ok, i had come to the conclusion that i had bad exhaust manifold studs, and that was the cause of my exhaust leak, however, after checking all the studs, it seems none of them are broken. cant get the truck to replicate the leak when not under low rpm load( highway) and there is no visible evidence of the exhaust leak anywhere. talked to the local dealer this morning and told him what i knew and he said he would suspect a cracked manifold, also explains why it only leaks under load. i figure if end up with roughly $260 in parts to replace on manifold, i might as well put some headers on it. i can get the gibson stainless haeders for $492, and they are a 16guage tubing, or i can get a Jba set for $622 but they are a 14guage tubing, gibson says their headers are designed for low to mid rpm power, my truck doesnt see the high side of 3000 rpm unless im pulling a hill with the trailer. anybody have either of these headers, what would ya recommend. i like the thicker walls of the JBA, but the gibsons are $130 cheaper

 

From what I have heard I would get a set of stock manifolds and be done with it. The stock units warp and crack. I have two new ones on my truck. Add the new stainless studs and new nuts and add another $100.00



Dick

 

Flowtech makes 5.4 headers as well, way cheaper

 

Save your money get the stock ones!. Headers constantly loosen up on aluminum heads.Its a known fact,We seen it alot on here! If you want to be under the hood all the time put the headers on
Rich

 

Check you'er spark plugs make sure they are not backing out or getting ready to blow out.
I thought my was a exhaust at first I could not find the Exhaust leak untill the plug blew.

It cost the Warnnety Company around $4000.00 after the reapiar and rent a car cost.

And if you'er truck lifted and over size tires good luck they tryed to get out of fixing mine.

 

i will check the plugs on that side when i get a chance, the plugs were replaced about 7k miles ago. im pretty sure its lower on the motor than that though, its only under load, and i can hear/feal it in the floorboard.

 

the flowtech headers will not fit a super duty, that is footnote #249 on the holly website

 

Let us know what you find I hope you dont have a plug ready to go there no fun.

If you exhaust starts getting louder every day look hard my started out as nothing but turned it to a pain.

But if do blow you still can drive baby it to the shop bee line it there just unplug the coil pack dont catch you truck on fire you also can unplug the injector the check engine light will go on but beats paying for a tow charge.

 

I have a set of Banks headers and they have about 42K miles on them and no issues with loosening. I torqued them properly at installation and them again a week later.

 

Like i said save your money headers are not worth the effort or the $ on a work truck
If you think they do something for you spend it.
Banks headers are not cheap for the suppoesd gain or trouble to install.
The amount of $ I spent in my younger days on aftermarket hp add ons I could buy 2 new superduties today.
Have fun !
Drive the truck!
Rich

 

I had a set of Gibson headers on my '02 5.4 and I don't think they did squat! I ended up selling them; little to no bang-for-the-buck IMHO. I put the stock exhaust manifolds back on; truck runs fine. I did keep the Gibson cat-back system though. Even that I could have saved $$$ by just replacing the stock muffler with a better sounding (and equally as free-flowing) as the stock muffler for a lot less than the Gibson cat-back system. Oh well, live and learn. It has a low, mellow sound; not loud or raspy AT ALL. People who notice the sound difference can tell something's been modified, but they say "nice" because it's not loud and obnoxious OR that hollow sound that resonates throughout the cabin.

My $.02,
Daryl

 

I was planning to upgrade the exhaust on my 02 5.4 but after reading that the factory exhaust is 3" i'm going to just swap the muffler, remove the cat and find a nnice chrome tip

 

Don't remove the cat . It won't run correct and its illegal.



Dick

 

If the O2 sensor is before the cat converter then how will it affect how it runs if i remove it?

 

Back pressure and proper heat for the sensor. Plus the engine is designed to run with that back pressure or resrtiction whatever you will call it. The fuel map is made for it.
You go changing things like that and the sky's the limit as to what problems can occur.

Dick