hey guys, i have a 97 lariat and noticed the other day that my exhaust was a lot louder than the night before. i got under it and noticed that one of the header bolts was missing and one of the bolts that hold the exhaust pipe to the header is also missing. as for the header bolt goes, can i just replace it with a new bolt or do you think the gasket is messed up? also, what do you think could cause this? i have never seen this brought up before in any forum. any help you all can give me would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance!

 

Are the bolts actually missing or did the heads snap off? If they were over torqued they may eventually break on there own. Any idea when the last time theye were pulled?

If the parts started to separate then I would replace the gaskets, but that's just me.