I went to my exhaust installer and told him i was interested in buying pacesetters headers for my 05 5.7 Bee, he said they are a waste of money? They are (they're like $300). He said i'l have all sorts of problems with gaskets and stuff...idk what to do? if anyone can tell me if they have headers if they have problems and let me know if they are worth the money! Thanks peeps.

 

You need to find another exhaust installer. Seeing a LOT of these kinds of posts lately. Was a couple of guys the last month or two who posted that they went to local exhaust shops and were talked out of complete cat-backs (deleting the factory "Y") and into just a simple muffler swap. That they'd see no benefit from a cat-back?

I think people are just getting lazier and lazier and want to just go to work, make their day as easy as possible and collect that check.

Of course you'll benefit from headers and the longer the tubes, the more gains you'll see. But I wouldn't let that guy do it, because obviousy HE has had trouble with "gaskets and stuff". I installed mine in the spring of '06 and have NEVER had an issue. Still the original gasket and the most I have to do is check the bolts every 6 months or so and maybe about every third or fourth time I check them I might have to re-torque one or two and I'm talking like a quarter turn.

The whole key to having those headers stay tight and not tear up gaskets is to torque them to spec, then get the truck up to operating temperature and when those pipes are as hot as they are gonna get, you re-torque them (hopefully without burning the **** out of yourself). EVERY mechanic over the age of 35 knows this, BUT it's amazing how many guys working at exhaust shops these days don't have a clue.

But if you are thinking headers, then you need to be thinking about the rest of your exhaust because it's only gonna be as good as your worst restriction. Also, freeing up the intake helps make the exhaust (headers) work more efficiently. You also don't need to be looking at ANY headers that aren't ceramic coated. Besides the performance benefits that the coating provides (cooler engine bay temps), they should last the life of the truck and not rust out on you like uncoated or painted pipes will. Even if you look at stainless, still get ceramic coating or better yet, have a local coatings/chrome shop ceramic coat them like I did. A good, local shop will usually coat them much thicker (inside & out) than a factory ceramic coating will. Obviously, you'll pay more, but you won't be swapping out rusted headers every 3-4 years...

 

I think the phrase worth it is the problem, will they ever pay for themselves, probably not, will they give you better proformance oh yeah. The order I would do things is tuner, CAI and then headers, but that's me.

 

Damn Hammer, leave something for me to say LOL! thats all you need to know!
I remember when i went to my local exhaust shop and asked the same thing. he asked what truck was it gonna go on, We walked out and looked at my bone stock truck and simply said, "dont buy any, waste of money your waaay better off with the stock one's, and besides their pretty spendy" 1 1/2yr later i stop by to ask him the same thing, this time around i had my 22s smoked tailights, lowered, and all of my engine modds...this is what he said.."Oh yea diffidently!, LTs are the best, especially on your truck..here let me get some prices on the headers for you"

 

Ive got Pacesetter LTs and I have ZERO issues installing them. Buy yourself some and get Mopar exh gaskets and enjoy.

 

I had some issues installing mine, nothing a hammer couldn't fix though. Waste of money though..... that's a joke, better hp/tq and better mpg's definitely worth it.