Crossover pipe wrap pros & cons

[fuzzy1626]

Thinking about wrapping my crossover. Worth the work? Any drawbacks? Should the pipe be sprayed with high temp paint first, then wrapped and sprayed again? Thanks

 

[hesutton]

One of my trucks is wrapped and the other isn't. Both have the same turbo. The wrapped crossover, up pipe, down pipe make a difference. The turbo spools much quicker. Keep the wrap dry and you shouldn't have an issue. If it gets wet often, expect shorter life out of your turbo plumbing.

Heath

 

[hesutton]

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heath

 

[icanfixall]

Nice work and great pic doc. What width and how much did you use for the crossover pipe. I have been planning this for some time. Did you get it from Summit..

 

[Ididriver]

I wrapped my up pipes with a heat wrap probally 4-5 months ago now.
It made a very nice increase and spool up of the turbo. And actually alittle more boost.
Before I had about 8 pounds of boost. Then I got an exhaust leak and it dripped to five. Wrapped the pipes it's back to 8 pounds with the exhaust leak still there if that says anything about the wrap.

Longevity on it seems good so far.

 

[fuzzy1626]

Keep the wrap dry and you shouldn't have an issue. If it gets wet often, expect shorter life out of your turbo plumbing.

Heath

Thats why I was going to paint the pipe and then the wrap afterwards.

 

[hesutton]

Paint will not live very long on those pipes, and especially with the heat wrap on there. There is no way around it, you gotta keep the wrap (and thus the pipes) dry. Paint will be a short term solution at best.

Gary, I picked up 50 feet (can't remember if it was two or three inch) wrap from the local autoparts counter. Used stainless ties to keep in on the pipe.

Heath

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

what would be a viable solution to helping with longevity of the pipes then? if there is a solution? since i will be shipping my turbo off to Russ soon the truck will be down and there might be a way that some heat wrap might find a way on to my pipes.

 

[hesutton]

I read all I could find on the preserving the pipes before I wrapped them, the single biggest issue I keep finding was avoiding moisture. The wrap will hold moisture on the pipes which will increase corrosion. The extra heat retained in the pipes by the wrap will kill paint in short order. Dry is best. The silicone spray for header wrap appears to be an problem as well because if moisture does get to the pipes it will be trapped there by the silicone coating on the wrap and again, cause corrosion. My reading leads me to beleave the best way it to leave the wrap naked, and keep it as dry as you can.

Heath

 

[freebird01]

and keep it as dry as you can.

Heath

no argument here but how do you manage to do that on a daily driver?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

What about something like Jet Hot Coating?

On my old trans am I had trouble with long tube headers creating lots of underhood heat and killing starters, had the headers coated and the engine bay was cooler and didn't go through another starter in the time I owned it.

 

[Black dawg]

when I wrapped my pipes, I covered the wrap with foil tape, and it has held up nicely.

 

[hesutton]

no argument here but how do you manage to do that on a daily driver?

That's why I didn't wrap the parts on the F250. It's driven everyday, it's keep outside in the weather, and the wrap would certainly get exposed to moisture freqently. The F350 crew cab is another story. It the camper hauler which means it doesn't see wet conditions often, it is keep in the shop when not in use, and it rarely gets exposed to moisture. That's why I gave the wrap a try on that truck and not the F250.

Heath

 

[hesutton]

What about something like Jet Hot Coating?

Same benefits of retaining the heat in the exhaust, but without needing the wrap.

Heath

 

[jhnlennon]

I personally had two trucks that had the turbo up pipes wrapped for a long period of time. When I took the wrap off, the pipes were pretty much shot, corrosion destroyed them. I think the heat retention of the wrap also does something along side of the moisture.

Granted, this was after like 5+ years of being wrapped, but the wrap will destroy the pipes eventually. There is a reason that every header manufacturer will VOID THE WARRANTY if you wrap them.

It does however make a drastic differance, and I believe is TOTALLY WORTH IT.

I think ceramic coating would be the best option though. A local guy around here qouted me 100 bucks to do the pipes on a hypermax system which isnt bad at all. This would make the pipes last twice as long...