First I want to thank you guys for the amount of information you provide, Forums are a great thing!


Beginning of problem was the famed exhaust manifold leak. After reading about headers until my eyeballs fell out, I finally made a decision on what to get. I was so disappointed with the weld stories on JBAs or Hedmanns, flowtech, flowmaster or any of the shorties. I was about to go with stainless works long tubes, as I know that would be tops...but I'm just not looking to do all the other mods that come along with long tubes.

Anyways... In the middle of my continued search I started to notice Doug Thorley headers showing up in my search results. Apparently they are producing shorty stainless steal ceramic coated headers again for the F150 5.4L.

Since they were just being brought back there wasn't much about them in regards to peoples reviews, other than DT headers and their quality on other models in the past. So I took a gamble and ordered a set.

I finally got my headers and am a bit unsure on the quality of the build, I don't want to do this install twice, or put on a product that is obviously sub par...

-The problem I am facing is I have never ordered headers for a vehicle before, so I don't really know what to expect in terms of quality. I was hoping some of you guys who have purchased other brands or DT in the past to let me know if what I got is normal, good, or absolutely horrible.

Below are some pics of the Doug Thorley Shorty Headers for the F150 5.4L:


Finish color is pretty good?





Inside collector





outside collector between pipes





should the ports be smooth or at least have consistent shape

 

Wow.. defiantly not the prettiest welds.

 

I would hazard a guess that no header companies have a person doing the welding any longer. It is likely all robotic.

FWIW
Doug Thorley has been making good quality exhaust parts for a long time and has a good reputation.

Coming from a high performance racing background, I would not be afraid to put their product on my vehicle.

The welds are not the prettiest but I think they look solid and well penetrated. However it is hard to tell from pictures.

 

Who ever welded those wouldn't last a day as a welder in my world. Looks like they were welded by a first timer in a high school metal fab class. I'm sure they're functional, but they look terrible (the welds).

I don't know anything about DT headers from a historical standpoint, but I personally would be quite disappointed if I paid for a set of headers and they showed up looking like that.

 

Anybody by any chance take pictures of their headers before install? Seems any product pictures online have the ports photoshopped Just looking for something to reference. My main worry is that I will see this kind of work on any of the other brands?

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't approve of the aesthetics of the welds.

Unfortunately I doubt many of the other competitors would look much better

What does look good is the thickness of the flanges, the likelihood of of warping is low with those.

Be sure to use some form of mechanical lock on the nuts. Header nuts backing off it a huge problem.

 

Your looking at two kinds of welding there. They mig welded the connectors and manifold and tig welded the tube together. I've welded stainless since 1988 and weld stainless everyday Nov 1-April 1st. Then work 5 days a week throughout the year but anyway , stainless thin wall tube .035 takes some skill to weld. And weld .035 tube to 1/4" think manifolds without blowing it full of holes. Or just butt weld the tube together takes skill. I'm sure everyone here can do it. Enjoy your headers I'm sure they will outlast the truck.

 

. . . and there is what you needed, someone to speak with authority on the subject of welds.

Thanks for chiming in

 

Sorry....I have an opinion like most but I'm no expert at anything. Just thousands of hours 'in the hood'...lol

 

I can certainly appreciate your experience, and know quite well the difficulties of welding thin wall stainless tubing. I work in subsea oil and gas for the last 16 years, and specialize manufacturing and welding of thin wall stainless tubing. Most of our work in the last 10 years has been with Super Duplex 2507 (UNS32750), before that was mostly 19D and 316. So i completely understand the difficulty, and still stand by my statement. Who ever welded that wouldn't last a day in my world.