Installed my offroad X pipe the other day

First lemme say, it was incredibly easy. I had no fitment issues or anything whatsoever. The hardest part was the primary 02 sensor on the passanger side (unplugging it), but all in all getting the car up on stands took longer than the install I think. One little issue was that the 02 sensor bung (the same one) is a little lower than it should be, so the plug has to be out of it's little retainer clip to reach, so I just zip tied it to another harness to keep it safe and out of the way. Not a big deal.

Man it is a ****load louder than before haha. I still wouldn't call it annoyingly loud though, still quieter than my brother's LS1. When you start it cold, it is wicked loud, but after it idles down, the idle is barely louder than before. If I drive normally, it isn't too loud, but at WOT it sounds like the world comming to an end. Cruising at 70 MPH though you cannot hear te engine at all, so it won't get annoying on long trips.

As far as the tone with my Violators, it sounds really good. It's a bit higher pitches than I was expecting (from videos), to the point that if you revv it up outside the car it almost hurts your ears, but it sounds really mean and aggressive. I guess you could say it has a real racey tone. When you let off the gas to shift at normal RPMs it kinda farts as the enginer evvs down, which is a little funny. All in all though I'd say I like the tone.

It's a little louder than I was hoping, and I'm still deciding whether I like it or not. So far I think I am happy with it, like I said it is not annoyingly loud but opens up real good when I get on it, just like I wanted it. So I don't think I will be buying cats for it anytime soon.

I think I MIGHT have a leak though. I smelled exhaust fumes while driving at like 20-30 MPH on the highway, but that may have been because I was surrounded by traffic, but it kinda sounds like it might have a leak. There's a good chance though that that is just fron the raspyness and the loudness of the X pipe. I'll figure it out for sure tomorrow.

But if anyone wants an offroad X pipe, I reccomend the Pypes one, it went on easy and fit like a glove (other than the 02 sensor issue). And I shined a light in the pipe to make sure it was connected, and the whole inside of the X is wide open.

No you do not. You basically just unplug the 02 sensors, unbolt it fron the over-axle pipes, unbolt it from the manifolds, and pull it out. Switch the 02s to the new pipe, and reverse the process.

I fixed the leak. It was leaking slightly from the passanger side manifold. Apparantly the pypes instructions forgot to mention that later model 08s had a different exhaust manifold and require the use of these little adapters (If you call them that) to make a good seal. I got them in there and now I think the leak is gone. I have to drive it some more to be sure, but it seems like the leak sound is gone and the smell is gone. I just stuck my hand up aroung each manifold and felt the air comming out. It was a bitch to get them in though, I wish I had known in advance that I needed them the first time. I had to undo the 02 sensor AGAIN and fight the pipe down to get them in. But now for some reason the tailpipes are lined up better, so no complaints haha. But when I was done, verifying that the leak was gone I accidentally touched my forearm to the pipe and gave myself a nice 2nd degree burn. That will be fun at work tomorrow (I'm a mechanic).

So just so you know, if you have an 08, see if your ball flanges match the little adapters better than the flare on the x pipe. Other than that, I'd say it's a good quality piece

One thing I am wondering though, it has exhaust hangers near the trans cross member, and the instructions mention hangers, but my car has no hangers except on the mufflers. I wonder if Ford ommitted them for 08?