Anyone else have manifold gasket issues ?
 

Anyone else with the 5.4 have manifold gasket issues ? I know they are known to have manifold cracking issues, especially on the passenger side but what about just leaking gaskets. My 05 with only 73K miles had an audible exhaust leak coming from the passenger side. While the shop had it in for a transmission flush I had them check for the leak and sure enough the passenger side gasket was leaking terrible as well as a mild leak on the the driver's side. The tech is a good tech and a buddy of my son said they would get the new gaskets and studs over-nighted and check for any manifold cracks but as of right now it seems to be just the gaskets. Just wondering if this is another common issue with the 5.4 ..............

The issue is generally not with the manifold gaskets but with the manifold studs corroding and breaking causing an exhaust leak and subsequent gasket failure. I actually just ordered the manifold kit from the dealership today, which included new manifold, gaskets, and 8 studs.

pretty sure everyone else has this problem
mileage has nothing to do with it
it's a rust problem, manifold rusts between head and manifold (rust jacking), stresses already rusty/corroded bolts and the head pops off of one or more of them
even if the manifold isn't cracked is will not be flat and should be replaced
I bet it's cracked though, I couldn't see the cracks in mine until I got it off.

Yup, that's why I bought the entire manifold kit from Ford. Didn't want to get all the way into the repair to find out the manifold was warped/damaged on the gasket surface and have to delay the repair while I sourced a manifold. Whole kit from Ford with manifold, gaskets (2), and 8 studs was $140, so not exactly breaking the bank. I don't trust Dorman products that much, so it wasn't worth it to me to save money by buying non-OE parts on this repair.