Yea, I'm of the opinion that it started life as a small weld defect and developed into the crack.

A year and a half (but only about 12k miles) on the Pacesetter LT's on my 3rd Gen and they still look like the day I installed them. Bought them in plain stainless steel and had them custom coated at a local coating shop inside and out which I'm hoping will help me get the longest life possible out of them...

 

I did notice that this new pair of headers looked a lot better then the first pair. The entry into the primaries was much smoother. The first pair had a lot of weld splatter.

 

Could be the one that broke was welded to the flangefirst and as others welded in it added pressure/stress to the first one causing it to fail

 

Could be. I'm going to contact Edelbrcok and see just how long they will stand behind their headers.

 

Silver, very interesting thread. I thought the Edelbrocks where 1-5/8 primaries too, so I ordered the #65643 Ti-Tech thinking they were 1-5/8 as listed on Summit website. Just checked the primary tubes and they are 1-1/2, so Summit's description is wrong.

Obviously, I ordered my headers before reading about Shott's nightmare, so I'm going to send the Ti-Techs back and get either your #65642 silver ceramic headers or go with the Gibson T409 stainless (then possibly have them Jet Hot coated or equiv.).

The one thing that scares me away from #65642 Edelbrocks is the donut issue. Are you running with the supplied lead donuts or did you replace these with an aftermarket donut? I am aware of the Remflex gaskets for the flange.

 

I am sorry for the hassle and extra work
involved in those Edelbrock headers.

Since the flange & primary pipes on them served well,
and fit the Ram spaces
perhaps those cracked at merge connector headers could be used
as the beginning
to custom build a set of
46 inch Long Tube, Tri-Y connected headers
similar to this picture:



Caption:
Here's a look at a typical NASCAR Winston Cup header, as designed and manufactured by Jack Burns Stainless. Naturally, construction is all stainless steel, each pipe is researched for optimal performance, and many portions of the pipe are interchangeable for fine-tuning. This is a GM SB2 header; Ford- and Mopar-based headers are quite similar.

more info
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...ech/index.html

 

has anybody on the forum ever tried JBA headers or the thorley tri y headers?i was debating on those for purple

 

I've heard good things about the Thorley's. I believe they're a tri-y shorty design. I wanted to buy a set for my 2001 2wd, but for some reason they aren't listed for my model year. They stop at '99, not sure what was changed to make the truck different. I know the PCV setup was flipped, but I don't see how that matters for the headers.

 

Those are very nice. I wish I had the time and money to dedicate to custom headers, but that is just not in the cards for this truck at the present time.

 

Silver, please check out post #25. Need to know your thoughts on the Edelbrock donuts before I make a move. Thanks!