Review on 🔧 Dorman 917-107 Exhaust Manifold Repair Clamp: OE FIX for Select Models by David Burns

Well you're probably reading this because your Chevy sounds like a Chevy, ie. classic tick-tick-tick header. I went with a 2009 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD, but it will fit almost any LS engine (5.3, 6.0, 6.2, etc.). Little did I know until I loosened my header bolts that this is actually a very common problem on LS engines. Come on Chevy, you have a known problem and you're still using manure manifold bolts. It's so common that Dorman have this patch to save you hundreds of repairs. FIRST I would like to clarify the part numbers and fitting locations as some of the reviews are misleading. Depending on which screw head of your manifold has sheared off, 2 different brackets can be used. completely different) - Installation locations: driver's side rear or passenger side. The reason is that the heads are basically the same but rotated 180 degrees. So make sure you get the right part. Top Screw: Okay, now for installation. I had BOTH rear headers cut off so I needed both part numbers above. But this setting is for the driver's side rear (917-107). As you can read from other reviews this is indeed a pain in the ass. The heads are so close to the wall of fire that I got a couple of scraped knuckles from holding the fire trying to screw in the top bolt. Note that anti-seize has been used on the screws. In any case, you should start with the top screw and work your way up from the top of the motor. My truck (2009 Silverado 2500HD) already had a bolt with a ground strap attached (I believe one was 14mm, the bolts for this kit are 9/16"). I then removed that bolt (easy, you must dancing around hold the bracket with the ground strap slide back the firewall and try to find a hole (okay we've all been there) for the top bolt it depends on what car you have when working on this where you position yours but in my case I mostly sat in the spare battery compartment (where the second battery for the Duramax diesel engine should have been) I've also seen photos of some people laying on top of the engine, it still took about 10-15 Minutes Doing this dance to finally step on the top bolt (by hand, no tools for now) I then started tightening the bolt with a 9/16 "" ratchet wrench (this tool is very important to keep time to save). doesn't give enough room with a bracket, bolt and firewall to mount a socket wrench, so a regular box wrench is really your only choice, and a ratchet wrench makes this MUCH easier than the standard box wrench you would have to use. Basically line up 1/8 of a turn because that's all you have. If you don't have a 9/16" ratchet wrench, you're at Revain. Add it to your shopping cart. I didn't tighten it all the way, you might want to leave it loose so the shackle still dangles Luckily the bottom hole of the bracket with the top screw screwed in aligns with the correct mounting position for the bottom screw I went from below. If you have beef pie hands I really don't know how you're going to do it, but I have pretty thin hands and had enough arm length to squeeze them between the exhaust pipe and the torsion spring - a very awkward position but I was able to thread the bolt in. I then used a 9/16" head with two swivels and "it takes extensions to tighten the screw because that spot is hard to reach. To confirm your thoughts, YES, it looked like a sketch d. , but it works There's no way to get a torque wrench for both bolts, so tighten them fairly tight, but don't back-thread them If you strip a thread or shear a bolt, then you've just bought yourself a head repair , which is the main reason I bought this patch anyway. After the bottom one was tight I went back to the top bolt and tightened it with a ratchet wrench. ) It's pretty easy and straight forward. After I finished both sides and started the truck it got a lot better, but I retorqued the bolt flat against the headers to over the recommended torque just to tighten the gasket a bit.The whole process took a while about an hour. The tick tick tick is gone, so the brackets work. The clamps are indeed more expensive than they should be (about $30), but they definitely outweigh the price of removing the head.