need some ford help ..

[burkej62]

Have a 98 ford explorer xlt sohc . It needs both cats replaced but when i search for cats on ebay or anywhere i get litteraly ten or 15 diffrent items all diffrent shapes that all claim to fit my car . So after some searching I found these universal cats with the same openings of mine , my queston is can i just cut out the old cats and weld these universals in place? I don't know of any laws that pertain to catalytic conveter placment or moddifications .. Can anyone throw me somehints or advice? Becuase they are so dead it is throwing tons of codes and getting about 6 or 7 MPG ...



EDIT- just checked out ford's oem parts and it looks like both oem cats would cost over 1200 ... Seeing as the universals are 60 a piece i would really like to use them insted .. Would they work? is it legal?



http://www.racepages.com/images/domestic/thumbs/eastern/70316.jpg

[catch22]

What state? Federal law is basically you cannot move or remove your cats. You can replace them if you have a valid reason to do so.. Which I'd say you do.

Cut em out and weld em in. As long as the cat you're placing in it is a direct replacement of the factory cat you'll be 100% legal. Universals should be fine. I would buy from a reputable source though, and not a shady dealer or a questionable source (could end up costing you more in the long run).

Most states don't require a visual inspection (California does!), so as long as what comes out the pipe is within emission standards, you're fine.

Hope this helps. I'm not a ford guy so I'm not sure, but you could try asking for a good reseller of ford parts at SVTPerformance.com. I'm sure a lot of those guys have ford cars to go with their snakes.

[burkej62]

Im not worried about emissions we dont even have that here ? I was hopiong the cheap universal cats will get it out of limp home mode ...

[catch22]

Well, if you don't even have emissions testing, just pull the cats and weld in straight pipe, lol. Don't even bother with cats if they're not required. :D

If it was a new car, at least in california, you have like 6 years before even requiring a test. Maybe you're still in that period. Then, you only are required to get on the chart every other year.

In either case, whatever you put on there will be fine, as long as something functional is there. I still say go straight pipe if you don't have to worry about testing. It'll sound better too :)