joe chevy i live in new jersey and they salt the crap out of the roads here. one thing is that i do wash my engine every so often in the summer months and my undercarage. powerwash it get a old sponge and wash everything real good with soap and rinse.

 

The side of my engine looks much the same. But it also sees mud a few times a year in the PA Allegheny Mts.

I looked up the SPD y pipe, which I had never heard of. Do they have one of their own, or do they ship you the "old" ram horn style Y-pipe? Again this is something I have to do again and Im not going to do it a 3rd time!

Nevermine, went back to the web page again and found they make a custom deal. Perfect!!!

 

I used Eastwood high temp silver colored header coating on my Case 580 CK backhoe header at least 15 years ago & they still look new. Never used it on a truck.

 

Wow, thanks for all the replies!!

Good idea! Given the way the other studs look, I'll probably have to use that trick. Also, thanks for the heads up about the improved parts not holding up. I'll definitely look into using something different.

No matter which way I go (manifolds/headers) I'm definitely doing the y-pipe upgrade.


Cool! Good to hear another thumbs up for the Dormans.
With my luck, all of the broken studs will be very accessible
That's cool.... maybe if this goes well with headers & y-pipe, I'll look at an exhaust system in a year or so.

Absolutely I'm going to try to document everything I do on this. I already started the writeup, but its kinda sparse at the moment

2004 F250 Broken Exhuast Manifold Stud

 

Is the SPD y-pipe the same one that's on ebay? If not, is there anything better about one or the other? I really want to do this mod while I have it all apart.

Thanks for the reply. Another mention of lifting the engine. Sounds like I should be prepared to do this as well.

Thanks!

Interesting the gibson's didn't help too much. Another good vote for the y-pipe though!

I don't mud the truck at all. That's all a result of the salty WV roads. I hope to install the fender liners from a PSD truck as mentioned above to try to keep that crap outta there.

That's cool. Good to hear it holds up well. A guy at work told me he used the coating from Eastwood with good results.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the replies! This is some great info!!

 

jason the new ford SS stud kit cost just about as much as i payed for the doorman manifold well not the same but very expensive
im sure youll find the best alternative

 

I just did a little searching and found that the ebay seller's name is "spd-performance" so it looks like they're the same.

 

A bump for those who may have missed it the first time around.....


So, if I can swing the $$$, I'll go with the JBA headers and SPD y-pipe.

Otherwise, it'll be the Dorman's and the y-pipe.

Either way, the y-pipe is going on there

Thanks again to those who have replied so far

 

I have a 2003 F250 5.4liter 4WD. Just checked and seen I had 1 bolt broke off passenger side top rear. Was quoted $600 to remove all the bolts and replace manifold with new one. Thought about doing it myself but real nervous.

Had 2 questions: Seen some stainless headers on ebay with a real good price. What do people think about putting Stainless Headers on. Do alot of towing with my bass boat and wondered if it would help a little. Also will they last or I mean break bolts again.

2nd question was also thinking about installing the Y pipe. I see that it stated off road use only. I live in NJ and sometimes DMV sucks with their regulations does anybody think I would have a problem installing this and making it through inspection.

Alot of great info here thanks for all the help.

 

I'm really leaning toward the headers on mine. If I can swing the $$$ I'm going to do it. I'm not sure about whether they'll break bolts again or not. I think if we replace the studs with high quality stainless studs/bolts then they'll hold up much much better. As with all headers, the studs may need tightened a time or two after installation.

Which headers are you looking at?

I'm pretty sure the seller has to say something like "off road use only" as a liability. Just like the old H-pipes for mustangs used to be marketed as "catalytic converter test pipes". They just don't want to catch the blame should you have trouble with emissions testing. I'm no expert, but I suspect the y-pipe has very little effect on whether or not the truck passes emissions testing.

In WV they only do a visual test to see if the cats are present, which is why punched out cats are popular here. That's one thing we have going for us here (so far) --- no sniff testing

 

Well I looked on ebay and found a bunch of stainless headers. Some brand name and others no name. I really don't have alot of money to spend so there is one person who has alot of them but they are like $200 a set with gaskets and bolts. Also looked at the shorty pacesetters for like around $200. I think its going to cost me a lot to have them installed, so I don't know.

Btw used a few of your walkthroughs on your site a big help thanks.

 

Just be aware some shops will be reluctant to install headers because of possible fitment issues. A lot of guys who bought the ebay headers had to notch the frame and bend the y-pipe to get eveything to fit properly. Those were ebay headers on the 6.8l though. Just remember in most cases you get what you pay for.

SPD did not spend the money to get a CARB or similar certification done so they have to state that they are for offroad purposes only. The new y-pipe isn't doing anything to effect emmissions.

 

Cool! Glad to hear they helped you out

 

yea i really didnt like the headers at all i dont think they helped but i dont know any dyno around my area that can handle the size of these trucks so i cant really say but im looking into arp bolts kits and stud kits for are trucks. i guess two years and all the salt up here my stainless heades are looking more like cast iron so hopefully i can find decent prices on coating and have them dipped. i do like the y-pipe but i could have bought a merge pipe and got my cousin to bend two pieces of pipe and made it look alot better than what i bought, or i just could have gotten an exhaust shop to make a new y-pipe from the headers ot the cat for a little more. either way you feel the power

 

Look what followed me home today. I think I'll keep 'em

Next up is the y-pipe.