Thank you. Good to know.

 

subscribed newb, headers on wifes ex cracked again.

 

I have a newbie question - I have the Hedman's on my short list of improvements for my (new to me) 2000 Excursion. I just bought the truck, knowing it had several broken exhaust studs - big surprise, I know. Had a local shop replace all of the studs. If/when I do the Hedmans, will I need to remove the existing (new) exhaust studs and replace them with the ones that come with the Hedman kit? I'm assuming yes.

 

2nd question, how it is the quality of the ceramic coating. Buddy of mine that is a "car guy" is recommending that I go with the painted headers and get them coated at a local shop as he says it will almost certainly be a better job than what you get from Hedman. I have no strong feelings one way or t'other.

 

Good question on installing the headers using factory studs. And I wish I had an answer for you. I think the instructions from Hedman say to remove the existing factory studs. But they also say that you have to remove the starter for the install, which you don't. Either way, it shouldn't be a big deal to remove your newly installed studs if you have to.

And, as far as the coating goes, mine seems to be holding up well so far. I'm not sure why your buddy would automatically assume that getting them coated locally would provide you with a "better job" than the factory coating. Maybe it would. But I'm pretty certain that you would void the lifetime warranty if you did that. Maybe not, since Hedman specifically says that the paint they use on their uncoated headers isn't high temp, and that they should be coated. Your call, I guess.

 

I believe there's no way the factory studs (really the nuts) would clear the header tubes.

As for the coating, mine have been in for only a few months, but they look like the day I put them on. No discoloration whatsoever. Can't say what'll happen a few years down the road though, but I have a certain attitude about headers in general - they WILL go south at some point. A lifetime warrantee doesn't help much when the truck is laid up for weeks while the header is shipped back to Hedman and repaired or replaced.

Which is one reason I am actually considering buying an extra set, just in case

 

The co-worker I mentioned tends to be a bit, um, opinionated on certain things But, he's built a number of rods and musclecars from the ground up (as in nothing but a frame sitting on a rotissorie) so I listen when he has something to say. I'm thinking the headers might be a year or so down the line as I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the whole front end when I put new springs (V/B) and shocks on it in the spring.

 

That's true for any warranty. Unless you live next door to the factory, or the local store you bought the item at will deal with the warranty for you, you're going to have to deal with delays and down time.

I had a set of uncoated Doug Thorley's crack on my Jeep. If I remember right, they wanted me to ship them back (at my expense, of course) and then when they showed up they would look at them and decide if they would be covered or not. Then (if they were covered) they wanted me to pay to ship a replacement set back to me. I ended up bitching to the right people I guess, because I ended up just emailing some pictures to them instead of shipping the headers. And I paid the difference to upgrade to a set of coated headers, which they shipped up here to Alaska for free. Still... it was a pain in the butt, and I still had to spend the time swapping out the cracked set for the new ones. But, at least I didn't have to buy a whole new set, which would have taken just as long to get here and would have cost a lot more. Warranties typically only protect your money, not your time.

 

About half of them will clear on my Thorleys.

 

Picked up what sounded like a left side exhaust leak a couple of days ago. Just got around to checking it out. The header bolts on the left side were -slightly- loose. I tightened them as much as I could in the parking lot at work before lunch today with a short gear wrench I grabbed from the tool box as I headed to work. It sounded better when I fired it up, but I can still hear it when I give her some gas. Gonna have to get a better wrench on it when I get home tonight. I'll also check the right side and the collector bolts while I'm at it, but it doesn't look like they've moved since I installed the tension nuts.

I know people are curious about any changes in mileage since I installed the headers, and, as little as I drive it, I still don't have enough data to draw any real conclusions. I will say that overall, my mileage is down, but I can't say that it's because of the headers. It's winter now, and I know that that has something to do with it. My commute has changed from 5 miles a day to 2 miles a day, and the truck never gets a chance to warm up at all any more, unless it idles for a while before I drive, which kills the overall mileage on such a short commute. And I've got a vacuum leak in one of my front hubs, so I've got them locked in all the time so I can still shift in and out of 4wd as necessary (it is winter here), and that can't be helping. Still, I just made a 250 mile round trip towing my boat (which was loaded a few hundred pounds heavier than usual for a multi-day winter hunting trip) and I got a calculated 9.25 mpg, versus the 10.5 - 11 that I would normally get on this trip in the summer. And that was with the hubs locked in the whole time and about a third of the trip in 4wd. So, although I certainly can't say that there's been an improvement in mileage, I also can't say that the headers have caused any apparent decrease either. What I can say is that there's definitely more available power now, in all RPM ranges and situations. And, I suppose that may be another reason the mileage may be lower than before. The power's there, and I want to use it.

 

My mileage is slightly down too... but I can't say it's the headers. I also changed the O2 sensors at the same time.

I'm beginning to wonder... O2 sensors usually slide "rich" as they age. And even though leaner should be better for MPGs, a clogged fuel filter or dirty MAF will make the MPGs worse because you need more throttle to do the same work, resulting in more overall gas being used.

If I can actually keep my foot out of it long enough to verify the mpg has dropped around .5-.7 MPGs, I might put the original O2s back in and see what happens.

 

emailed hedman.... told me the headers are for trucks only. Not sure y... everything looks the same.

 

It was normal for my headers to have to retighten them 2 or 3 times. The gasket compresses and after a couple good tightenings they stay put. Was the same way with the headers on my 74'. Some of the gaskets are touchy and brittle also. They can get cracked or broken during the install and cause a leak. The guy that installed my headers broke a a tiny corner on the gasket that needed replaced.

Probably because they never tested them on the Ex. Which would be stupid IMO, a market they ignored that would not take much effort to get into.

 

Nice write-up

 

So newbie question. My 99 V-10 has tube-like looking jobbys hooked to my stock exhaust. will these headers work with these. will it pass Utah emissions with out the tubes hooked up? really want these but if they wont pass I can't run them. Any input?