I have been on a quest to find a set of V10 headers. 20 years ago just about everyone made some. Banks, Hedman, Borla, Gibson, JBA, Doug Thorley and even China. Today there's only JBA, Hedman and Gibson. (At least you could order them) I reluctantly ordered a set of Hedman's back in October. They had a lead time of 4 months. Last week I called Jegs(where I ordered them from) wondering where they were. A nice lady there called Hedman and was told that they had arrived and would be shipped out this week. I even double checked with her, are they really there? She assured me they were. Yesterday I get an email from Jegs saying they are still on back order until JUNE!!!! I was pissed!. June is what it says on the web page if you order them TODAY. WTF happened to my 4 months??? I called Jegs again and another woman says that is correct. I told her my conversation that I just had a couple days ago and she had no notes about that. She ask if she should call Hedmen and I said absolutely! Well sure enough Hedman says June, I absolutely hate liars and incompetent people. I told her to cancel my order and refund my money. I am switching to JBA and am going to use a SPD performance Y pipe. The JBAs are in stock. I ordered them from Summit, F Jegs as well. At least now I don't have to modify the junk collectors on the Hedmans. Vent over.

 

@V10man,

Over the years, V10 header options have dwindled, but we do our best to keep some in stock for builds like yours. We know how frustrating long backorders and mixed messages can be, which is why we focus on having parts ready when you need them.

JBA makes a solid set of headers, and pairing them with the SPD Performance Y-pipe is a great call.

Glad we could help get your project back on track—always happy to help! Let us know if you need anything else.

 

I finally got it done. I was unable to use the weld a nut method successfully. I believe I had the heat setting too high on my welder and ended up making a ball at the end which wouldn't let the stud turn. I ended up using this kit from Amazon to drill the stud and remove it. The passenger side header went on ok. There are a couple bolts that are a bear to reach. I used a 1/4" ratchet and a 3/8" stubby ratchet wrench. The driver's side was being a pain. The middle 3 bottom bolts were really hard to install. Not much room for my fat fingers. So, I decided to cut the header flange holes on the bottom so I could install the bolts then set the header in place. (I have seen other brands have these holes "slotted" as well so why not lol) This header also has a slotted hole and a dimple in the last tube for access. I was unable to get a bolt started there so I lifted the header off and installed that bolt. I then had to position the header on that top bolt then rotate the header down onto the bottom bolt. Success! There was one bolt that I could only use the open end of the wrench for a 1/8th a turn then flip the wrench over, another 1/8th turn and repeat, A LOT.
When I had the Y pipe off, I lined up the SPD Y and cut the oem Y being generous incase I needed to trim it. I bolted the pieces back on the collectors and cat flange. The SPD Y pipe fit very well. I tacked it in a few easy spots then removed the assembly. Welded it up on the work bench. It fit perfectly. Y still need to swap the muffler and tailpipe to complete the system,
Sound wise it is about the same for now. Seat of the pants dyno it seems more responsive. Can't wait for the muffler and 5 Star tune.

 

overall was the swap worth it? any changes in power or MPG after headers and a tune?

 

Well this is my thought process on this. I have been installing headers on ALL of my trucks since the early 80's. 360 FE's and 460's. They worked then pretty well. The premise is the long tubing helps draw the spent exhaust out of the cylinder so there's more room for a fresh charge of air and fuel. Banks had the best headers for the V10 I believe. Just look at their site at the motor home headers. Very long and equal length. Banks did a good job on the pickups with the room they had to work with. Unfortunately Banks doesn't make pickup headers any longer. So... we're left with a handful of manifold replacement style or if you're patient, Hedman will make a set that was similar to Banks but much lower quality. I looked at it this way, the JBA shorties look much better than the stock manifold. There's a plus. The factory Ford Y pipe is terrible so the replacement Y is much better. Another plus. The factory muffler is probably chambered so I like the see through mufflers like Magnaflow. Another plus. I wanted a tuner to help these mods work better together and improve transmission shifting. My tuner does that. The truck has better git up and go and passing power than it did before so I think all these mods did something. I haven't towed anything yet so I don't know how that will be. I currently am using the 87 octane performance tune. I also have an 87 economy and a tow tune. Also a 91 octane performance tune. I also swapped my 3.73 gears for 4.30's. My mpg were 13's. Now they're 12's, Never was really concerned about that. Really the best mod was the gear swap.