LCE long tube vs street headers

Have these two options always existed? I’m in a little bit of disbelief right now and pretty upset with myself. My original intent was to order long tube headers for the taco but it looks like I ordered the unequal length headers. I’ve had them on for a good 1.5 years or so. I’m not even sure what to think other than to feel like a dumbass…


someone tell me the long tubes are not THAT much better on the highway… ‍

 

Long Tubes are not that much better on the highway....

 

Seriously, I'd doubt you'd feel a difference if you did change it out at this point. Trust me, there are more important things to worry about.

Edit; If you can't resist, I'll be happy to remove and dispose of your current header for you.

 

If the quality wasn’t such junk I’d buy the long tubes without hesitation and get rid of these for a couple hundred.

 

So you're saying the quality is in question on these headers? Any specifics?

 

The paint started bubbling within a month. It’s been a little over a year since I put it on and this is what it looks like. I am also not very pleased with their long exhaust studs either. For how much they cost it should have been of better quality. The OEM studs and nuts were corrosion free, and when I test fit the manifold they would have worked but I said fuck it and installed their kit since 1. I had paid for it 2. I had it 3. LCE recommended it. The stud kit is very basic untreated hardware.

The long studs I can look past, but the headers hurt me for some reason and I can’t get past how the ceramic coating quite literally eroded away so quickly. It’s coming off soon and I’ll be painting it.

 

Hmm. What part of the country are you in. I'm hoping it's just salty roads?

 

I have had my LCE header for about a year and 10k and it still looks practically brand new, i am also out of the rust belt now and used factory studs. Its my understanding the equal length are a little better. Its likely not worth it to swap save your money for a re gear it did way more than the header did for me

 

I live in Maryland. We do see salt but it’s not as bad as more northern states. I also wash my undercarriage pretty regularly. My frame looks much better than this lol

 

Took the header off. This shows clearly how the paint came off from the get go. It all flaked off. Seems like improper preparation or application. Based off other comments on how well it has held up I’m wondering if there is quality control issues. Seems like they either last forever or don’t last at all. We can also spend a minute laughing at the pro weld.



Also bonus pic comparing the OEM stud(center), LCE stud(right) and the ARP LS1 studs that will be going in(left).

 

Try Jetcoat?
https://ccpcoatings.com/portfolio-v...ua88plWF8B52w6hBty2uujRycA3vIsDxoCvL4QAvD_BwE

 

i gave this a serious thought but I ultimately decided to just do a paint and bake. I used VHT header primer/paint/top coat. Time will tell if it holds up. I really stank up the house baking this. For now it looks decent. I dig the ARP bolts.





There is 1 nut that’s extremely difficult to get to. It’s the center bottom row. You physically can’t get a socket in there because of the way the tube from the #2 cylinder comes down. I’m curious if the long tube version has this problem. With some wiggling you can get a wrench on. When I originally installed the header with the LCE studs, the nuts provided are a13mm variant. I guesstimated the torque to the best of my abilities and it held up. What I like about the ARP nuts is that they are a 10mm 12pt nut. What’s all the fuss? The open end of the wrench will also fit a 3/8 torque wrench allowing you to actually torque the nut. Unless you have a fancy adapter for the other sizes.




You will have to do some math. I used this website to quickly get the numbers. My torque values are in Newton Meters, and my measurements in centimeters. You can mix and match , making use of inches and Nm or CM and lb-ft, but stay consistent. Making either use inches only or CM. Don’t do CM and Inches. Make sure your wrench and torque wrench are as linear as possible!!! A couple degrees off is fine but bear in mind the more off you are the more inaccurate your torque will be. You will be under torqueing!

https://belknaptools.com/extensions-calculator/

My target value was 29Nm because the factory spec is 36Nm and I used anti seize on the threads. The spec sheet for the anti seize recommends a 0.8 torque factor which yields me 28.8Nm. Rounded up to 29Nm.

 

Same thing happened to mine. It's the paint, lce sent me a replacement, same thing, paint bubbles within days. LCE gave me choice, full refund or $250 discount.Tooters pic of how new they looked 10 years later, sold me, wish I had his results on the finish.

I'd 100% stay away from their header stud bolts, throwing away time and $.
Mine look absolutely horrible, totally rusted, look over a hundred years old.
OEM ones studs I took off, gotta go back on, they are in way better shape then LCE stud nuts.

I'd do it over again if I had choice, with all the problems I went thru.
The diff it made on my truck when flooring pedal, makes it so worth it

 

Sorry, this was also ,18 months ago. LCE prob fixed their paint problem by now

 

UEL headers sound cooler.