Headers For My Stroker

96Burbo · June 14, 2008

About to drop a 383 in my 96 K1500 Chevy Suburban 5.7 and can't decide which headers to get

Thinking seriously about Hooker Street Force (Truck Force), but concerned about the ceramic being an issue with my new engine. Those are going for $426 free shipping. My next option would be these Hedman Headers going for $300 with free shipping. Any thoughts on which would be better?

Genuinefine409 · June 15, 2008

About to drop a 383 in my 96 K1500 Chevy Suburban 5.7 and can't decide which headers to get

Thinking seriously about Hooker Street Force (Truck Force), but concerned about the ceramic being an issue with my new engine. Those are going for $426 free shipping. My next option would be these Hedman Headers going for $300 with free shipping. Any thoughts on which would be better?

Just from looking at the two i'd go with the hooker because you get the y-pipe with it. what size are the hooker headers? the hedman's are only 1 5/8" primary, if it were my truck i'd want 1 3/4" primaries for a 383. can you get the hooker's without the coating?

Schmids5.3l · June 15, 2008

Whichever you choose, I'd look into getting it ceramic coated.

BigJayDogg3 · June 15, 2008

Edumakate me again. I always thought you had ceramic coated headers so that they didn't turn gold from the heat. Is there another benefit of coating them?

dietz4ibanez · June 15, 2008

I always thought that Gybson truck ceramic headers were good... I have been thinking about getting some for my truck!

96Burbo · June 15, 2008

About to drop a 383 in my 96 K1500 Chevy Suburban 5.7 and can't decide which headers to get

Thinking seriously about Hooker Street Force (Truck Force), but concerned about the ceramic being an issue with my new engine. Those are going for $426 free shipping. My next option would be these Hedman Headers going for $300 with free shipping. Any thoughts on which would be better?

Just from looking at the two i'd go with the hooker because you get the y-pipe with it. what size are the hooker headers? the hedman's are only 1 5/8" primary, if it were my truck i'd want 1 3/4" primaries for a 383. can you get the hooker's without the coating?

So your saying I should look for a pair with 1 3/4 primaries, without the ceramic coating? I don't really care how they look anyway, not building a show car, just want more bite with my bark!

I was told to get Full headers, as they give more power than shorty's, but the only Full's I've seen that fit my application are not CA smog legal.

96Burbo · June 15, 2008

I always thought that Gybson truck ceramic headers were good... I have been thinking about getting some for my truck!

I was told by a few wrenches that Gibson's are more show than performance, and that they have weak welds. Don't know how true that is, but was told that Hooker and Hedman are good quality.

96Burbo · June 15, 2008

Here are a few other options.

Hedman Street Headers

Edelbrock TES Tubular

Edelbrock Shorty Headers

I can't find any with 1 3/4 primaries that fit my truck.

Schmids5.3l · June 15, 2008

Edumakate me again. I always thought you had ceramic coated headers so that they didn't turn gold from the heat. Is there another benefit of coating them?

Headers are all made out of steel. They either come painted, which means the paint will be gone very soon and they begin to rust, then there's ceramic coating which basically looks like chrome, and it protects the steel for a long time. Then you have stainless steel headers, usually have no coating because their stainless and can't rust. They come and are bare metal silver, and after they get hot turn gold, purple, bluish.

Edit: ceramic coating also retains some heat.

Schmids5.3l · June 15, 2008

So your saying I should look for a pair with 1 3/4 primaries, without the ceramic coating? I don't really care how they look anyway, not building a show car, just want more bite with my bark!

I was told to get Full headers, as they give more power than shorty's, but the only Full's I've seen that fit my application are not CA smog legal.

Ceramic coating will keep them from rusting all over and look great. Full length long tube headers will provide the most power, but if you live in CA I doubt you will be able to run them.

96Burbo · June 15, 2008

Ceramic coating will keep them from rusting all over and look great. Full length long tube headers will provide the most power, but if you live in CA I doubt you will be able to run them.

Damit...that would explain why I cant find any fulls that say they are CA smog legal. Of the ones at the links I posted, any standout, or send up red flags? I don't wanna spend $500, if I could spend $20 and get basically the same result. This is a daily driver I'm talking about.

Genuinefine409 · June 16, 2008

About to drop a 383 in my 96 K1500 Chevy Suburban 5.7 and can't decide which headers to get

Thinking seriously about Hooker Street Force (Truck Force), but concerned about the ceramic being an issue with my new engine. Those are going for $426 free shipping. My next option would be these Hedman Headers going for $300 with free shipping. Any thoughts on which would be better?

Just from looking at the two i'd go with the hooker because you get the y-pipe with it. what size are the hooker headers? the hedman's are only 1 5/8" primary, if it were my truck i'd want 1 3/4" primaries for a 383. can you get the hooker's without the coating?

So your saying I should look for a pair with 1 3/4 primaries, without the ceramic coating? I don't really care how they look anyway, not building a show car, just want more bite with my bark!

I was told to get Full headers, as they give more power than shorty's, but the only Full's I've seen that fit my application are not CA smog legal.

1 5/8 are fine however on a larger engine you would benefit from 1 3/4. usually you don't need 1 3/4 headers on a stock engine but with a 383 it would be nince to have. the Edelbrock T.E.S. headers are nice. I had a set and they worked really nice. if you can't find full length headers the Edelbrock T.E.S. would be a good choice. whatever you do you want a larger y-pipe. there is not point in getting good flowing headers if your stock y-pipe is too small. on my s10 the stock y-pipe was like 1 1/2, with the T.E.S. headers I think it was 2 1/2. They made a huge difference over the Gibson headers and stock y-pipe.

96Burbo · June 16, 2008

About to drop a 383 in my 96 K1500 Chevy Suburban 5.7 and can't decide which headers to get

Thinking seriously about Hooker Street Force (Truck Force), but concerned about the ceramic being an issue with my new engine. Those are going for $426 free shipping. My next option would be these Hedman Headers going for $300 with free shipping. Any thoughts on which would be better?

Just from looking at the two i'd go with the hooker because you get the y-pipe with it. what size are the hooker headers? the hedman's are only 1 5/8" primary, if it were my truck i'd want 1 3/4" primaries for a 383. can you get the hooker's without the coating?

So your saying I should look for a pair with 1 3/4 primaries, without the ceramic coating? I don't really care how they look anyway, not building a show car, just want more bite with my bark!

I was told to get Full headers, as they give more power than shorty's, but the only Full's I've seen that fit my application are not CA smog legal.

1 5/8 are fine however on a larger engine you would benefit from 1 3/4. usually you don't need 1 3/4 headers on a stock engine but with a 383 it would be nince to have. the Edelbrock T.E.S. headers are nice. I had a set and they worked really nice. if you can't find full length headers the Edelbrock T.E.S. would be a good choice. whatever you do you want a larger y-pipe. there is not point in getting good flowing headers if your stock y-pipe is too small. on my s10 the stock y-pipe was like 1 1/2, with the T.E.S. headers I think it was 2 1/2. They made a huge difference over the Gibson headers and stock y-pipe.

Thanx Hemi Hunter, gonna order them now, once their on, slap the duals on!