I've got long tubes and IMO they are a pain in the ass. I recomend a good set of shorties. LT headers may give you a slightly better horsepower increase, but it's not worth it when it comes to installing/removing them. Also, it makes other jobs more difficult not to mention making the starter bolts that much harder to get to.
I recently replaced my clutch and was able to get everything out with the headers in place; however, the bell housing had to be turned a certain way to fit between them. I went ahead and removed them when it came time to reinstalling the clutch.
I also recently had to replace my oil pan gasket and had some complications due to the headers. As you may know, you must raise the engine in order to drop the oil pan. Well, the collectors of LT headers will hit the floor pan and will not allow the engine to be raised very much -- so I had to remove them for that.
Back when I had first put the headers on, my steering rag joint broke up and had to be replace. If you have seen LT's installed on a Mustang, you'll see that the steering shaft goes in between the #6 and #7 primaries -- thats exactly where the rag joint is. I was some how able to replace it with the headers in place, but it definitely wasn't a fun job.
I've never had any problems with burnt boots or ground clearance even though my coupe is lowered 1.5 inches.
The positive side to long tubes would be that it is a hell of a lot easir to remove the H-pipe -- I can do that without jacking the car up.
Sorry for the long post, but I figured I'd let you in on all my bad experiences I've had with them. Over all, I'm very pleased with them... until it comes time to remove them.
-Brian
