I'm ready to buy a set of headers for my truck and there are several options for material and finish in the particular brand and model I'm looking at. My truck is going to get used a lot and it will probably even see some limited snow and (gasp!) salt since it's going to be my only 4x4. For that reason, I'm torn between ceramic coated and polished stainless steel. While it would be nice if they were pretty and stayed that way, I'm more concerned with long life and rust resistance under daily driver conditions than long term beauty. I've had ceramic coated steel headers before and was fairly pleased with them. I worked the truck that that they were on so hard that I had 'em glowing red after dark a couple times and the ceramic never flaked, peeled, etc. The finish dulled a bit over time and I got a little superficial rust where they got scratched, but overall they held up well. I've never been around stainless headers, although I know Ford used them in OEM applications. One would assume that they would last virtually forever, but I have no experience with them. Any stainless header experience or advice one way or the other before I write a check?

 

In the aftermarket, there is stainless, and there is stainless. Cheap stainless will actually rust and is not OEM quality. Poorly designed (shaped) headers can crack from thermal stress, even in OEM SS materials. Cast iron is hard to beat for durability, if not looks.