Just got done putting my DT Long Tubes on today. For the most part no problems. TheY fit and work great! Have a writeup with a few notes that I have on it to mention, and pictures to post as well. Will follow up later.

Very cool!

Do you notice any driving differences? Did you lose any torque below 2500rpm? Any idea on MPG yet? What did you do with the rest of the exhaust?

1. Even with the stock y-pipe and exhaust it definitely revs up quicker/smoother. Also you can also hear/feel the VVT-i kick in more now.

2. Torque feels just fine. This was one of my biggest concerns before putting them on. Having an auto probably negates a lot of the loss you would expect by looking at the dyno chart since the engine's torque convertor allows for a bit of stall.

3. Mileage seems to be up 1-2mpg. Haven't really got down to figure it out yet and get some solid numbers. The digital readout shows longer DTE (I know this isn't accurate, more of an indicator).

4. Rest of the exhaust will be done out with a Y-pipe of some sort (prob Thorley again) followed most likely with a TRD exhaust.

Very nice... Your 'as-is' system sounds great to me as I don't care much about top-end. It's pretty cool that it's helping even though it's stock Y-pipe aft.

Nice!

What does the butt-dyno say?

Butt dyno says it's definitely there! Can't wait to finish off the rest of the exhaust. Little nerve racking when you lay down somewhere around 600 bucks and not sure if it'll be guaranteed to fit. Issues and points I had with the install were:

1. Right side (pass side) pre-cat A/F sensor galled up upon removal. I was hoping against odds that this wouldn't happen since I've heard others randomly having this issue. Luckily a dealer within the vicinity had one on hand, and $230 down the tube (no pun intended) later I was back in business. Driver's side came out just fine leading me to think it was cross threaded at the factory. Reinstall with a good helping of anti-seize.

2. DT says in their instructions to keep and reuse the stock exhaust manifold gaskets. I call BS! I have never done this before, and a FSM of sorts that I found for an FJ (more or less the same thing) stated not to reuse. Make the small investment and get new ones. I have heard the FJ guys complain that after reusing that they're getting exhaust leak noises around the headers from reusing. Do it right and save the headache of chancing a second time around.

3. Also get yourself new nuts for the headers (12). Cost me around $.75 each. Good insurance plus the old ones are now already stretched.

4. Also get new studs as well, they're cheap. If you look at the 5th picture down you'll see the black frame rail near the header. You wouldn't think that this would create any kind of issue but it does. I had to remove the head studs on the bottom middle and bottom front in order to get the header to slip in place. Once over the other studs you can thread in the new ones (DON'T REUSE!) and then put on the bolts. Clearance is plenty once they're on.

5. Torque specs for the header nuts are ~22-25 lb.-ft. This is also important as one can easily overdo it by just wrenching on it.

6. Also PB Blast every nut and bolt that will be undone. Do it the night before and the day of the project. This seemed to help me a lot.

Anybody can put these on in about 4 hours or so. Driving out for the sensor and misc. parts made for a grand total of 6 hours on my behalf. Having a friend on hand to help will definitely smooth things out and go much faster. In my case I had to jump back and forth from underneath to the the engine bay to get them in place. The extra hands will definitely save you from getting dizzy from this.

Update:

Just finished putting the URD 02 simulator in. It was a little bit nerve racking since it basically entails snipping two wires on the ECU harness to splice in their magic box. I gotta say I felt like I was sweating over a nuke on countdown trying to figure if I should cut the red or blue wire! All is good though, just read and re-read URD's instructions.

I was thinking about buying the 4runner and was disappointed when I couldn't find any good headers to put on it. But now I see that it can be done!

Thanks for the great news. When I get mine I was thinking of pairing it with some flowmasters, bet that would sound great.

Those headers look great.
I wish they would make a set of shorty header for the V8 4Runner. They have them for the Tundra v8 so why not the 4Runner. Actually I would love to replace the tube that connects the two sides together and goes into the cat. The part where the two sides merge is a major choking point. Wonder how much it would cost to have a muffler shop make a better pipe to replace it. I think replacing that pipe would be worth more in horsepower than headers.

The section you're referring to is called the Y-Pipe. Any reputable muffler shop ought to be able to fix you up. Go to www.urdusa.com and check out the DT Y-Pipes they have there and hopefully it'll give you an idea of what needs to be done.

I'm starting to believe that if anything is made for the Tacoma of FJ, there is no reason that it shouldn't work for the 4Runner. If I really had the cash to go overboard, I'd have a TRD supercharger already! I really refuse to believe that anything that is made for these other two models can't work on the 4R. It's probably more of the fact that the manufacturers don't have us in mind like they do for the Taco and FJ, and don't spend the extra time and money to certify us with their product.

Now I just wish I could find a kit from Flowmaster. Or I'll just have to get a muffler shop to outfit one

Great things happening here!

This is a breath of fresh air. I was starting to get down on myself because 4R accessories are few and far between =(

What is the advantage/disadvantage of long vs. short headers?

Why did you choose to do the headers separately than the exhaust? Why not do both one time?

I had a 1979 Bronco 351W and I installed hooker header/flowmaster 40 series combo and OMG....do I miss those days. They worked so well together.

Why are you going with TRD exhaust? Just curious.

Overall, what kinds of things are you experiencing, sound, torque, gas?

Keep up the great work.

Short tubes installed on the 4R will in the end make more low end power whereas the long tubes will create more overall power and allow the engine to respond better to future mods, the bigger the better (ie, supercharger ). Most people will point to the dyno charts and say that you loose a bit of low end with the long tubes vs. the stock or shorties. True, but all T4R's are autos and when I stomp on mine it immediately jumps to about 2K rpm because of the torque convertor's ability to stall. When I have my traction control disabled and stomp on it from a stop, the wheels immediately break traction, and I'm serious about this, the tach jumps pretty quick to redline. The engine definitely breathes easier and revs up quicker. On the highway I've noticed that there's no ill effects and the fact that when driving 65-75 mph, you're pretty much in the sweet spot of the power range.

Quite simply it's money and budgeting. I'm a new homeowner, new bills that go with it (such as that lovely utility bill), costs of fixing it up/making my own, the new car payment of the 4R, etc. I was originally going to go with the #1 most popular performance mod that everyone does: The Cold Air Intake. I had placed an order for one on the web, but the site later sent me an email that it wouldn't take my card do to a discrepency in my CC billing address (remember the new house part?). So I canceled my order and was going to reorder when I had that straightened out. I was talking to a buddy of mine (a big muscle car gearhead) about mods that I want to do, and suggested I try out the header route. If anything, it would do more for me than the CAI. I was really interested in seeing if the Thorley's would truly fit and figured that it would be the most expensive thing that I would end up buying, save a supercharger, so I told myself to just go for the gusto and get that done first. As funny money comes around again I'll finish up the exhaust with a nice Y-pipe and cat back section. Plus it would be much easier this way than the exhaust being installed followed by headers

I had a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.7 V8 that I had straight piped from the Y-pipe back. Being a SOHC, the motor would actually rev pretty quick and fast (manually shifting it, it would go 6800 before cut off if I remember right). At full song it would start to sound like a NASCAR motor at speed. Even with the precats still on the downpipes, it sounded as loud as my buddy's built supercharged 360 (headers, Hughe's 2.02 ported heads w/RR, M1 Intake, etc., you get it...). I feel you man, as much as I needed to get rid of it, I miss how obnoxious and fun it was.

Seems to be a nice all around exhaust. After my Jeep, I don't want to quite go down that road again. Just some more volume and tone to it. Just bolt it up on the driveway one day and not go down to a shop and explain what I want and wait for them to piece me up a system.

1. Sound is a bit throatier. Hard to explain since the stock exhaust and intake are still on. Imagine a 350Z/G35 Coupe and the way they sound, something like that. You can also feel the VVT-i kick in more noticeably as well (think Honda VTEC).

2. Highway pulling power is definitely improved. You can roll on the gas and the truck accelerates like a 250HP car would; you'll be doing 90+ before you know it. The downside is when driving around town and the tranny locks up and lugs the engine around 40mph. The T.C. will unlock or tranny downshifts a little sooner than before, but hasn't been much of an issue for me.

3. Gas mpg has shown some improvement. The engine is breathing easier, it's therefore running more efficientyly, thus using less gas. A lot of my driving is commuting about 70 miles a day on the highway, so it has helped my mileage. My only problem is I'm more inclined to give it more stick when I'm driving around, but I didn't buy these things for mileage improvements. That would take me awhile to recoup my gas savings.

Thanks!