So the other day we went and picked up my wifes new fixer upper. A 2005 passat with very good interior and exterior but needs a head gasket, $400 for the car. Anyways we took my '06 1500 QC 4.7L 4x4, picked up a uhaul car hauler, and went and got the car. Kept it in tow/haul and it did pretty good, temps never climbed, though pulling a big hill with no muffler and a turn down at 4200 rpm's made me start to miss the muffler. Anyways get home and when we go to return the trailer i now have a loud ticking on the drivers side when taking off, can't hear at idle or off throttle. So i'm pretty sure my wifes new project just cost my truck an exhaust manifold gasket maybe she can make it up to me with new gaskets and headers

 

LOL! Yeah, your truck pulled that load without any problems. All good ... mostly. With higher load, means more heat at the exhaust manifold. A common problem on the 4.7 and 5.7 is exhaust manifold bolts shearing off after awhile. It is a fatigue failure over time of many hot/cold cycles. What I am saying is I doubt the gasket is the problem. More likely that the heat load of the trip finished off at least one of those manifold bolts. So suggestion is to get a new set of Fel-Pro gaskets and a set of new exhaust manifold bolts. Have those on hand before you start. Also do a bit of reading on methods for broken bolt extraction. You will need to be prepared. New bolts, new gaskets, good to go for another 100k. Be ready and not surprised for the other side to fail soon and require the same repair. Really not a biggie, if you know about it, not surprised by it, and are prepared.

 

You sir by the way are correct, driver side rear bolts, upper and lower are broken off.

 

Not related to a Dodge, but I just totally rebuilt a 2002 Passat a couple years ago. Depending on which engine it has I may have some parts you can have.