supposedly really easy to do on the hemi. i imagine the 4.7 would only be easier. the engine DOES NOT need to get pulled.

while we're on headers, i kinda want a set of LTs with header wrap instead of the coating. anyone have any feelings about that? I know the coating is supposed to be magical and all, but I think header wrap would do the trick. any thoughts?

 

Header wrap went out with the Carter administration. Do the coating! The wrap will help keep the engine bay temps down like the coating does, but will actually advance the deterioration of the headers by trapping condensation on the pipes. Plus you want the coating inside and out, as most of the rust starts from the inside of the headers. Don't cheap out, spend the extra $100 or so on a good ceramic coating inside & outside of the headers...

And Ramracing: You do not need to pull anything off the truck, although if you pull the front wheel well liners out, you'll find it makes it super easy to get to everything from inside the wheel wells and underneath the truck. I've installed three sets of headers on trucks in my life, and my Hemi was by far the easiest to get to everything...

 

thanks for that info! that way if joes garage tell me $800 because of hard labor ill laugh

 

I see by your sig that you are planning on doing shorty's. Now I really can't believe the mechanic questioned it! Although you won't get near the gains that longer tubes will get you, the install is super easy and will almost always bolt straight up. No welding, no moving cat(s) or anything like you have to do with mids & LT's. You'll also not have any problem with the bolts at all, although I'd still check 'em every 3000 miles or so.
You could put a little higher flow cat in there if you want to help the shorty's scavenge a little better and do just about any cat-back system you want to from there.
The header part of this job should be no more than a couple hundred buck install. I am by no means an experienced mechanic and could probably have them on in a couple of hours without the luxury of a lift. So it would be a snap for someone who does it for a living and actually knows what the hell he's doing...

 

I would only say don't do it if you are still in warranty and want it to be valid. By adding long tubes, you have to alter the emissions system thus voiding the warranty on the engine. If not, go for it I have heard they really wake up the hemi's.

 

I don't want headers seems to me like he is right and they are nothing but trouble. People that have them I'm always hearing about them replacing gaskets as they blew out or having to retighten the bolts on them or having a leak somewhere or something. I'm always hearing about people having problems with them. Enough so that I want to stay away from them. It seems locking header bolts seem to fix the tightening issue for the most part but I still just am always hearing of guys having problems with them. How often do you hear a problem about the stock manifolds?

 

Headers wont void the engine warranty.....

 

Almost the very first thing the warranty manual says is if you alter the emissions system, the warranty is void. I guess if you could put the headers on while still retaining the stock catalysts on the stock y-pipe you would be fine, but I don't think the headers would fit then.

Companies make log manifolds that just replace the factory manifolds, that maintain the warranty. On the flip side, you don't hear of many guys burning through hemi's so it isn't that big of a gamble to throw away the warranty. Since I plan on keeping my truck for a long time, I will definately keep the lifetime warranty valid for as long as I own it. Do whatever you want with your own trucks though.

 

One of the "over time things" that people seem to know/remember about headers is the constant tightening and leaking. If you don't warp them and stay on top of torqueing them, then you're fine. Another problem people have run into is fitting them. Nowadays alot of companies make them quite vehicle combo specific, not so much years ago, where a big hammer and smoke wrench were your best friends. One thing the new hemi's (at least the 5.7's, dunno about the bad boys) don't like is a lack of back pressure. Like someone said about driving it around open with no cats, your low end torque goes to ****. Too much is bad, too little apparently is just as bad.

 

Tis true. I went through thetrouble of cutting and welding mine back in and extending the O2 sensor wires just three days after installing my LT headers because I could feel a loss of low end torque. It brought some of it back immediatly, but a reset of the PCM actually had me at least to where I was stock if not a little better (of course mid/upper HP was dramatically better as soon as the headers went on). I think without resetting the PCM it takes time for the system to adjust to the better air flow and scavenging the headers give you. After the PCM "learns" how to deal with them, the torque losswouldbe pretty mucha non-issue...