Folks Of Interest SANDERSON HEADERS are junk, who else had problems?

Concerning customer service,
I dropped of a pair of custom built 409 headers to be ceramic coated white. I left them with Jeremy and was a little nervous as he had me lay them down in the warehouse with a bunch of other headers and was like "yeah I 'll call you when their done". I asked him for a receipt for drop-off and he wrote one up, no problem.
Now since I'm four hours away, I asked him if they were open on the Friday following Thanksgiving as I'd be in town then for the holiday but he said no they were closed.
Now he tells me to call him and he will come down to the shop and hook me up on that Friday as he lives close. I tell him no, I don't want to mess with your holiday and he says "no problem, glad to do it". Now if this happens and he comes down to open the shop on his day off, I'm going to say Jeremy gets an "A+" in customer service.
I'll let you know what happens.

Terry

 

im positive, it was right after you deleted my post when you ask us to welcome sanderson headers as an alliance vender.

 

I had the same problem with a set of block huggers (not Sanderson) on a 350. I pulled the header off and bolted it to a head on the bench, then installed a spark plug, heated the pipe cherry red next to the plug, then used a socket on an extension pryed it against the cherry red pipe to make more room for the plug and wire. doesn't take much, all you need is a little dimple. Downside, kiss the jet hot coating good bye in that spot. Upside, the plug and wire live many more miles.
good luck

 

btt for donna at sanderson headers

 

i've also had a SBC block hugger header crack at the flange, last july, it had been on for a year....5000 miles. It was ceramic coated inside and out. it was were the 4 pipes come together, i thought it could have been welded alot better. But i called and told them, they didnt seam suprised and they took about 25% of the cost of one and shipped it out to me....just too many variables in these cars to axe them to replace it for free....i think anyways

But I'm going with a different header next time

 

I'm sort of curious to see who or what does all of their welding, it's certainly a production line, but I've seen better welding from much cheaper companies...I miss the days when headers would just wear out or rust through after a few years rather than crack and fall apart after a few months or a year...it seems to be a real crapshoot as to what kind of quality Sanderson puts out...the worst ones I saw were brand new out of the box block huggers that were warped on the ends 1/4 inch on each side (1/2 inch on one side if you bolted the other side up first) and twisted another quarter inch from top to bottom...the guy tried bolting them on and the coating started to crack and flake before he could tighten them all the way down, according to him he was told they could not be replaced by Sanderson because they had been "mounted" and it was his fault for damaging them during mounting...he sold em to someone that cut em up and fixed them and wrapped em with header wrap...

 

I remember in "the old days" when someone bought a car and it turned out to be a "lemon" they always said it must of been made on a monday. The thinking was that all the auto workers had hangovers on monday----so maybe some of you are getting "made on monday headers" .I have Sanderson limefires and no problems with welds,coating and no leaks with no gaskets,been running the shit out of them for 2 years now with baffles and sometimes without the baffles!

 

I always thought it was the Friday made stuff, cause they were just throwing crap together so they could get through the day and clock out for the weekend...

 

I just installed a set over last weekend on a SBC. Beautiful construction, beautiful finish, easy instal but they leak like a pig in heat! The instructions say not to use any gasket or sealant on the the head flange? I just closed the hood and walked away after farting with the leak for a couple hours.

 

No sealant? hmmm my instructions said to use a permatex sealant. I followed the instructions and haven't had a leak in my flanges for over a year and a half. How do you expect them to seal when it's just steel against the heads?

 

YEH,better read the instructions---does say no gaskets,but does say to use a bead of sealant

 

have you unbolted the flange? do the exhaust pipes pull on the headers to tighten the flange bolts? any header will crack if the exhaust system imposes force on the headers to blot them up. Add some heating and cooling expansion forces - you are lucky they lasted that long. If you are serious, unbolt the flange and post a picture.

 

I dont have the instructions with me and Im sure their claim to fame was no gaskets or sealant needed? Others have posted on this thread how they installed em metal on metal with no leaks?

 

hmm I wonder why the customer service people are a little short on the phone !!! ha ha ha

 

U R WRONG! I have my instructions right here and it says Place a bead of Ultra Black Silicone at least 1/8" thick maximum 1/4".Allow it to set till tacky

 

I tried to buy Sandersons once and they referred me to Century...the guy there was such an ass (still have the emails) that I decided I would never buy them.

 

just read their website, maybe Ill try some Permatex Ultra Black RTV Gasket Maker just like their instructions say? DUH

 

Who is Century? Never heard of them

 

Be thankful.

 

But why should you have to do that when you pay big money for an item that is advertised to fit from a company that has such a good reputation???? Besides they were ceramic coated and would have to be redone.

 

ever heard of angle plug heads?
They have little notes next to the applications, look at the space allowed. If you want block huggers you have to make some compromises. The plugs have to go somewhere else. Are people really this obtuse?

 

I'm astounded at the number of people in this thread who think an improper tune couldn't have caused this failure.

 

I am not going to bad mouth Sanderson since they are a direct competitor, BUT I will add two things;
First, I have been running Lakerster headers (Obviously not Sanderson's) for over 30,000 miles on my 32 with a full exhaust system with no problems. For those who say you will always have a problem, I can tell you you don't know what you are talking about. I have many customers doing the same thing. Yes you need to properly mount the system.
Second, There are many shorty block hugger headers made specifically to fit with angle plug heads, so you should not have a problem there if you do a little homework as to what fits what.

 

I never said that an improper tune couldn't cause my problem.

Most folks here KNOW that too lean/too fat, improper ignition timing etc. will lead to all sorts of problems. I don't think anyone here is disputing this.

Whats insulting is the way they have, for so many people, jumped to conclusions about a persons application. The way they ASSUME that their customer can't tune a car.

Yeah, maybe some folks can't & they have seen this lead to failures, BUT.......when I drop some heavy coin w/ a company that advertises & makes the claims that they do about quality, then I EXPECT SERVICE AFTER THE SALE. NOT some dink getting defensive & blaming me before all of the words are even out of my fucking mouth!

Yeah, after 4 years, I'm still bitter about it.

 

I will add that I believe mine failed because I ran them on the car alone, w/ no exhaust system supporting them. That is alot of weight to hang out there.

I seem to remember a list of do's & don'ts in the box, but nothing about this.

Did I stress them beyond their limit? Maybe. Did an improper tune cause the failure?
Haha NO!

Sanderson continues to have problems w/ this style of header & their lack of a resolution & their lack of service to those who experience it is inexcusable in my book.

Don't even get me started on the conversation I had w/ them about their "Jet Hot" coating!

 

Don't see why they should need support,they are just tubing---not that heavy---I don't have any support on mine,and no problems!

 

Maybe I'm reaching on the no support thing.

Maybe Sanderson has some quality control issues.

Maybe I'll continue to recommend against buying their products.

 

I think some of it comes from the crappy tubing and steel everyone is producing. The stuff sux these days, unless you spend a lot for the top of the line stuff.

-Brad

 

And if you're buying cheap tubing and selling $600 headers, the only conclusion is profit is more important to you than quality...not saying that is the case with Sanderson, but it's not an excuse to hide behind if it is the case...I'm guessing the welders they hire or the people running the welding robots (if they use them) are probably the cheapest staff they can get their hands on, it's common practice these days in many different forms of production (including the machining and toolmaking industry that I'm currently "overqualified" for these days)...again, I don't know that that is the case with Sanderson, it's just speculation on my part...