Need help with headers

[Jonah52]

As many of you know I have my beloved 07 Denali. Upon inspect post oil change today I heard a tiny exhaust leak. Turns out one of the manifold bolts is broken.

This is cause eneough for me to order a set of long tubes and finally ditch the cats and all that. I would really like to use the speed engineering headers as they are stainless and a great price, but no one really says what Y pipe will fit right up without modification.

Does anyone know any bolt up y pipes? Or how have you accomplished running thenlong tube setup on your truck?

@07Burb @THE YETI @yates ™ @NathanJax @01Konvict @goodinblack @Smokymance

 

[Rocket Man]

Be aware, if you have 4WD or AWD, as in your Denali, you're going to have problems with that brand of headers as far as getting a Y-pipe to work. Plenty of people have had nothing but problems. Just ask @Tonyrodz - he ended up leaving his front propshaft off. Plus he had a helluva time getting the y-pipe to work even without that in the way and had to have someone customize the pipe where it connects to the stock exhaust. Also, take a look at your exhaust as it is now. I'm not sure about the NNBS Denaki's, but my NBS doesn't use a y-pipe but instead has dual downpipes all the way to the muffler which is a dual-in, single out. I went with one of the more expensive options- American Racing Headers but they fit absolutely perfect all the way back to the muffler, where they bolted right up just like the stock exhaust. I did pay the price but it was worth it.

 

[Jonah52]

Be aware, if you have 4WD or AWD, as in your Denali, you're going to have problems with that brand of headers as far as getting a Y-pipe to work. Plenty of people have had nothing but problems. Just ask @Tonyrodz - he ended up leaving his front propshaft off. Plus he had a helluva time getting the y-pipe to work even without that in the way and had to have someone customize the pipe where it connects to the stock exhaust. Also, take a look at your exhaust as it is now. I'm not sure about the NNBS Denaki's, but my NBS doesn't use a y-pipe but instead has dual downpipes all the way to the muffler which is a dual-in, single out. I went with one of the more expensive options- American Racing Headers but they fit absolutely perfect all the way back to the muffler, where they bolted right up just like the stock exhaust. I did pay the price but it was worth it.

I had an 05 and the 6.0 and 6.2 exhausts are completely different.

This all sparked because of the broken bolt. I really didn't wanna spend more than like $800 on a complete setup. Really don't wanna drop $1800 on a y pipe and headers.

Is there any sound or performance benefit to shortys

 

[Rocket Man]

Shortys won't get you much, especially since the Denali has a pretty good exhaust as is. I'm afraid you get what you pay for when it comes to headers. The cheap route isn't the easy route and the easy route isn't the cheap route. And unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any middle ground. MY ARH were $1575 from Tony aka NorcalSS. With a Denali or 4WD your choices are limited. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Be aware, if you have 4WD or AWD, as in your Denali, you're going to have problems with that brand of headers as far as getting a Y-pipe to work. Plenty of people have had nothing but problems. Just ask @Tonyrodz - he ended up leaving his front propshaft off. Plus he had a helluva time getting the y-pipe to work even without that in the way and had to have someone customize the pipe where it connects to the stock exhaust. Also, take a look at your exhaust as it is now. I'm not sure about the NNBS Denaki's, but my NBS doesn't use a y-pipe but instead has dual downpipes all the way to the muffler which is a dual-in, single out. I went with one of the more expensive options- American Racing Headers but they fit absolutely perfect all the way back to the muffler, where they bolted right up just like the stock exhaust. I did pay the price but it was worth it.

Agreed. I had a helluva time. Also Speed Engineering tech support is basically non existent. Their answer to me was "we've never heard of this problem before, there must be something wrong with your truck". Sure, great help.

 

[Jonah52]

Agreed. I had a helluva time. Also Speed Engineering tech support is basically non existent. Their answer to me was "we've never heard of this problem before, there must be something wrong with your truck". Sure, great help.

This makes me wanna just keep my manifolds and buy a corsa catback

 

[67RS427]

Kooks all the way. I have an extra Y pipe for sale at an amazing price. Sounds freaking awesome, check my build thread. Quality is second to none...

Edit: No clearance issues with 07 Denali 6.2 AWD and Kooks 1 7/8" with kooks Y pipe. Fits perfectly... Sounds better than a Corvette

Don't go with a cat back and down size your 3.5" stainless exhaust to 3" like all kits except one (not corsa).

 

[Jibee]

I agree. After several years of skimping on headers both shorties and longtubes, I decided when I pulled the trigger this time I would spend the extra money for quality and fitment. I am TOTALLY happy with my Kooks. Everything fit great and NO issues with the AWD. There may be longtubes out there for less money that work and fit just as well but I wouldn't change a thing. I went with the Kooks 1 7/8 primaries with the catted Y-Pipe through the factory catback. I swapped out the stock muffler with a Magnaflow and did the SLP Resonator Delete. Sounds great!!

 

[67RS427]

I agree. After several years of skimping on headers both shorties and longtubes, I decided when I pulled the trigger this time I would spend the extra money for quality and fitment. I am TOTALLY happy with my Kooks. Everything fit great and NO issues with the AWD. There may be longtubes out there for less money that work and fit just as well but I wouldn't change a thing. I went with the Kooks 1 7/8 primaries with the catted Y-Pipe through the factory catback. I swapped out the stock muffler with a Magnaflow and did the SLP Resonator Delete. Sounds great!!

Same here and it sounds amazing... No drone at all. They aren't that much more than others if you shop around. I'm sure the long tubes can be had for $750-850 and I've got a set of the catted Y pipes for far less than the $699msrp.

Kooks!

 

[67RS427]