PAhydrohead

I have had NWOR headers on my 3.0 V6 for just under ten years now with no problems..until now. These are the flangeless headers that seal to the Y-pipe with a ball shaped piece welded to the end of the header tubes.

The weld that holds the ball shaped piece on the end of the passenger side header has failed and now my truck sounds like chitty-chitty bang-bang.

Has anyone had success in getting NWOR to repair their headers under the "limited lifetime warranty"? I'm assuming this piece coming loose should be covered by the warranty, right?

I have taken it to a local muffler shop and they said that most likely, the header is going to have to come off to repair it .

Before I call NWOR, I want to see if anyone else has had a similar problem. And what your experience was in getting it fixed.

Thanks,

Bill

PAhydrohead

Hope this is in the correct section. Could fit into maintenance.

Babypig

i think you said it best when you said "NWOR...Limited," I seriously doubt they would honor the warranty after ten years. They aren't exactly "service friendly" if you know what i mean.

Silver_Truck

I think it helps to be local too...they seem to be readily willing to help any time I've had trouble

fnrunner

any updates on this??? I really would like to know if these guys have cleaned their act up recently cause I'm in the market for headers, crossover, & cat back -

Thanks!

PAhydrohead

I didn't even bother calling them. NWOR is on the other side of the US from me shipping is going to cost $$$. Plus, the warranty is repair of the part only, which doesn't cover the cost of labor to remove the defective part, car rental b/c the truck would be DOA for probably a week or more, shipping there and back, time arguing on the phone, etc. etc.

I have a guy in my shop right now welding stainless pipe so my plan is to remove the header myself and have it re-welded right here. That way I have the minimal amount of down time.

You could call NWOR and ask them what the warranty covers but I'm pretty sure its parts only.

DudeBud

NWOR sucks when it comes to that. Got a friend that used there socalled headers for a sbf swap and they cracked right after the swap and they would not refund his money

fnrunner

Thanks for the updates- I would have done the same. Why ship something that could just be welded up quick?!

After searching for header info till I had a beard to my arse last night, I finally called Thorley & talked to Randy there. Nice guy! We talked for a good 5-10 mins. - mostly him talking excitedly about this new header he had planned to release towards the end of June. He said something about how they "picked up" Downey's line awhile back (what ever that meant) & have been planning to introduce a new header for us 3.0 guys that will be loosely based on Downey's design but made the Thorley way! He wants to add a ball & socket @ the collector & change their "y" pipe design. I told him that's exactly what needs to be done because w/ Downey & NWOR being the main competitors out there, someone has to step up w/ a good product & good customer service - plain & simple.

So needless to say, I'm going to wait around till Thorley gets this done. Just glad I don't need this asap!!

Also- pass the word on about this new header. Call Randy @ Thorley & express your ideas or enthusiasm for the new parts. Maybe it will help speed things up some & help w/ the design too???

PAhydrohead

The NWOR header has the ball and socket and that is exactly where my problem is! The weld holding the ball at the end of the collector has cracked loose so the ball slides back and forth on the pipe. The ball and socket connection is still nice and tight.

Go Thorley!!

PAhydrohead

Update:

After rock crawling at Paragon Adventure Park this past weekend the weld is totally wasted and the bolts holding the whole thing together are at their limits. The header is now off the truck and a local stainless steel custom exhaust shop is going to do the repair.

NWOR offered very little help. They said to fax my original sales receipt to them, then they would fax it to the warehouse but the warranty doesn't cover corrosion problems. I would have to send the header so they could see if there was a valid claim. Its cheaper to just get it fixed locally. They did offer to sell me another header!

bryanr

Guess I know what brand I won't be going with

PAhydrohead

I will say that I really enjoy the headers and they make a big difference in performance with the 3.0 and it sounds nice and throaty like a V8 with a Flowmaster muffler. Down side is it will end up costing around $500 to have the header taken off the engine, welded and then re-installed. Having a limited lifetime warranty that won't cover this expense is IMO worthless! Buyer beware.

Peace

JL8Jeff

Wow, 10 years out of any brand header is pretty awesome! There's no way anybody will warranty something that old. I can't see where you could really complain at all. Nobody makes a header that will really last any longer than that did. Unfortunately, the cost to remove and fix the header is just a side affect of the 3.0 engine.

PAhydrohead

Problem is, NWOR advertises that these headers have a limited lifetime warranty. Apparently, the limited portion is pretty UNlimited. I didn't realize 10 years is a good lifespan for any header When I bought them I figured they would last for the life of my engine. Why should a header only last 10 years?

Cebby

Hi Bill. My guess is vibration is the culprit.

DudeBud

or rust thats what i see most of the time

Cebby

I thought his were stainless. Maybe they are just chrome plated mild steel.

PAhydrohead

Plated steel but we welded a piece of stainless to the end of the header and its back on the truck. Man, the 4Runner is so quiet now, I wish I had a 40 series Flowmaster instead of the 50 series.

JL8Jeff

Most headers are not very thick metal and get fatigued over time from the constant heating and cooling cycles. No header will last for a lifetime. I wonder what they are trying to claim with that warranty but obviously it's not a true warranty. You did pretty good getting 10 years out of them before any damage.