Yeah I've read about that problem, was hoping that it wouldn't be an issue but it might be, don't know at the moment. I do have intake mani gaskets on hand if I decide to do it.

From what I have read you just need to grind the tip of the bolt off and you can use them without any problems.

Steve

 

Unfortunately I have to disagree with my good friend heyyou. The bolts really aren't the issue, I could understand from that point if the bolts were so long they went past their threads into the intake cracking or breaking it. The issue comes from the intake being aluminum and the pan being steel. Steel heats faster and to a hotter point than aluminum, it expands in the heat and shrinks as it cools far more than aluminum does. Even if the aluminum reaches the same temp as the steel it won't expand nearly as much or shrink as much as it cools. Now the bolts are steel and will expand same as the pan. But the length won't affect that either way. The problem is that over time and with many heat cycles your gasket gets dry and brittle, then with the constant expanding and shrinking of the pan it becomes damaged. Then add the fact that the gasket gets vacuum applied to it and gasket gets sucked into the engine......

 

I'd also like to add that I purchased the plenum repair kit from hughes. It came with a new felpro gasket, a new aluminum pan, and steel bolts that are new, but the same length as the ones already in my old intake, and those haven't been cut down

 

I did the math on that, and discovered that the difference in expansion is measured in thousandths of an inch (single digits at that....). Different metals is NOT the issue here. There is a pic in the 2nd gen ram forums, showing the bottom side of the intake with one of the stock bolts threaded in until it bottomed out. The available space between the bottom of the bolt head, and the mating surface of the manifold, paints an entirely different picture. A brand new gasket will indeed seal, but, after a couple heat cycles, the gasket will compress, and no longer seal. When you have your intake off, check it out. You will see what I mean.

 

I like my explanation better lol. Just kidding, I'll check that out, I've got a spare intake manifold to mess around with so I'll take a closer look

 

That was an ongoing argument in the 2nd gen forums for a while. That's what prompted me to actually do the math. That, and we had folks just replacing the gasket, shaving the nipples off the end of the bolts, and problem was solved.

 

IDK, math can always give a factual answer to stuff like this, but hughes sells their kit with an aluminum plate for a reason. The math may say it only expands x and shrinks y but in our world sometimes the math just isn't right. But if you're right about the bolts then they would allow room for even more expansion and movement. Basically the whole design is a double edged sword. So I will go with shorter bolts, and a new gasket but I will also use the aluminum plate. That way I can just fix it and be done with it

 

Hughes sells an aluminum plate because folks will buy it. If the different metals were actually an issue, you wouldn't see aluminum heads on iron blocks, or cast iron cylinder liners in aluminum blocks.

 

True, at least now I can just weld the plate to the intake if I decide I want to do the extra work

 

Either way glenloyd it's a pretty good chance that's why your trucks idling like that. My truck actually throws a code for not being able to achieve proper idle due to that gasket being shot. I'm going a bit above and beyond with my motor since it's already out of the truck. But cleaning out your intake and replacing the gaskets is a good way to help your truck out a bit. Same with basic tune up stuff, plugs wires, cap rotor, fuel filter etc. Not sure how much you've already done but hopefully we've pointed you in the right direction