With so many options for up pipe replacements out there, it’s overdue to discuss what's what. We’ve seen them all; some are quality, some are not. We’ve seen all the issues, and we’ve designed our 7.3L up pipes to be hands down the highest quality set available, in every possible way. We’ll talk about ours later in the article, but for now, let’s look into what else is out there.

To start, and this applies to 6.0 and 6.4, not just 7.3, the ones you see on Amazon and eBay for less than half the price are not necessarily bad. But you are rolling the dice with them at best. We’ve seen some that are okay, fit decently, and seem to be lasting. We’ve seen ones that are far from okay but last for a short time before leaking again, and many that don’t even come close to fitting. Now, because of how they’re produced and the quality control processes used, that’s to be expected, to a certain extent. That being said, let's talk mass production for a second.

Here’s the deal with cheap, mass-produced parts. All of these cheap up-pipe kits come from overseas. Whether they’re for sale on Amazon, private labeled, or elsewhere, pretty much everyone sources them from the same couple of factories. These factories produce tens of thousands of them (honestly, we have no idea how many they produce, but it’s a lot), and quality control isn’t the greatest, so the quality of the product is inconsistent. Mistakes happen to everyone, overseas or stateside, and overseas-made doesn't mean they're junk. But when a manufacturer doesn’t regularly check the quality of a product coming off its production line, that’s where the inconsistent quality comes from.

Let's use a real-world example here. Many high-end companies sell the same exact parts as their low-end competitors (we won’t name names, but this is very common). The difference between the high-end parts and the low-end is quality control, generally after the part is manufactured. Some companies will hire a person or service to inspect the parts before they’re put on a ship and sent back here. This is one way to get better quality from cheap manufacturing. Let’s say the factory makes 10,000 up pipes. Great companies will only accept the ones that pass their quality control, while others will take them all, problem parts included. You’re rolling the dice with the cheap companies because you won’t know if you received a quality part, or one of the problem parts. You might find out when it doesn’t fit during install, or maybe months/years later when it fails prematurely. Of course, we’d rather you buy ours, but long story short, if you decide not to, just get your parts from a highly respected company that at the least will stand behind them. They’re more likely to have sourced the better quality parts.

 

Now, let's talk about our 7.3 up pipes. Ours are the only 100% US-made up pipes for the 7.3 on the market today. They are made in the USA from USA-sourced materials and are also the most innovative in design. Hands down the nicest, most well-built 7.3 up pipes you'll find. And here’s why we can confidently say that:

We start with aircraft grade 321 stainless steel. 321 is vastly superior to what's commonly used (409 or 304) as it will not rust or crack, ever. It’s the stuff used in things like aircraft afterburners. 321 stainless steel will also handle much higher temperatures (because its formula is stabilized by titanium), making it perfect for both heavy towing and high horsepower applications.

We use fully sleeved stainless steel bellows vs the donut gasket used on the OE pipes. The donut style was used by Ford because a little flexibility was needed, but donuts will eventually leak. Bellows allow for the necessary flex without the sealing issues the donuts have. But the bellows aren’t what sets ours apart from the rest. Most use bellows; however, our bellows are fully sleeved. Meaning the 321 stainless piping goes fully, not just partially, through the sleeve. This is important because the bellows will take unwanted abuse from high EGT's. They’re simply not as strong as the piping they’re welded to. There's no way around that as the bellows need to flex, but the sleeving protects them from high EGT’s.

Our collector is also USA cast and machined, and it comes ceramic coated for heat retention and finish.

We supply the best gaskets available, stainless steel gaskets from International, also made in the USA.

We also supply the best hardware available, International OEM hardware.

Note to mention, we also back-purge and hand TIG weld the connections for a superior joint, versus MIG welded.

All in, these upgrades make for a part that simply won’t fail. Again, this is why we can offer a lifetime warranty. Compared to the next best thing on the market, International up pipes, we’re generally less than half the cost and we still use better materials and construction.

Check them out at the links below (FYI, for 6.0 or 6.4, we've only listed parts on our site from other manufacturers that meet our quality standards. While they're not as fancy as our 7.3 kits, we trust their design and construction.):

1994-Early 1999 Stainless Bellowed Up Pipes: https://www.riffraffdiesel.com/riffraff-diesel-bellowed-up-pipe-kit-94-early-99/

1999.5-2003 Stainless Bellowed Up Pipes: https://www.riffraffdiesel.com/riffraff-diesel-bellowed-stainless-up-pipe-kit-99-5-03/