03 Ram truck 2500 , exhaust manifold opinions plz
I recently purchased a 03 ram truck 2500. 5.7 liter. The exhaust manifolds are in bad shape. One side has a small leak due to two of the studs rusted off. I am wondering if I should just repair the studs and fix what's there or replace it all now with new manifolds or headers. I am planning on keeping the truck and don't want future problems. My other ram never had any issues like this. Any advice is welcome. Any price is a factor.
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Your in a rust area or the truck came from a rust area ? USE stock manifolds.. Depending which studs You may have to remove the cyl heads to fix the studs
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I too own the same model truck and I am on my third set of manifolds and the truck only has 40,000 miles on it. I went to headers ceramic coated stainless steel they bolted right in and increased by 2-3 mpg. and gave me a noticable power increase. If you remove the inner fenders it is an easy fix. Note: helicoil all your bolt holes as the bolt screw into raw aluminium. I used stainless steel. Gibson headers is what I used and am very pleased with there performance. Good luck its a piece of cake on a lift. Ive done tons of them in the dealership, manifolds are cheap but junk.
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thanks for your advice
I priced out manifolds versus headers. I dont want to do this twice. Looks like I am about 400 bucks to replace with new manifolds, studs and gaskets. Gibson SS, CC headers run about 500 plus new studs. I have never replaced manifolds before but am not scared to try, but is this a project for a skilled auto mechanic? I restore old tractors and do most of my own auto mantienence, brakes, oil changes, alternators, but I consider this easy stuff. I have no problems stepping back if I should let an expierienced mechanic tackle this. I want it done right.
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I am in a rust area, Michigan. The truck is in excellent condition other than the manifolds. They get all the crap from the front tires. I have been thinking of a way to possibly seal off the engine compartment using the inner fender and close the gaps to the engine compartment. But thats later on.
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Originally Posted by pro-tech
(Post 102970)
I too own the same model truck and I am on my third set of manifolds and the truck only has 40,000 miles on it. I went to headers ceramic coated stainless steel they bolted right in and increased by 2-3 mpg. and gave me a noticable power increase. If you remove the inner fenders it is an easy fix. Note: helicoil all your bolt holes as the bolt screw into raw aluminium. I used stainless steel. Gibson headers is what I used and am very pleased with there performance. Good luck its a piece of cake on a lift. Ive done tons of them in the dealership, manifolds are cheap but junk.
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I used an angle drill with left handed drill bits. If the bolt is rusted to a point grind it flat to have a better surface to center punch on. Alot of times if you drill with a 1/8 drill bit for the pilot hole and step it up to 1/4" and give it a quick push so it bites in. The bolt will back out with the drill. I also used SS bolts and heilicoils, Its been 3 years maybe 4 since I did mine and they show no signs of rust at all. Good luck... take your time and think it through you'll be fine...Bill
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Originally Posted by pro-tech
(Post 105486)
I used an angle drill with left handed drill bits. If the bolt is rusted to a point grind it flat to have a better surface to center punch on. Alot of times if you drill with a 1/8 drill bit for the pilot hole and step it up to 1/4" and give it a quick push so it bites in. The bolt will back out with the drill. I also used SS bolts and heilicoils, Its been 3 years maybe 4 since I did mine and they show no signs of rust at all. Good luck... take your time and think it through you'll be fine...Bill
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Did you remove the inner fenders?? Can you jack the motor? Ive done so many of these and never removed a cylinder head. Keep me posted...Bill
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Originally Posted by pro-tech
(Post 105515)
Did you remove the inner fenders?? Can you jack the motor? Ive done so many of these and never removed a cylinder head. Keep me posted...Bill
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Yes heat can make it harder on you no doubt..If your doing this in your driveway on jackstands I can surely feel your pain... I was doing it on a lift in my air conditioned home shop( one of the best things I ever built )I would be lost without it. And it is not my daily driver so I could walk away when mad. At the dealership it wasnt that easy to walk away I just sucked it up and plowed through. It also helps to have alot of tools to make the job alot easier... Sorry your having such a bear of a time with it...Hang in there you'll get it..Bill
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My project is finished, although I was reluctant to do this because I thought I wouldn't have the right equipment. Thanks for your encouragement Bill! :)). It is possible to do without taking the heads off but some specialty tools for the average Joe will be required. I got lucky that the only bolts were in the rear of the head, I don't know of any drill that could get to certain studs. I am pleased with the Gibson headers and the fit and finish of the kit. If you didn't have broken studs I could see this done in a few hours. Overall , I am glad I did it myself, saved a ton of green, and learned a lot. I decided to leave the stock muffler and am adding a cold air intake. ( basically a less restrictive filter). Just looking for better fuel mileage. Thx again Bill!
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Brian, your welcome... when the time comes to replace the exhaust, ...I went with Banks they offer a lifetime warranty and the sound is strong sounding. It also woke the truck up and increased the fuel mileage by a couple of miles per gallon. As you know these trucks suck for fuel economy but they all do...Bill
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