Making Headers

Yellow Jacket

Yellow Jacket

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May 23, 2009
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I am thinking of making some headers for my D-Max to relocate the turbo...

If I were to use schedule 40 stainless pipe the wall thickness would be around .150", and if I were to use schedule 80 stainless pipe the wall thickness would be around .210"....

If I were to use stainless that thick would I be able to get away from using bellows on the piping??? If I were to use steel pipe sch 40 or 80 would it be less likely to crack??? I am going to ceramic coat the pipes and probably header wrap it also to keep as much heat going into the turbine housing as possible...
 
It will be a 3.0 truck, but most likely twin turbos will end up on the truck for some events.... Want the headers and piping to hold 100-120 psi of drive pressure without any issues....
 
Why not use Sch 10 or Sch 5 304L stainless fittings? The Sch 10 will be much thinner than Sch 40 or 80, and work just fine with the heat and pressure. You will also be able to tig the fitting up in a single pass. Also Sch 5 or 10 will save weight.
 
to go along with Later's comments, you arent supporting anything like a turbo, so a thinner pipe should be fine.
 
I have .065" stailess already with bellows and I have stretched and split a few bellows already.... And I was told if I didn't use the bellows I would end up cracking the ss piping.
 
You could have a point about cracking the bellows, but the 304 Sch 10 fitting I am checking has a .115 wall thickness. Other factors can be did you purge the pipe before tacking it up and maintain a purge while welding? Did you pre-heat, post heat and control the cool down cycle? Cracks are normaly caused by welder error, vibration, heat cycling.
 
how about cast manifolds and then just make up your own "up pipes" to go from the manifolds to wherever you want the turbo to be mounted??? Some come over the top of the engine, around the front, under the front, around the back, etc. Theres all kinds of ways. But all that I've seen to this point still use a cast manifold... they're just better at handling the heat, etc.

Also, over on a dmax-based site started by a guy that has a white gmc truck with a ghostly name, there are a couple really informative threads about techniques, material, bellows, etc for making headers and up pipes. ;) It might be worth your while to go pilfer around over there to get some ideas??
 
There are other alloys of steel that are better for high heat application than your common stainless steels, the first one to come to mind is 9 percent chrome steel also called 9 chrome. It is expensive and hard to find but it will work well in the 1200 degree temp range. It is compatable with some stainless but not all.
 
321 or 347 Stainless, not cheap though. A friends Header for a 1100hp Honda was around $3,000
 
I used 304 schedule 10 on my cummins header, been on the truck one year and still good.
 
321 stainles with a double slip fit joint instead of bellows. you can weld tabs to the pipe and bolt the pipes together to keep the slip from coming apart, but it wont leak or blow out.
 
SMOKIN93 said:
I used 304 schedule 10 on my cummins header, been on the truck one year and still good.
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Where did you purchase your mandrel bends to build the header, that is about exactly what I would want to use...

I found steel 2" schedule 40 pipe mandrel bends and straight pieces, really cheap! I have not found it in schedule 10, I was told by a few people that the steel will handle the high heat and heat cycles much better without cracking...
 
Yellow Jacket I deal through Verocious, they are about 25 minutes from me. Let me know if I can help.
 
I found Ace Stainless, they have sch 10 or 40 elbows and straight tubing. I can get sch 40 from Ace for 6 dollars more than sch 10 from Verocious.....

I think the sch 40 would help hold the weight of the charger and the thicker would have a little less heat soak throughout the pipe and would handle the vibration and expansion a little better...

Any other thoughts???
 
Yellow Jacket said:
I found Ace Stainless, they have sch 10 or 40 elbows and straight tubing. I can get sch 40 from Ace for 6 dollars more than sch 10 from Verocious.....

I think the sch 40 would help hold the weight of the charger and the thicker would have a little less heat soak throughout the pipe and would handle the vibration and expansion a little better...

Any other thoughts???
Click to expand...

Why not try and find another way to support the charger as well...that way the manifold and up-pipes aren't supporting any weight?

I'm not a Duramax guy, but seems like it might be a simple solution to a problem??

Chris
 
Signature600 said:
Why not try and find another way to support the charger as well...that way the manifold and up-pipes aren't supporting any weight?

I'm not a Duramax guy, but seems like it might be a simple solution to a problem??

Chris
Click to expand...

this!

Also where do you plan on relocating the turbo/turbos to?

I'm not up on all the different types of stainless but i would imagine if you used something that will hold up to the heat cycles, as long as you support the turbo directly you shouldn't have an issue with the headers cracking. Also i would think that making some other mounting points for the headers to be supported by would be a wise decision if they will be of any sort of length from the heads.
 
I'm going to have a brace/bracket coming off the block to support it up and down, and off the valve cover to support for left to right...
 
chop, chop... Paul will have his truck together before you get these done!! LOL


just razzing ya. I look forward to seeing y'alls trucks compete this year!!
 
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