ram - crap bolts and ex manifold warpage

I had two broken exhaust manifold bolts on my 14 Ram 5.7. I checked the manifold and it is warped, Does the manifold warp and then that is what breaks the bolts? Or are they cheap bolts and the manifold warps after the bolts break? Also why are there two different part numbers for the stud bolts that mounts the right side heat shield, They look the same length except the nut portion is slightly different. 2 look like 6510141AA and the other two look like 6509863AA

Just had my right exhaust manifold replaced on my 2015 Ram 2500 5.7 4x4. It was the third time the studs broke and the manifold warped. I have lifetime powertrain warranty but each time cost me $200 deductible. I told them this time I was not paying it to they checked the manifold and it was warped bad. They said because the studs kept breaking it cause the manifold to warp. They replaced the studs and the manifold and so far 2500 miles and no further issues, but I will be watching and listening...

No warranty on mine. I ordered a new manifold as the manifold end where the bolts were broke was warped bad. I doubt I could of had in machined flat without taking off quite a bit.

Very common on all years of the 5.7.

Also common on the LS and 4.6/5.4 Ford motors. Don't know why. Expansion difference with aluminum heads? I just replaced the Y pipe to manifold studs on my 2005 Magnum 3.5. 2 were rusted right in half. 2 were not. We are talking a 10mm stud. One on each manifold. How does that happen?
Doug

If you ever looked at a 5.7 Nissan it looks very similar to the Hemi on the exhaust side of the head. They use much larger studs, so they crack/break the manifold which is also the cat.

The newer rams have a new “brace” on the manifold…. and I’ve seen three of those with cracked manifolds so far.

The broken studs…. I replace all the end studs… even the ones that are not broke often are bent. I’ve also used a step drill bit and enlarged the end holes on the manifold face. The end ports also get a bead of copper RTV around them on both sides of the gasket.

Pretty easy job on the 1500s, but the 2500s can really suck…. As well as the Grand Cherokee and Durango’s…

The manifolds in the old days did not appear to be as prone to cracking and warping like the new ones are. Maybe the metallurgy of the iron in the newer manifolds is just not as good?

Personally I think if a manifold broke it would be time to switch to headers vs buying another manifold again and again.

318 Poly engines were famous for warping and breaking the driver's side manifold. If you find a Poly in a wrecking yard that still has a driver's side manifold on it, chances are it's cracked. Passenger side rarely cracked so lots of those around.

A seasoned but warped manifold machined flat again has pretty much done all the warping it's going to do and will usually live a long happy life with new hardware, assuming it can be machined back true. A new green casting is just asking for rinse repeat.

Kevin

Likely they are using less metal to save weight. Same issue with brake rotors warping--often there is not enough material on them to even turn them.

I had the same problem on two of my 5.7 trucks. I cured it by going to shorty headers.

Pretty sure they've got that backwards. The manifold warps and breaks the studs.

Kevin

You'd think they could use some sort of spacer at the manifold to cushion the heat expansion of the manifold since that's probably what causes the studs to break.

I've never checked mine but it does have the typical tick on cold starts so I wouldn't be surprised if it has a broken stud.

If I had to point a finger somewhere, I would say the manifolds are at fault.
Why? The cars almost never do that, the trucks almost always do it. The manifolds are, of course, totally different.

Been there done that, 14 RAM w/52k miles. 2 front broken studs on left side and 1 front broken stud on right side. Both manifolds were warped about 1/8". Both left side studs were broken at the head, had to weld nuts to remove them. Not covered under warranty.

how thick are the bolt ears ? are there thickness differences in those areas between the truck and car manifolds ?
then, how thick on average are most header flanges ? 3/8 - 1/2" ?

that was what I was thinking. I am surprised they don`t pull the threads out of the heads.

GM 6.0 are no better.

Pix of the broken studs

Try backing them out with something pointed. Mine came right out. The studs never corroded ito the head. I was very suprised at how easy they came out.

Mine were broke like in the pic above. One came out with some vice grips and the other didn`t budge. I tried a left handed drill bit but it was not going anywhere. Then the bit broke. So I welded a nut to the broken stud and after three tries I got it out. I bought a China manifold from NAPA since the mopar one was going to take at least a week to get it. Anyone use one of those manifolds? Are they any good? Or should I have waited for a mopar one? It appears the mopar ones aren`t really any better it seems. This one lasted about 70,000 miles.

Stumpy has it right with going to headers, imo. Only have to worry about replaceable header gaskets going out beats warped iron manifolds in my book.

I was also trying to find out the difference between these 2 double ended studs for the heat shield between 6509863AA and 6510141AA. The are both double ended studs for the heat shield. What locations do each of those part numbers belong? They are almost exactly the same length. I can`t imagine the length would even matter? I did notice that the nut portion of the stud looks more rounded off than the other one which has more sharp edges to the nut.

I was going to write; it's a sign. time for headers

For those of you that installed headers, what brand did you go with? I found these listed on E-bay but never heard of them before. The price seems too good to be true. This is cheaper than 2 replacement manifolds on RockAuto. I've got 41k on my 14 Ram and so far so good. If it's going to cost significantly more money to extract broken studs when they break, it might be a good idea to put headers on it now.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/193066963098?

Thats what I used and they worked fine. Sealed up with no leaks and were bolt up to the stock exhaust.

Ok, I found out a little more about those bolts that broke. Those two bolts were stainless while the rest were steel. I checked with a magnet. I`m now wondering if it would have been better to replace the stainless with the steel bolts.