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You bring up a good point about including a flex section in the system. My head pipes are bolted solidly to the stock exhaust manifolds and the only flex in the dual exhaust system mounting is the relatively short rubber hangers. The balance pipe adds even more rigidity to the system because both sides move as a unit.
My truck has straight axles, heavy duty springs and 10 ply rated tires, so the unloaded ride is fairly rough. I'm not worried about full length headers actually failing/leaking, but assume good 3/8" flanges will be needed to keep it all tight during the rough ride. Any leaks in the flange area really screw up the readings for my wide-band AFR gauge, and I rely on it to make sure everything is working right on the engine. Those Hooker cast iron manifolds seemed like an intermediate choice that might work well.
My truck has straight axles, heavy duty springs and 10 ply rated tires, so the unloaded ride is fairly rough. I'm not worried about full length headers actually failing/leaking, but assume good 3/8" flanges will be needed to keep it all tight during the rough ride. Any leaks in the flange area really screw up the readings for my wide-band AFR gauge, and I rely on it to make sure everything is working right on the engine. Those Hooker cast iron manifolds seemed like an intermediate choice that might work well.
