So I have a 2005 F-350, 5.4 with the 6 speed manual in it, and I keep having faulty drivers side manifolds. No, it isnt my truck. My heads are flat, I'm not over torquing them, and I'm not horsing around with my truck and causing too much heat. My mechanic has used the Dorman aftermarket castings from our local Advanced Auto Parts, and they keep cracking in different spots and falling apart. One he took off and, it crumbled in his hands and broke in two. Pretty pathetic, since it was literally 4 months old. This will be the 3rd time, NOT including my factory manifold that I will be doing the drivers side. So, no more dorman products for me. At the least not exhaust. So my question for you guys is, what is the best and most durable aftermarket manifold I can get? I dont want to shell out a crap ton for OEM, but I think I might just have to. Or I might even try the Stainless headers route, because I'm just sick of it. Any input or suggestions about this would be really helpful!

 

 

 

My passenger side started leaking at 94k miles. My replacement was the Ford replacement manifold. No leaks at 140k.

If it happens again, I plan on looking into having the replacement ceramic coated on the inside.

 

I'm dealing with this currently on a 04 F350 with the 5.4.at 92k miles. Passenger side broke two studs and driver's side one stud was broken. I removed the broken studs and ready to reassemble. I took the manifolds to a local machine shop to have them resurfaced. One is cracked and the other is twisted at the fwd port and cannot be machined flat. I've read too many horror stories about the Dorman manifolds so no way I was going with those. I was about ready to order OEM manifolds but then decided to go ahead and order headers instead. I just ordered the Gibson headers from Summit and am really hoping I can put this back together and be done with it. I also ordered the SDS Y pipe as I fgured ight as well do that while I have everything off and apart.

 

I'm just pretty disgusted with the quality of dorman. I figured it would be better than this, but i guess for the price i should have guessed. I think I'm going to have to go with headers.

 

I ordered the Gibson stainless headers. Part No. is GP126S-1 and they are $399 at Summit. Not sure if you have the 3v or 2v. Mine is a 2v so might not be same part number for yours.

 

I'm looking at the BFC headers for my 05. About 220 bucks for the set with gaskets. A little skeptical, but they seem to be a pretty good company and sell a decent amount of things like this.

 

Just do your research. Some of those cheap headers can be very poor quality. Not suggesting the ones you are looking at are but for me I'm more interested in not having to take the thing apart again then saving a few bucks. The Gibson's come with stainless bolts and new gaskets and all the reviews I could find were positive.

 

 

Have an 03 250 with 5.4, put the Gibson stainless on ole thirsty seven years ago. Get the bolts with the lock tabs, they are a bit tricky to install, but no looking back. It is a plow truck and has been it's whole life, no issues with them yet.

 

 

I use oems. just did my drivers side. Check ebay for stainless stud kits from some guy in mass...they are the bomb. also look on ebay for manifolds sometimes way cheaper for oems.. I think thats where I got mine or amazon..

 

I finished the install of the Gibson headers and SPD y-pipe this weekend. Before I ordered the headers I had already ordered a stainless stud kit so I went ahead and used the stainless studs instead of the zinc bolts that came with the headers. I had to trim about 1/8" off of one stud so it wouldn't hit the header pipe. Otherwise the studs worked well. The overall project from removing the old manifolds, extracting broken studs and then installing the new stuff was a pretty big project. I just tried to take my time and not get too frustrated. Removing the inner fender liners is the way to go. Of course I had already removed these to get the old manifolds and broken studs out. I was never so happy to be fortunate enough to have my BendPak lift so I was not on my back or knees the whole time The headers fit perfectly and I did not need to trim the motor mount bracket as some have had to do. Installing the y-pipe took some time too. I went slow, trimming small amounts of pipe at a time to get a good fit-up. If you do this project be careful if you use a sawzall to cut the pipe as the end of your blade gets close to the oil pan. I did my rough cuts with the sawzall then did my detail trimming with a cut-off wheel in my grinder. Once I was happy with the fit I tacked all the seems good then took the pipe back off and to the bench to weld all four seams. I fired the truck up and let it run for 20 mins before putting the fender liners back in. Then I put on a good pair of tig gloves and retightened all the header bolts while they were hot. They did tighten more after getting hot. I'll do another check of the bolts after a few hundred miles as per the Gibson instructions.
The truck does seem to have a little better throttle response and sounds better. Although this is my daughter's truck so I don't drive it very often to be able to give a good idea of performance improvement. As stated in my previous post, I did this more to hopefully never have to deal with broken studs or manifolds again then about performance. The y-pipe was for performance/fuel gains as the original pipe is just stupid the way it tee's.