final cost was $310.

Both 3rd chunks came from a pick & pull for $60 a piece. I kept the OEM 3rds but could sell them easily and most likely have $0 in my new chunks not counting labor in any of the mecahnical swaps.

Nope I was talkin about a Kick.... Yes I own a Sammy but I own a Vitara too. I never talk much about it because my daughter just drives and drives and drives it.... 

I almost posted that although I run and modify the Sammy the gearing principals still hold true for practically any vehicle. Change the gearing and you can obtain more from your engine source than the standard OEM gearing which is produced for a happy medium of mostly road style driveing.

Simply put you match the gearing in accordance to what you want to do with the vehicle to obtain optimum performance. To me this is a bigger bag for the buck than a header that will give you minimal HP increase.

Mind you I am NOT against the use of them. I have a nice set of ceramic coated headers on my highly modified 76 Corvette. They serve a useful purpose on this vehicle as the compliment the many other performance mods.

Likewise I might put them on my Samurai at some point but it will be more for some under the hood eye candy than anything else. 

thanks guys for the input. I do have a 16v i put a cold air intake on it and Iam going to put a different exhaust on it also.

 

 Simply put you match the gearing in accordance to what you want to do with the vehicle to obtain optimum performance. To me this is a bigger bag for the buck than a header that will give you minimal HP increase.

Mind you I am NOT against the use of them. I have a nice set of ceramic coated headers on my highly modified 76 Corvette. They serve a useful purpose on this vehicle as the compliment the many other performance mods.

 

Yes you can change diff gears,,,but they no longer make them and cost a kings ransom for used gears above 5.13. and it doesnt matter if you put gears in the TC, high range stays the same.

So the next best route to gain power back is to widen the torque band and go for power UNDER the curve, Dont get all tied up in peak whp #'s because you need to shift the power band lower. On these diminutive 4 bangers, other than a cam change, there is no better way to develop mid range torque than with a short tube tri-Y header, but the top end gains are not as impressive and why some people say there are better options because they were looking for top end power and not more midrange.

Just like the people buying the torquer cams and then complaining they lost top end, well DUH, of course you will!