After driving mine a few days now I have noticed that imaginary fridge my truck had on its back as gotten smaller. Hills don't seem like as much of a chore.

 

THanks for the input guys and sandy Just waiting on your driving review..lol
and Darrenws6 that would be probably around the $1k mark before headers..LOL
I've been reading all the headaches that everyone has been having with their install I might just have a shop install em...couple shops qouted me $400... ouch.. but i don't have a garage, or "ALL" the toold req'd. So 6-8 hours in this blazing hawaii sun might not be recomended...LOL

 

Volvit are you running cutom tunes?

 

Nope

$400 Is very reasonable IMO. Now if studs brake it could go quite higher. I had two broken, one came out real easy with the right tools, the other side however, not so lucky. Took me about 8 hours all together with interruptions.

 

If you do decide to do it yourself, spray the studs with PB Blaster or something similar. I had to replace the manifolds on my 1997 and went with Pacesetter shorties. Over 128,000 miles in New England weather and with PB Blaster I didn't have one stud break.

 

I think what happens is the studs corrode in the head and become super tight. One was already broken for me and the other I may have had a hand in. PB Blaster or the like helps, but HEAT will ultimately do the trick.

 

I would say more than 6-8 hours honestly. We took our time and did other things in between when we got too frustrated with it. We custom bent a wrench to use to tighten the header bolts.. helped A LOT.

Drive review... don't know about power yet... definitely sounds deeper and slightly louder. Do not know about power yet as it was raining and I couldnt really floor it or anything. I need to look at where the collectors bolt to my Y-pipe... have a small leak it sounds like. Also you can hear more "noise" due to them not being as the cast manifolds.

 

After more driving I can say there is a noticeable quicker response but overall power is minimal.

I had to tighten the ***** out of the Y pipe to manifold bolts.... I mean to the point I thought I was going to break them. Long trailer pull tonight or tomorrow morning, we will see how it goes.

 

After towing 3 atv's pn a 6x12 trailer I can say that there is a noticeable increase in power. Towing on the interstate with the cruise controle set just above 65 I averaged 13.7 miles a gallon. I usually see just under 13 mpg when hovering right under 70 mph. We did have more weight on this trip though. Fewer downshifts and holds overdrive much better on the country roads we were driving on.

 

This might be a dumb question but oh well, i am looking to buy a set of headers. my question is the bolts they send you with the headers are those good enough or do i have to get the stock oem studs and nuts ?

 

I used the bolts that came with the MAC kit. they worked fine, if you ever take them off and have one break though you are definitely SOL. It is a lot of work, I would not have done it if i did not have a leak. little performance gain, for the work.

 

I know what you mean. but i have a leak on the passenger side and i went to a ford dealer and they wanted over 400 dollars for the studs, nuts, and gaskets. so yea i am not going to go that route. seems kinda silly to spend over $400 and get NO performance gain

 

Took me 8-9 hours by myself to put long tubes on my truck, however I have aftermarket true dual and had to do alot of cutting and getting all that to hook up. whether you go shorties or long tubes the stock manifolds suck getting them out. Passanger side was worse of the two however. I didnt have any bolts break on my truck and I had to only remove a few studs on the pass side to get the manifold to come out. I used stock nuts/studs I didnt get any fancy locking bolts or anything.

 

I used the supplied bolts. Neverseize is your friend here

 

Just curious, how much are the custom tunes? He already has a gryphon, and exhaust. Is he still looking at a grand?