Gonna disagree with you there, chief. Please provide a link to JBA's dyno results over Gibson's on a 2nd gen ram.
I did the research before I bought headers. There isn't a better set for a 2nd gen than the Gibsons, or I would have bought them over the Gibsons.
I remember reading this someplace. I had also spoken to many that installed them and what the results were. They did not fair as good from what I recall nor were they as easy to install. Lots of folks have had issues with leaks around the manifold joints and had to regrind the block to ensure proper fit.
That's why I stated that JBAs were easier to install, and, they were tuned and proven HP gains in real world tests. The data, I don't have. It was online in a ratings chart that was put together from various real world tests. I can't find at current but, when I have more time, I will see if I can find it.
But, being an engineer myself, one needs data to measure and quantify the results in order to prove it and, had I had the money and time, I would put both on my own truck, take it up to the dyno and measure them both.
Out of hundreds of reviews that were posted, the majority was in favor of JBAs over Gibson and Dougs. Gibson makes a great looking header with all their chrome plating ads but, from my reading, there was mention of clearance issues, some had thermal radiation issues and some had installation and fit issues. Some had to remove the heat shields. I certainly did not want to deal with grinding the block and removing heat shields. Doug Ts had similar issues.
I also spoke to two motor guys and they also state that there were fit issues on occasion with Gibson's. So, that's what I used to base my comments around. However, like anything, YMMV.
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96 Dodge Ram 1500 4WD, Hughes Fi Airgap, Custom Al -6AN billet fuel rails, Bosch FIs, JBA headers/ JBA perf. exhaust, F&B TB, Summit- -6AN fuel supply lines, Magnaflow hi flow CAT, Pulstar plugs, Moroso Ultra 40s, SCT, MSD coilpack, Volant CAI / Kenwood Excelon XVT 819 DVD, Alpine PDX 4150, Kenwood KAC-X10D, Boston Acoustics, single 10.
Not sure if this will help any. I got Pacesetters they are ok. They paint them with normal paint so it wears off pretty quick. The high heat engine paint will last a little while then will wear off. I contacted Jet Hot about having them coated 362 fing dollars. I only paid $150 for them. I think I'm gonna try the header paint that Eastwood sells. Its around 30 bucks a pint but suppose to be enough to do a set of shortys.
Only reason I post this is because if you get any set and decide later to get them Jet Hot coated its gonna cost A LOT
i looked around my ebay and couldn't find the seller. i do know that the welds looked better than the ones in your link. it looks like those welds got a little too hot. just keep looking and i'm sure you'll find some that have good welds for less than 150$.
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Just to throw my 2 cents in, as someone who has worked with and welded stainless. Besides being a PITA, the quality of the stainless has to be considered. Just like anything else, you get what you pay for. When I shopped for stainless headers for my previous 99 2500 5.9, My first question was what number stainless do they use. There are different number that rate quality and purity. If they couldn't tell me a number, I would say thank you and hang up. I did find a company that offered a DYI kit to assemble your own, the name and link escape me ATM. Also even the purest stainless is not completely immune to the effects of exhaust heat, they all will eventually "blue" or discolor. Heat cycles is what effects or breaks down the tubing over time, not necessarily how hot your exhaust is.
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01 1500 XCab 2WD,5.2. Edelbrock/AEM Dryflow 14x3 RAC. Summit Performance Cap,Rotor,and 8.5mm wires hooked to Autolite plugs.MSD 8228 Coil. Superchips 3815. Royal Purple for the fluids. Hughes Engines Underdrive Pulleys, Hypertech 180 T-Stat. Bronze Truck Club #1
heat is also what makes stainless rust. from what i've seen, the cheap headers use t304 stainless and quality headers like gibson use t604. i'm not sure what the numbers mean, thats just what i've seen.
my headers are around 350º to 450º at idle after it has been running for a little bit. my dads manifolds are the exact same temp. i was a little worried after the initial start up when he asked me if they were supposed to glow, but a couple months ago i was checking stuff with the heat gun and decided to check his manifolds. since they are the same temp as manifolds i'm not worried about the heat any more.
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