Open Header....or No

I run straight pipe to a cherry bomb glasspack and sometimes on trail days i would like to unbolt my pipe at the crossmember abd run open header will this be ok or hurt anything? It will be just trail days not all the time.

what year rig?
I don't see any reason why'd you have it without cat in the first place... so I see little reason for straight out of the header.
depending on the trails, running straight and/or cherry bomb is a fire hazard, let alone so soon after the header.
that and the fact you'd be even louder and more obnoxious than just straight/cherry bomb to the back end.

buts thats just my opinion.

These things don't sound all that hot open headered. Sound like a pissed off tractor. I would go a step further and put a muffler on it.

A spark arrestor, at the very least, is required off-road. I'd mistakenly thought a cat would act as a spark arrestor, but it does not - most mufflers, however, do (not the straight-through mufflers - like glasspacks - tho.)

A spark arrestor is similar to the little "muffler" you see on the side of a lawnmower, it's essentially there to catch and cool any sparks that would otherwise start fires. A spark arrestor should not actually muffle anything.

Second on the sound, too. I ran on an open downpipe for a little bit (the rest of the exhaust was in the back - I was taking it to get it welded into units,) and the idle sounded pretty good, but off-idle not so much.

However, and let me stress this again - unless it's a dedicated racing vehicle running on a paved track, you need something there. If you're running off-road, a spark arrestor is required. Let's not give the Greenies something else they can use against us, hm?

Why would you want an open pipe? There is no performance to be gained over a glass pack and the noise would annoy other drivers. Also the exhaust coming out right under the floorboards would heat them up alot and could ignite the carpet padding (ask me how I know this). Your best bet is to stick with what you've got IMHO.

You're not going to gain anything by doing this. I have only driven like this once, after installing my header, took a test drive, and I hadn't done the clamps good enough. The downpipe fell off and I went several miles back home. It was enjoyable, but not so much that I'd want to do it on purpose. Several times I have unhooked it before the cat, just to hear it, and I started my new motor 1st time like this. I like the sound. It is certainly too annoying to run like this, not to mention unsafe. I once got flames to come out of the end of the downpipe. There is, however, no advantage to running open. The only gains you would see from that much flow would be at very high RPMs. And you would start fires. Keep the glasspack, that's actually the best sound I have gotten out of mine. If you are bent on hearing it sound like a drag car, get a cutout. But don't do it on the trail, it's unsafe and there's no advantage to it.

I did that once on an old ford with a 300 6 in it. Was cool for about 15 minutes, until it backfired and i had to drive home with dirty underwear.......I swear it was like sitting next to a nuclear blast, that backfire left my ears ringing for 2 days.......

I used to drag race, and open headers in a vehicle tax earplugs under a helmet, not to mention the noise annoyance factor to others sharing the trail, and the possiblity of setting the woods on fire. In short, it's just rude and dangerous.

The National Forest Service requires, not requests, but requires a spark arrestor or an OEM TYPE muffler, that means no glass packs becuase they will not trap sparks or pieces of your CAT from being emitted from your tail pipe as they are a straight though pipe wrapped in fiberglass. Most Off-Road parks also require the use of a muffler so as not to annoy other customers and to protect their land.

Running the CAT keeps you emission friendly, and is just good trail practice.

Just run a normal, legal exhaust. Header, cat, muffler, and if you choose to go with a Cherry bomb, then get a spark arrestor for it. Your post shows 3 reasons for the greenies to try to shut us down: 1.Open pipe to a Cherry bomb=obnoxiously loud 2.Open pipe to a Cherry bomb=no cat=not emissions friendly and also against federal law 3.Open header=even more obnoxious, still not emissions friendly and still against federal law.

Personal opinions aside, we all need to look out for how we conduct ourselves. Environmentalists will and do show up to our wheeling spots to look for evidence of us being irresponsible, damaging, and unsafe. They take pictures, they record sound clips, it's probably pretty likely that they cruise internet forums as well. All just to present evidence of why we shouldn't be allowed into places like Tellico (recently shut down), the Rubicon (been under threat for a while), Johnson Valley (under threat from the Marine Corps), Lion's Back in Moab (shut down due to "safety concerns" and a new development moving in next door), etc etc. Our favorite places are under greater threat today than ever before and if we present ourselves as a bunch obnoxious, polluting rednecks out to just "tear it up", we make their job easier and lose more of our wheeling lands.

CherokeeCrawler88 said:

I run straight pipe to a cherry bomb glasspack and sometimes on trail days i would like to unbolt my pipe at the crossmember abd run open header will this be ok or hurt anything? It will be just trail days not all the time.

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why??? just for the sound?

it will sound like crap and the engine may also run like crap, with no low end power/torque.

Part of the reason I like wheeling is to get out and enjoy nature. Nothing like someone ruining that by going for obnoxiously loud.

Plus I echo all the greenie stuff but I'm tired of typing it every other week.

CherokeeCrawler88 said:

I run straight pipe to a cherry bomb glasspack and sometimes on trail days i would like to unbolt my pipe at the crossmember abd run open header will this be ok or hurt anything? It will be just trail days not all the time.

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I personally would not be caught on a trail with you. There is no advantage to open header, only disadvantage. Louder is not better on the trail.

How old are you?

Everybody chill out down here in Mississippi there is no actual orv parks only personal land and I just like the sound I'm 21 but we run race trucks down in mud and dirt open headers so I didn't think it would hurt I didn't figure open header would hurt since I'm only running a glaspack anyway really no difference if I ever made it to a orv park I would have a cat and muffler I would want anything to be shut down this is only personal land

CherokeeCrawler88 said:

Everybody chill out down here in Mississippi there is no actual orv parks only personal land and I just like the sound I'm 21 but we run race trucks down in mud and dirt open headers so I didn't think it would hurt I didn't figure open header would hurt since I'm only running a glaspack anyway really no difference if I ever made it to a orv park I would have a cat and muffler I would want anything to be shut down this is only personal land

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You think your private land can't catch on fire too?

There are like 20 mud trucks all running open headers I didn't think 1 little jeep would hurt but ok

IslanderOffRoad said:

You think your private land can't catch on fire too?

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No, its private... physics work different there.

I'm thinking the mud trucks are all a lot higher off the ground, many probably have stacks or zoomies, and are in mud, which based on my calculations is rather non-flammable. A Cherokee on the other hand sits a lot lower, has the exhaust under the vehicle (closer to the ground) and like you said, will be on trails. Trails tend be more flammable as they have grass and trees growing on them.

Ok ok yall talked me out of it sorry for the post

CherokeeCrawler88 said:

There are like 20 mud trucks all running open headers I didn't think 1 little jeep would hurt but ok

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If everyone thought that way... yes, it would hurt.

If those mud truck guys jumped off a bridge, would you too?

Nothin but love. We're just looking out for you, nature and our sport. :cheers: