A follow up... I pulled my 30ft 5th wheel over to Eastern WA an back over the weekend. It pulled 2 mountain passes in 90 degree heat and did just fine. I hope the new bolts and gaskets hold up for at least anothe 100,000 miles.
Funnly thing though... a lot of Chevy/GMC trucks of the same generation in the RV park we were in with 6.0L engines... most of them with exhaust ticks just like I had when started up cold iron. Once the engine would warm up and everything would swell... tick goes away.
Gary