Old School Split Tube Headers with Duff T-Rex Arms ( UPDATE FOR THOSE INTERESTED )

[broncosam]

Anyone here running Duff T-Rex arms with old school style headers that have 2 tubes in front of the crossmember and 2 tubes dropping down behind it. I don't have everything completed with the T-Rex arm install, I think there might be interference with one of the headers tubes on the passenger side. The T-Rex arms are all bolted up to the axle wedges properly but am going to need more than my two hands to get them up into the frame brackets, but it sure looks like I'm going to have a problem with that one header tube. Any advice will be appreciated. I took some pictures of what I'm up against but I did not see the icon for adding them to the thread.


My brother came over this morning to help me get the front axle back into position to get the T-Rex arms into the frame brackets so I could finish the front suspension. No luck. The old school headers that are on my Bronco will interfere with the new radius arms on both sides. So I guess now I'm going to be re-doing the exhaust as well. It sure snowballs when you're having fun, but again the boss is gonna love this.

 

[broncosam]

Here are the pictures I took. I couldn't find the link to attach them yesterday because my Contributor membership had expired. I took care of that. Maybe these will help.

 

[DirtDonk]

Not a lot of the old blackjack headers still on Broncos anymore I don’t think. So probably few if any out there with both the header and the duff arms.
Hopefully somebody’s got one somewhere, but I’m afraid you might be your own guinea pig on this one!

 

[broncosam]

Thanks Paul, Yes that's what I'm afraid of. Like I said, the axle is not in the proper position yet, it's pushed just a bit more towards the passenger side, but it sure looks like there is going to be some interference there. I wish I would've looked closer at everything before taking it apart, didn't even think about running into this issue, and with the way my luck is I'll probably have to end up changing out the headers and re-doing the exhaust back to the mufflers. The boss is gonna love that, more money. Thanks again.

 

[Shimmy]

almost similar situation but i had to toss my header back setup since the piping interfered with my long arm brackets. it's a bummer but opportunity for you to treat yourself to some new pipes!

 

[DirtDonk]

While I agree that the new pipes are cool (and shorties are SOOOOO MUCH easier!), I also like to exhaust (see what I did there? all possibilities first.
Maybe if they're not too far off you can bend some tubes out of the way.

Bending existing headers is not exactly the easiest or most convenient thing we can do on a Bronco, but they aren't exactly high-strength steel and can be bent if you're patient and have some tools laying around.
And as we now know from that great episode of Engine Masters, a little kink or dent in a header tube isn't the end of the world power-wise anymore.
They literally mangled a set of dyno headers and saw zero effect at first. Not until they were practically mashed flat did they see anything resembling a loss on the dyno.
So there's that...

Shorties are still cool though.

Paul

 

[broncosam]

Added an update to my original post.

 

[Shimmy]

Added an update to my original post.

hahaha! yah, snowball for sure! I replaced my old 3.5" suspension and now i'm going LA, new exhaust etc. and not because i wanted to.

 

[DirtDonk]

Don't forget to add a new larger gas tank before you do exhaust or when you finally do it, you'll be redoing your exhaust yet again!
You know, yet another inexpensive upgrade...

Paul

 

[broncosam]

Thanks Paul , that thought has already reared it's head. Before this all over, the boss may have me sleeping in the garage with the Bronco.

 

[DirtDonk]

All the more reason to make sure that the EVAP system is up to snuff!

Paul

 

[broncosam]

I got the driver side header of with no problem, but the passenger side is giving me some trouble. They are solid but pretty rusty and the joint where the tubes slide together on that side are giving me fits , as I said, they are rusty and kind of stuck together . I'm trying to get them off without damaging them if I can help it. Been soaking them in PB blaster and tried to add some heat but that hasn't helped. Was hoping I don't have to cut them apart to get them off.

 

[Speedrdr]

I got the driver side header of with no problem, but the passenger side is giving me some trouble. They are solid but pretty rusty and the joint where the tubes slide together on that side are giving me fits , as I said, they are rusty and kind of stuck together . I'm trying to get them off without damaging them if I can help it. Been soaking them in PB blaster and tried to add some heat but that hasn't helped. Was hoping I don't have to cut them apart to get them off.

Don’t know if you have tried AeroKroil or not, but I’m finding that this works better than anything else I’ve tried, including PB Blaster. It’s kinda pricey, but I got rusted nuts to give up with minimal trouble.

Randy

 

[DirtDonk]

And double check by feel around the joints to make sure somebody didn’t put a tack weld there that’s fighting you.

 

[broncosam]

Thanks guys I'll look into both those things you mentioned