Has anyone tried the JBA headers for the 3.7L V6?

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Well, I just got off the phone with truckperformance. They said the headers hadn't actually shipped yet like the order status says. They said JBA had the headers, but were missing a bracket and it will be another week before they ship them to me.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:00 pm

Quote:

it will be another week before they ship

It's starting all over again.Hope you get them,I'm very interested in how they fit the early KJ's and preform.Keep us posted please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Well, they sent me an email asking me to review their service and the product, but I don't have any headers yet. As far as I know, they still haven't even shipped. :roll:

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Just got off the phone with truckperformance. They called JBA. They said the brackets and instructions just arrived and all the backordered headers will be shipping out over the 2 days.

MikeD0106 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:02 am

SWEET!!! It's about dang time!

mb818 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:46 am

i trust you guys that ordered these headers will report back with pics and opinions... so us fence sitters can make a decision on whether to order these or not...

Mark

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Still waiting for them to be delivered.

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Got my JBA headers today. They look very nice. They came with the gaskets and bolts, etc. Interestingly, there is no bracket or instructions, which is what I've been told I was waiting for all this time. I called JBA, and they went down the entire packing list. No bracket is mentioned. They said they would type up some instructions and email them to me.

I talked to my exhaust mechanic, and he will be able to install them during the first part of next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

mb818 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:38 pm

sweet...
so are they supposed to bolt up to the flange on the input side of the cat?
what kind of "bracket" are you talking about?

Thanks,

Mark

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Yes, they're supposed to be bolt on. Right in front of the 2 small cats. I'll let you know how the install goes after they're installed next week.

There is no bracket. I was told for weeks by truckperformance.com that the delay was because JBA didn't have the bracket in stock.

PitViper · **Posted:** Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:38 pm

yay

I hope all works as planed.

wendell · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:41 am

You may want to get a before and after dyno. I put on the jba headers a long with a lot of other mods, and I could feel an increase, my ranger runs strong. Yesterday, rubydist posted on ranger power sports that he dyno'ed before and after and displayed the grafs. He lost torque under 3,000 rpm's (thats to be expected on shortie headers), but there was no increase anywhere in the rpm range. The power was the same with the headers as it was without, except for the lost of torque below 3,000 rpm's with the headers. I realize that it's a kj and not a ranger, but it's making me wonder, I'm calling jba and asking what gives today. 500.00$ is to much to pay for nothing. Rubydist had the jba headers, power cables and an aftermarket muffler, but stock pipeing, he's also 2,000 ft above sealevel. JBA says 11 hp with thier headers, power cables and catback on a ranger, he didn't have thier catback, just a muffler, but you would think there would be some increase. Anyway, a before and after dyno would be advised to make sure you haven't thrown your money away, like maybe I have. I have to get this sorted out with jba.

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

I don't plan to do another before and after dyno for just the headers. I'm going to do another set of dyno runs before the heads, cams, and injectors, and then a set of dyno runs afterwards. If necessary, I'll then send my PCM back to B&G with the dyno graphs, and do another set of runs after I get the PCM back.

JBA's graph for the 4.0 Ranger shows it losing a tiny amount of power below 2500 rpm. Losing a little torque below 2500 rpm really won't affect me with the 2500 rpm stall converter. I'm mainly interested in adding power in the 2500-6000 rpm range for my application. I don't expect a huge difference from the headers. I just need them before the heads, cams, and injectors get upgraded.

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

Extremely unhappy. :evil:

The headers do not fit. Where the manifolds connect to the cats, there is a clamp with one bolt connecting each. The headers are designed for 2 bolts and no clamp. The phone calls will begin in a couple hours when the west coast wakes up.

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

The headers that JBA makes will only fit the 2005-2006. They will NOT fit the 2001-2004. JBA is sending a call tag for my headers. 10 phone calls averaging around 20 minutes each, just to be misinformed over and over again. I don't consider an item that is drop shipped from the manufacturer to have "just run out of stock and more are coming in today and will ship tomorrow." 3 weeks of delays waiting for a bracket and instructions when they don't even come with a bracket or instructions doesn't make me very happy either. I should give them a bill for my wasted time. What do you think, my $125 an hour networking rate for my computer firm, or my $250 an hour forensics rate for my computer forensics firm?

djformi · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 6:57 pm

darn I think I am underpaid, 125 hr /250 hr I do that for alot less..darn military...When I get out I am moving to KY....
sucks that the headers are for the newer liberty's....But I feel your pain, man.

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

djformi wrote:

darn I think I am underpaid, 125 hr /250 hr I do that for alot less..darn military...When I get out I am moving to KY....
sucks that the headers are for the newer liberty's....But I feel your pain, man.

That's what I charge, not what I make. Lots of overhead. Those are actually pretty standard rates. We do a lot of forensics for the army, but we give them a discounted rate. Do you actually do computer forensics or just networking? You really shouldn't charge less than about $200 per hour for forensics. If you have a lot of experience, including court expert witness experience, $250 per hour is standard. Standard technician work typically goes for around $100 per hour.

It really doesn't make sense to me to only make headers for the new ones. I would think people would be a lot less likely to upgrade their vehicles while they are still under warranty. I guess I'll forget about the headers and get working on the ported heads, cams, and injectors.

Edit:
On second thought, I'll call up JBA and see how difficult it would be for them to redesign the end that connects to the cats to use the clamps instead of a refund. As long as they are definately going to have them ready by summer, when we do the next round of mods, it will be ok. I need them to scavenge the exhaust for the next round of mods to work though.

wendell · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:34 pm

I feel ya bro, doing the kind of mods that your talking, the factory mannies will for sure be a bottle neck, maybe Bitters boy's will do something to help you out. It would make sense to do the older vehicles first. I called today and they say thier headers do make power and because rubydist is a million miles above sealevel out in colorado, that he's not dialed in, it's hard to make power in thin air. Anyway, they made me fell better about my purchase. I could feel the difference in topend and thats where I needed it same as you. I got gobs of lowend, but I run out of breath in the upper rpm ranges and the headers helped there. I could tell that without a dyno, "well", my butt dyno. With portrd heads and all, your gonna need those headers to get the full effect, so I hope they work out something for you. You don't need no bottle necks with what you're doing, good luck to you !!!!

wendell · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:41 pm

By the way, not to be nosey, what did you pay for the kj headers ? I have an 06, so they should work on mine. I would like it to breath a little better on the topend as well. I have found that headers also can help out the mpg a little. When the cash flow starts back up in the spring, the kj is next on my hit list.

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

The price was right. Less than $400 delivered. I really hope they'll change the ends for me. I'm beginning to think I was another test monkey. I don't think anyone realized they wouldn't actually fit the 01-04 without cutting and welding until today.

Upgrade your cat-back and throttle body first. Also upgrade your intake if you're not in a dusty area. Then install the headers. Call up B&G and see if they can flash your PCM. It will be nice....

Do your mods for performance reasons, not economy. The only mod I know of that pays for itself in economy is the $4 cold air intake mod. My intake system gave me around a 15% increase in economy at highway speeds. But for around $1500, it takes a lot of trips to pay for itself. Of course, the performance increase combined with my heavy foot more than cancel out any gas milage gained.

Has anyone tried the JBA headers for the 3.7L V6?

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