i found a small crack on my manifold today and was wondering if i should just have it welded up, find a stock replacement or if i should upgrade to a header? thanks for the help
-gaven

 

I opted to weld mine back up but I had to smog it asap and it has held up fine since, almost two years now

 

Cheapest fix would be to weld it and if you have a good person welding it should last you a long time, if you opt to replace it a header will usually cost less than a stock replacement depending on the brand but you will also get some power gains going aftermarket.

 

what would be a good/low cost brand of header to look into and if i try to weld is there anything i should watch for

 

I have a crack in mine. I'm looking to upgrade to a header Edlebrock has a thicker flange. But Gibson has thicker wall tubing. I live in CA so those are the only two smog legal ones i've found. Any one have any experince with these?

 

I ran a gibson headers on my tow rig (K3500-7.4) and they were great,prob the thickest flanges and tubes on the market. Never a blown gasket in the 100,000 miles they were on there, and cal legal.

 

Welded mine it lasted about 6 years. May be cracked agian now.

I've got to look into it.

 

I have been very happy with my Rugged Ridge stainless header. It was like 160$, lined up perfectly, sounds great. No complaints.

 

What year is your Jeep? What is the material your headers are made of? Are they Stainless? If they are, they need to be welded with stainless rod of the same stainless alloy that your headers are made of. Also if they are welded, make sure you drill a small hole above the crack AND a small hole below the crack. This will stop the crack from traveling and getting bigger. I have been welding for many years and this is the best way of repairing the header.

 

http://www.ineedparts.com/apn-jeep-e...-manifold.html

This. Unless you have the money for the Gibson headers, then do that.

 

Oh, by the way, I have APN headers. They are stainless and have a limited lifetime warranty. I have no complaints.

 

What1996SportXJ said.

 

if ya can afford header do it ...

 

its a 1995, im pretty sure its the stock manifold, and how bad is it to remove the manifold, im just nervous about breaking off a bolt or stud and ending up worse off than i am because im currently driving my jeep to college 1-2 times a week at about 120 miles a trip and cant afford to have it broke down

 

i tore it all down and tried welding it but theres more cracking than i thought and alot of it is in between the down pipes by the collector and i cant get it sealed