Reasonably safe HP for stock exhaust/cats?

[5.0Screw22]

I am hoping to find someone that has installed one. The fact that the SPD Alpha pipe is a bolt on with my existing system is a plus. I already have a custom exhaust system that I love and I do not want to replace it again. I expect some sound increase with the SPD y-pipe, but I don't think it wiil be too much.

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[amschind]

What is the goal/use case? If you're driving at reasonable rates of speed and acceleration most of the time and doing a few spaced out glory runs on the strip, I doubt that the cats will die too early or hold you back much. If you're trying to haul a near capacity trailer up a hill in the mountains in July, heat will be an issue.

In the case of an 11 second glory run, even the stock aftercooler would be fine, because peak HP and torque is all that matters. For sustained load, power comes down to cooling, as the motor can put out far more heat than the factory radiator can remove. The relevance to your question is the impact of exhaust back pressure on turbo and manifold heat soak, as well as radiant heat from the exhaust pipes to the transmission: totally irrelevant for a glory run on the strip or a dyno pull, but basically the only factor that matters when pulling something heavy into the wind or up a big hill.

 

[5.0Screw22]

What is the goal/use case? If you're driving at reasonable rates of speed and acceleration most of the time and doing a few spaced out glory runs on the strip, I doubt that the cats will die too early or hold you back much. If you're trying to haul a near capacity trailer up a hill in the mountains in July, heat will be an issue.

In the case of an 11 second glory run, even the stock aftercooler would be fine, because peak HP and torque is all that matters. For sustained load, power comes down to cooling, as the motor can put out far more heat than the factory radiator can remove. The relevance to your question is the impact of exhaust back pressure on turbo and manifold heat soak, as well as radiant heat from the exhaust pipes to the transmission: totally irrelevant for a glory run on the strip or a dyno pull, but basically the only factor that matters when pulling something heavy into the wind or up a big hill.

11 Seconds?!? Why are you trying to slow me down?

This truck does not tow. I have another truck for towing and other work. This one is a summer vehicle (for enjoyment). Before I add an E85 system, I want to do what I can to prevent any possibility of failure. The stock cats are known to fail in supercharged trucks.

I believe you don't half do something. If you add the power, you need to eliminate all potential weaknesses. If you add this kind of power you need to be responsible and upgrade the suspension, the brakes, the driveshafts, the differentials, etc. to do it properly. You have to make sure that all exisiting components are capable of doing their jobs without failure. Stock cats are not known for their failures, therefore I believe they need to be addressed.

 

[amschind]

11 Seconds?!? Why are you trying to slow me down?

This truck does not tow. I have another truck for towing and other work. This one is a summer vehicle (for enjoyment). Before I add an E85 system, I want to do what I can to prevent any possibility of failure. The stock cats are known to fail in supercharged trucks.

I believe you don't half do something. If you add the power, you need to eliminate all potential weaknesses. If you add this kind of power you need to be responsible and upgrade the suspension, the brakes, the driveshafts, the differentials, etc. to do it properly. You have to make sure that all exisiting components are capable of doing their jobs without failure. Stock cats are not known for their failures, therefore I believe they need to be addressed.

I completely agree, and I would (and am) upgrade the whole exhaust from the heads to the tips before I added forced induction. I'm just trying to reply to the OP's question in a restrained manner. He absolutely SHOULD upgrade the whole exhaust system as priority 1, but I think he's asking "do I absolutely HAVE TO?".

 

[Hoops]

Just installed the SPD Alpha catted downpipes and a Garrett Intercooler with a Turbo smart Vee port BOV. With just the pipes I was hearing a deeper rumble and definitely louder. With the intercooler and BOV installed with it I am getting a much throatier growl, almost sounds like my 2014 6.2L. The whole set up didn't give me a whole bunch off the line except noise but at highway speeds it is an instant, nasty acceleration that the stock just didn't have. Haven't seen any boost creep.
The pipes were a perfect fit and well made.
now just Waiting for Ford to unlock the Raptor So I can have even more fun with a tune...

 

[diambo4life]

In my old truck, one of my cats started failing at around 9500 miles. I took both of them out and replaced with a catless Y pipe because Ford refused to warranty it. So, roughly 7500 miles with the supercharger. If I had intended to keep the truck long term, I would have attempted getting the alphas.

 

[Sigma1914]

2M Fab makes cat deletes. For the 21+ trucks the flange will need to be modified. Be careful with this company. I’ve never personally dealt with them, but they are VERY clear about asking EVERYONE to read their FAQs page prior to ordering one of their products and they seem to get a lot of joy out of publicly humiliating customers on their FB page for asking “stupid questions” that were answered on their FAQs page and will purposely delay orders for customers asking where their shipment/tracking info is. YMMV.

This seems to be the only company willing to sell exhaust products for these trucks that don’t force you to purchase a catalytic converter option. They don’t seem to worry about three letter agencies.

@diambo4life, how many miles are on your setup? I’ve got the FP Whipple on my truck installed at 33mi. It has over 12k now. The FB page for High Perf 21+ F150s has me very concerned about the looming and seemingly inevitable converter failure. I like taking my truck on road trips that could be 3-4 thousand miles. I really don’t want to get stuck with a no name dealer in BFE working through repairs. Guys that don’t even track their trucks or run them hard are having them fail, anywhere from 7k-30k miles. I monitor boost and inferred catalyst temp on my Banks iDash with 12 PSI and 1700f alarms, hopefully that will help me prevent/catch a failure in progress.

Like the OP, after many cars with full off-road exhaust, I’m really just sick of noise, smell and headache of dealing with it all.

I have a Banks Data Monster and just ordered a Gen 6 Stage 1 Whipple for my truck and now doing my research on the stock cats, I’m worried. Are there any guidelines to where I should set all of my alerts at for my temperatures? I’ve been told that a temperature gauge would be the best investment when going with a supercharger. This is a daily driver though. No track, no long trips with miles. Just daily driving with a few launches here or there and occasionally stepping on the gas here or there. So what should the “alarm” rate for all my temps be?

 

[Sigma1914]

Just installed the SPD Alpha catted downpipes and a Garrett Intercooler with a Turbo smart Vee port BOV. With just the pipes I was hearing a deeper rumble and definitely louder. With the intercooler and BOV installed with it I am getting a much throatier growl, almost sounds like my 2014 6.2L. The whole set up didn't give me a whole bunch off the line except noise but at highway speeds it is an instant, nasty acceleration that the stock just didn't have. Haven't seen any boost creep.
The pipes were a perfect fit and well made.
now just Waiting for Ford to unlock the Raptor So I can have even more fun with a tune...

If you don’t mind me asking. What option of the SPD Alpha Catted Y-Pipe did you purchase? The Alpha 6” Ceramic +500 Cell EPA for $2,195 or the 6” GESI 85600 G-Sport UHO EPA for $3,995? And how are they holding up since you posted in July that you had them?

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