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Aftermarket Y-pipe Liberator vs Innovative vs ??

3K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  pedaltek 
#1 ·
Anyone have any experience with either the Innovative oe Liberator Y-pipes? Mines cracked at the flex and I'm trying to decide between one of these, stock OEM, or just cutting the flex out of mine and welding a new flex in place.

Any thoughts or experience with these? Are these aftermarket ones really any different than the OEM ones? They both have a core charge. Which tells me the old ones can be fixed and re-sold. Are these just OEM's that have the cracks fixed?

Thanks guys.
 
#2 ·
I think Elite makes one also that is supposed to have heavy duty flex joints.
 
#3 ·
Yeah, just looked it up. Thats a nice one too. Makes me wonder though, why not just cut and weld in a new flex myself?
Trying to figure out if thats all these aftermarket ones are? Just stockers with new flexs welded in?
Anyone know if theres something else different with any of these?

Thanks for the heads up on the elite one..
 
#4 ·
ford's are cheap enough that aftermarket makes no sense to me. as long as the pipes are lined up correctly they shouldn't fail often enought to make an upgraded option worth the extra cost. i paid around $60 for a late 04 egr side up-pipe

my guess is there is a core charge to resuse the flanges, particularly the lower ones
 
#6 ·
Thanks Mike. What kind of differences did you notice between the Innovative and the stock one? Are the flanges or solid pipes welds or anything different? Or was just the flex part different? Where were yours cracking at?
 
#8 ·
Mike where you able to get that longer y-pipe in with just pulling to turbo ?
Was it a real PIA to get in ?
 
#12 · (Edited)
Thanks guys for all the input. I'm on the fence right now between the Elite one and just getting a new flex tube and welding it in myself. That Elite one does look HD though! Anyone know what the black coating is on the pipes? Thats not just paint or powdercoat is it? Thinking its some kind of ceramic coating maybe? It looks great? Just too bad nobody will ever see it once its installed! :(
Also, anyone ever, or know anyone who's ever done a y-pipe from below and behind? I've got 8" of lift on 40" tires. So getting in from below is no problem. Did my ICP/IPR from below. After moving the front drive shaft out of the way, it wasn't too bad of a reach up. Just not sure if theres room to pull the y-pipe out that way?
Although, I may end up doing the downpipe at the same time. And, my turbo could use some love, so I may just block off a couple days and yank everything off the top?? Just curious if anyone has knowledge on doing it from the back/bottom? Also, since I'm here, Any thoughts on 3.5" vs 4" downpipe on an 04 w/ 03 motor? Heard the 4" doesn't fit too well on these? I've got a 5" straight back from the downpipe. So a 4 would be better. Just dont wanna have issues..

thanks
 
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