ratdude747 Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Putting aside the fact that my engine will probably need a rebuild, I'd like to look an another issue my truck has: Rotted out exhaust system. Half the exhaust is in good shape (cats and manifold)... the injection pipe had a hole, but I muffler taped it up today and so far (fingers crossed) the patch is working (a new injection pipe is $100, no thanks) What I'd like advice on is the rear half of the exhaust. My tail pipe is toast (held up with bailing wire, full of holes), as is the muffler (full of holes, inlet and outlet pipes rattling loose). The intermediate pipe is not failed, but it's a lot rustier than the cats (clearly made from a different steel) and the mediocre welding job to the cats and generally poor fit-up (pipe too small and crooked) tells me it isn't stock and likely is about to fail as well. The good news is it looks like I can saw the weld bead off the back of the cats and still have enough flange to clamp on a new properly sized pipe (doesn't look like there was a lot of penetration). My question is on exhaust manufacturers; on ebay I can get aluminized Walker parts to replace it all for about $125 (cross-referenced from rockauto). However, some of the listings are marking these as "economy" grade, which turns me off given how poorly the likely "economy" grade parts I'm looking to replace have held up (at least compared to the cats and front pipe). I do know that at least some alumininzed exhausts were known to fail early and often (my 1995 Chevy Astro went had 3 mufflers in 6 years ) I should know more on this considering I work for Toyota's #1 exhaust OEM (albeit I don't work in the exhaust department, and all we make is stainless these days), but as far as aftermarket exhaust brands go, I'm lost. I wasn't planning on putting on a performance cat-back... but if that's what I have to do to get something that won't rot out in 5 years, so be it? Also, which is better, welding or clamps? I don't have a good welder (POS 90A Harbor Freight Flux Core machine), so I'm thinking clamps are the way to go. Suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 I don't know any answers, but I would like to know as well. On Big Blue I'm going with headers, and my old horrible exhaust system with cherry bomb mufflers will bolt back on to break in the engine and then get the truck to an exhaust shop - which hasn't been selected yet. There I'll have a mandrel-bent system put on, and it will include Magnaflow mufflers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Pull any favors and have the exhaust department put something together for you in stainless and then clamp them on? Even if it means the $125 ebay ones need purchased for measurements. I don't know the specific parts but when I had mine put on a few months ago they used these v-clamps that hold the two pieces tight up against each other but still make it easy to split them if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdude747 Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 Pull any favors and have the exhaust department put something together for you in stainless and then clamp them on? Even if it means the $125 ebay ones need purchased for measurements. I don't know the specific parts but when I had mine put on a few months ago they used these v-clamps that hold the two pieces tight up against each other but still make it easy to split them if needed. I wish... we do have scraps of stainless pipe for days (all sold and recycled), but there's no way (my former manager tried several times, lol). I can't post anything more than than publicly though. My question, perhaps, was more of a "are Walker Aluminized exhausts complete dog poo?" question more than anything. I don't want to replace poorly fitting rusty crap with more poorly fitting soon-to-rust crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 I wish... we do have scraps of stainless pipe for days (all sold and recycled), but there's no way (my former manager tried several times, lol). I can't post anything more than than publicly though. My question, perhaps, was more of a "are Walker Aluminized exhausts complete dog poo?" question more than anything. I don't want to replace poorly fitting rusty crap with more poorly fitting soon-to-rust crap. The factory "stainless steel" exhaust systems are 400 series which will turn brown but last for ever. My 1986 F350 still has the original factory muffler and tailpipe after 34 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdude747 Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 The factory "stainless steel" exhaust systems are 400 series which will turn brown but last for ever. My 1986 F350 still has the original factory muffler and tailpipe after 34 years. I didn't think the originals were stainless? News to me, the stock parts have surface rust but not the flaky "I'm about to rot away" kind that the non-stock parts have. Looked at CARiD... $50 there for such walker parts... but $48 in shipping, ugh. Still looking around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 I wish... we do have scraps of stainless pipe for days (all sold and recycled), but there's no way (my former manager tried several times, lol). I can't post anything more than than publicly though. My question, perhaps, was more of a "are Walker Aluminized exhausts complete dog poo?" question more than anything. I don't want to replace poorly fitting rusty crap with more poorly fitting soon-to-rust crap. My personal experience (here in the northeast) says the crinkle bends don't last through two hard winters. I bought a (now discontinued) Magnaflow mandrel bent 3" stainless universal tailpipe. Mated it to a substantial welded muffler from Walkers medium duty catalog. Welded on my own hangers and flanges so it all bolts together. I had to replace a muffler clamp last year. Used stainless this time. Other than that, it's been good for eight years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdude747 Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 My personal experience (here in the northeast) says the crinkle bends don't last through two hard winters. I bought a (now discontinued) Magnaflow mandrel bent 3" stainless universal tailpipe. Mated it to a substantial welded muffler from Walkers medium duty catalog. Welded on my own hangers and flanges so it all bolts together. I had to replace a muffler clamp last year. Used stainless this time. Other than that, it's been good for eight years The only mandrel-bent kits I'm seeing are from Summit Racing... and the reviews are mixed. $205 + shipping for the kit. Still not stainless though... Edit- I'm reading that the main issues are cheap clamps and hangers; the tubing itself isn't bad. Might be an OK option then? I was hoping to avoid custom work (as that gets pricey since I don't have good tooling at the moment)... seems like I need to think on it some more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdude747 Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 The only mandrel-bent kits I'm seeing are from Summit Racing... and the reviews are mixed. $205 + shipping for the kit. Still not stainless though... Edit- I'm reading that the main issues are cheap clamps and hangers; the tubing itself isn't bad. Might be an OK option then? I was hoping to avoid custom work (as that gets pricey since I don't have good tooling at the moment)... seems like I need to think on it some more. Kit from Summit: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-684012/year/1984/make/ford/model/f-150 They also have twin tip kits... but that would be overkill for what I'm doing (not to mention I'd like to get my spare tire carrier working again, such a kit precludes such. If I want stainless, custom/piecemeal seems to be the way one must go... and what I have now is undersized and beyond dead. If I can talk my wife into it, I might see about getting said kit. (I'm kinda in the doghouse for blowing $200 of our tax refund on shocks and some other things for myself). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob84 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Kit from Summit: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-684012/year/1984/make/ford/model/f-150 They also have twin tip kits... but that would be overkill for what I'm doing (not to mention I'd like to get my spare tire carrier working again, such a kit precludes such. If I want stainless, custom/piecemeal seems to be the way one must go... and what I have now is undersized and beyond dead. If I can talk my wife into it, I might see about getting said kit. (I'm kinda in the doghouse for blowing $200 of our tax refund on shocks and some other things for myself). I bought the Summit kit (single pipe) for our trucks. Does not fit correctly. When all put together the tailpipe is about three inches from the ground. You will be money and time ahead having someone build a system for you. You’ll spend the same if not more money trying to make it work using exhaust kits. I went and had my buying mistake fixed at the exhaust shop. Needless to say the Summit kit is in the scrap pile and I have a 2.5 inch single exhaust from the y pipe back with an off brand (made in the same factory) Magnaflow muffler. Cost me about $50 more than the kit and no issues whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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