I need to replace one of the stock cast iron header (cracked), and notice these V10 Hedman 89660. I know the banks is the preferred header, but this appears to be a decent setup with the cross pipe, price under $500.00. It also looks like a throttle body spacer is recommended to make up for any loss torque, what model number works with the twin throttle body? I know many of the low quality Ebay exhaust are very cheaply made, and don't always fit very well. Hedman Name has been around for a very long time, is the quality still the same, welds, header plate thickness, fit, etc.,

Thanks!

 

There was a problem a while back, at least with the V10 headers, with the ball-and-socket collector. The ball was made with material that was too thin, would deform, and eventually as you keep tigthening the joint thinking it would help, the ball would eventually be a pancake. Me and one other guy on here (akangler?) had them waranteed, and Hedman stepped up (after I informed them we were discussing it here on ford-trucks.com) and they made an engineering change so that it was fixed permanently. My waranteed headers held up for quite some time, until I only used the truck in the snow once or twice and it got coated in salt, and then sat for 3 years (yeah, 3 years without hardly being used). The passenger side rotted pretty badly (but so did the rest of the truck during this time) and eventually blew.

The < $500 ones are not coated, just painted black. They WILL rust, and eventually you'll be in the same boat. However, you'd probably get 5-6 years out of them and if you're strapped for cash, it's a decent way to go just to get rid of those stock manifolds. FYI, my Hedmans were the coated ones, and the coating failed pretty quickly after that salt bath it took.

As for quality, all welds, plate thickness, everything, they are a high-quality setup. The one shortcoming is the collector bolts they give you. There's only room to get the one nut on that they give you, and they WILL come loose, and the nuts will disappear on the road. Get a longer bolt, and double-nut it. Hold the inner nut with an open-end wrench, and lock the tighten the second nut to it. DO NOT overtighten the collector bolts. The heat expansion will cause the collector ring to deform.

Also, do the initial install, heat 'em up to operating temperature, shut it down, let it cool off, and go over all the bolts again. Then drive it. Next time it's cool, go over the header bolts AGAIN. They are easy to get to, with a short 3/8" open/box wrench). Keep tightening them over the next few weeks, and they will eventually stay - the header gasket crushes over time and if you don't keep up with it, it will fail.

All of this is "standard header" issues that we all used to have back in the day

However, and I will say this with all seriousness. If you need to, wait a while, save up the $'s and go with Banks or some other high-quality stainless header, if you're going to keep the truck, and don't want to replace the headers multiple times over the course of owning the truck.

But like I said, the Hedmans are a quick low-cost solution. If you are in a climate where they don't salt the roads, or it's mostly dry seasons, they'll probably last forever.

 

Oh, and one other thing... before installation, match the exhaust gaskets to the headers and make sure they match up. One of my warranty replacement headers (driver's side) didn't line up right, I was in a bind, and a die grinder made it right. I complained, and they sent me another one that was perfect but I never even installed it.

 

Thanks for the information on the hedman headers, I may just spend the extra on the Banks setup, I plan on keeping the truck for sometime and don't really want to have to do a job like this more then once.

 

That's a very smart thing to do...

If you have the $'s, and you plan on doing it only once, don't cheap out.

 

I went ahead and placed the order for the banks exhaust at JEGS (although they may be on back order), since I don't have the "EGR" and JEGS has $100.00 plus free shipping, total will be about $1000.00

It appears the Banks will connect to the stock cat, etc., I will first see how it works with the stock cat, and muffler, although I'm looking at the
Aero Exhaust Aeroturbine At3030 as a replacment muffler

 

Nice... let us know how the install goes, and how you like it afterwards.

I did a Magnaflow after the stock cat, with the Hedmans, sounded pretty decent.

 

5star tuning does sell other brands, I have a Set of Doug Thorley's waiting for install that include the Y-pipe replacement. $700 a couple years back.

 

 

I have had the Thorley headers on about 3 years now. LOVE them. I did run some bead welds between joints instead of using clamps to prevent any rattles. I also am still running stock muffler. I don't like a lot of cab noise.