I had to write this thread because I have had nothing but problems with BadMab Headers and just wanted to warn people of the Number of Issues that I encountered with thier Header(s). The story starts out with me purchasing a BadMab Header back in Aug of this year and I thought for all the people that have Bought them on this site they must be pretty Good along with the Reasonable price tag on them as well. So I did a group buy for I believe I paid $160.00 shipping Included, which I thought was cheap compared to others. When I recieved it I then had my Tech at work Install it and about 2 weeks later I could hear what could only be described as a Ticking sound when ever I started the vehicle, I also noticed that It got louder as the weeks went by, Now I was new to all of this back then(The Modding World) and just didnt know any better as to think that something was wrong but my Tech heard it from a Distance one day at work and said "Damn you have a pretty bad exhaust leak", But he said that it shouldn't be a huge deal if its really not affecting anything, Now at the time my MOD's were GM Stage 2, GMS 3 Pulley, BadMab Header, AEM Air Box Mod, So fast forward to October and I had BYT Install a whole new set-up which is in my Sig, Nick also added that I needed to fix the exhaust leak. After he Installed everything and tuned my Balt I then noticed Immediatley that I was having Major Hesitiations and Bad Idle Searching and Stalling at Traffic Lights. Now Nicks like 2 hours away from me and I got some advice from others on this site and they thought that it was the tune, So I went back up to BYT and had nick Adjust the Tune a little but he thought that it was mainly from the Exhaust Leak(Which he would be correct). To try and shorten this up a little, I took Nicks advice and had my Tech at work Re-Install a new Flange Gasket and It Helped for a little bit maybe a week and then back to the same crap, I then purchased a Remflex Gasket which are supposed to be the Best and had my Tech Install that and even that didnt really Help. My Tech took the header off and did a Feeler Test to Test the Flatness of the header and low and behold it was Warped, So I called Brad at BadMab explained my case and after a little bit of back and fourth he sent me a new header....Well I just got the new header like 4 days ago and had the Tech go to Install it but before we did he Tested it again just to make sure and what did he send me? Another Warped Header that was even Worse than the First One!! So in short I spent over $500.00 in all for all the gaskets and labor and not to mension my cars been running like Sh$# for the past 3-4 months so I've had it at this point and took the "New" Header to a local machine shop to get the ends machined to completeley Flat and this is gonna run me another $70.00! When I told Brad that he sent me another Warped header he just replies with a short and Care Free Attitude(at least thats how it came off) "Thats Odd I had someone check it before I sent it to you", Thiers No way that someone checked it or it would have Never been sent out that way, And of course Brad won't reimburse me for it either cause I "modified" the header. I'm just really Up-Set with this whole Ordeal. I just dont want anyone else to have to go through the Nightmare that I just did. Has anyone had this much trouble with BadMab Headers?

 

No problems at all with mine. I love it

 

Just have it shaved to have the flange flat.

You paid $160 for it, I paid the same for a megan racing header for my prelude back in the day, and I had no problems with it.

I vote get over yourself. It shouldnt cost a machine shop much to deck the flange on the header to be straightened out.

 

Ummm, I Vote that your an Idiot, Get over myself? Dude, Hi I'm earth have we met yet?! What does that have anything to do with the Issues that I had?

 

welcome to the world of car modding/building.

I am willing to be that the first one being warped was YOUR fault. and the second one well oh well. get the stamped GM gasket and call it a day. torque them properly and you probably would be good to go.


i aswell have never heard or seen of an issue with badmad headers.

 

i have a badmab header that i picked up around black friday, i didnt install it yet waiting until next year spring time and it doesnt look wraped since i already checked that in the past... but just looking at the gaskets that were provided with it i wouldnt use them nothing against their gaskets but i dont really care for those type of gaskets due to i had trouble with the metal/mesh type in the past. i picked up genuine GM exhaust mani gasket for my badmab header, and i got some nice gaskets from ZZP with my DP for the rest of my system. if i have any problems in the future with it im sure bad mab will fix any issues. i havent heard anything bad about badmab, i only hear great things about their customer services with replacing headers with minimum hassle

 

Dont think so, but whatever....The first gasket that I replaced was a GM Stamped Gasket, I did have them Tourqed Properly. Guess its pointless making a thread like this if everyone never holds businesses accountable and I know for a fact that others have had Issues as well for one Riceburner had the same Issues as me, But I'm sure its just MY Fault, Haha. Its cool tho, Just wanted to let people know what happened to me with BadMab, Thats All.

 

Yeah, Thier Gaskets are pretty Bad, Maybe Its just my Luck then, I have been told before that a little Black Cloud follows me around Lol.

 

Ive had my badmab on for a few months and after a month I started getting the ticking sound, but it was only noticeable when the engine was cold. As soon as things warmed up, it stopped completely. I had a local exhaust shop seal it up and it ran me about $120 all together. It worked for a couple months and then the ticking returned. I had the same shop try to get it to seal and they couldnt this time. They suggested I try buying a better gasket and bring it back, so hopefully thatll help once I get the gasket after the holidays. Luckily, I wasnt charged anything for the second visit.

 

The only issue I had was when he sent the down pipe studs with it they were the wrong threads. Apparently the guys that make the studs screwed up his order and he sent out new studs to everyone who got the wrong ones and he had great communication at the time this all happened. Other than that I have had zero issues with it and it was worth the $180 plus shipping I had paid.

 

I believe you and it doesn't matter what you say or even having proof.. people and vendors will say its your fault. Its fucked up but thats the way it is

 

Thanks Donkey, At least someone understands!

 

I work in retail, so I get sick of annoying customers trying to blame everything that is wrong with their stuff on the vendor.

Just get the damn thing welded to your downpipe lol.

Are you using a stock downpipe? Could the motor be vibrating causing the bolts to back out off the studs?

I mean, if it truly is an issue with the header, then I apologize, but come on, you have the part listed in your sig, so you cant hate it that bad.

 

First one i would say is your fault. I have always gone back and retorqued exhaust bolts after a week or two because there always seem to be a couple that have loosened up after a few heat cycles. You drive around for a long time with it leaking and you are going to warp the flange.
Second one I don't know about. I assume he is telling the truth when he said he checked it before he sent it out because he doesn't want to have to reship another one. Perhaps it got banged around in shipping.
I would be pissed like you if the second one was no good but would have just kept the existing one on and asked the to ship me another one. You made the choice to have the flange machined so I don't thing you have any right to complain about the cost of that.

 

So tell him to send another one and quit having other people work on your car. 500 in labor for 2 hours of work? really? comon dude.

 

I bought one for my car a few months ago and I had the ticking noise problem, all I did was replace the gasket with a GM gasket and re-torque the nuts a few days after installing the new gasket, and that solved my problem.
The gasket they send with their header is worthless they will fall apart in two days.

 

Bro its not just 2 hrs of labor and thats including the 2 gaskets AND the $70.00 to Completley Flatten the Flanges, Jesus...I just dont understand why people act like this? Makes no sense....Here I'll make it easy if you would have read the entire thread theirs no way you would make that assinine comment, Tell him to send me a 3rd one, Seriously?

 

This is the only issue I've had with mine. I couldn't find a leak I seafoamed it and had someone restrict the tailpipe with some rags to force some of the smoke out of the leak and it was no where to be found.

 

did u wait till the car warmed up?

 

Go sit in the ******* corner moron.
First you type up wall of text like someone stole your ******* enter key. Then you cry a river on here because you're to god damned lazy to jack your car up, and remove 10 or so bolts and pay someone else to work on your car.
Now you change your story and say that you had the flanges milled, but you're still complaining about problems? Sounds like you have 0 clue.

 

OP I feel your pain. I contacted the vendor I bought it from during the GB and he directed me straight to BadMab, never got an email back, its been almost 4 months..... Anyways I was having the same problem, used cooper locktite and it held until about 3 weeks ago. Ticking back again like a bitch. I'm getting so sick of it I should have just man-ed up and went ZZP since day one.

 

i;ve heard of one other bad mab leaking

 

what do they xpect for the price?
they expect halle berry but got
carrot top.

 

I expected a non-leaking header. Its one thing saying that if I bought an ebay header, its another saying that when I support css.net vendors.

 

I emailed BadMab directly, and got a reply in about 48 hours. Maybe you should email him again and follow up on things like an adult.