Just finished installing my Magnaflow on my 02 ext and I noticed that it just barely is leaning against the spare tire. I tried messing with the fit but no matter what I do it leans against it. Does anyone know if the exhaust gets hot enough to damage the tire? If it does what should I do?

Thanks for the help in adavance.

GM

 

I have an 02 F-150 ext. cab and I installed the same kit in the '3 inch version and the same problem occured. I tried to adjust but nothing helped. In the end it will not damage the tire as the temperature does not get great enough to cause a problem but if you have the rancho shocks with the boots the plastic boots may melt slightly but not enough to notice.

 

Well, I guess I'll just say bye to my Rancho booties now! Thanks for the quick response.

GM

 

Check to see that your spare tire is pulled over as far to the drivers side as it can go...... Mine did the same thing with my 3" tailpipe.

Mine did get hot enough to not really melt the tire, but I could smell burning rubber at one point.... It did melt the stock plastic shock cover too. I've since upgraded shocks that have metal covers....

Anyway, on the spare, crank it down a little and while you crank it up, pull on it towards the drivers side and it should move over an additional inch or so and give you plenty of room on the exhaust....

Good luck!

Mitch

 

Have you lowered the spare, and then while cranking it back up, push it away from the exhaust?

Sometimes you can get more clearance that way.


Edited to say Mitchf150 beat me to the reply

 

gerryoil,

I had the same problem with my '03 extended cab 2WD Flairside Sport. After installation the tail pipe rubbed up against my spare tire. I did exactly what some of the posts mentioned and let the spare tire down slightly and pulled it toward the rear and away from the tailpipe. I did not like this solution because the spare might somehow get back to its normal position. I also had another problem in that my truck has the factory mud flaps. If I adjusted the tailpipe to miss the spare it hit the mud flap and vise-versa.

I took my truck to a local muffler shop and the tech loosened all the clamps. (go get some good heavy duty steel clamps as the stainless steel clamps that come with the system will gall and break before you can get them good and tight) He made sure all the joints were slipped as far forward as possible which moved the tailpipe farther away from the spare. The rear muffler hanger brackets on the truck have two "bumps" that locate the rubber hanger. He pushed the rubber hangers over and past the second inner "bump" on the truck bracket which moved the muffler away from the centerline of the truck. This again moved the tailpipe away from the spare. However, now the tailpipe was very close to the shock and hitting the mud flap. He next twisted the tailpipe at the slip joint with the muffler to give some clearance away from the RH shock (passenger side). Since all of the stainless steel clamps had galled and I had broken them trying to tighten them during installtion, I had replaced them with regular heavy duty steel clamps. He tightened the clamps with everything in place.

At this point the tailpipe was centered and cleared the spare tire and shock by about 1" to 1.25". (spare tire located in normal position now) The tailpipe chrome tip still hit my mud flap. To remedy this problem he heated the last bend in the tailpipe just before the tip, and with another piece of pipe inserted into the tailpipe as a lever, he bent the tip back a few degrees to clear the mud flap. When he bent the tailpipe the tubing wrinkled a little where he bent it but it did not collapse any. To allow the tailpipe to be level I still had to do a little modification to the flap mounting flange, but it now clears everything and looks good. I love the sound of the Magnaflow system!

Sorry for the lengthy novel, but I hope this helps.

 

Well I had the exact problem and did just that. Moved the spare over and had 3/4" clearance. Drove it for about a month and took a long 3hour trip on the highway towing a trailer, and smelled rubber. by the time I pulled over and took a look at it, it had burned a hole into the spare exposing the steel belts. The spare is shot and I still don't have a good solution to making it clear it. The tech support at Magnaflow was nice but couldn't give me anymore help, besides what I already tried. I really like the exhaust, but I think they need to re evaluate how they route it. It really pisses me off that I now need to buy a new freakin tire. For a complete "bolt on kit" i think its BS that I need to take it to a muffler shop to have them adjust the bends so it will clear.
Hope you have better luck than I did!

 

You should be able to crank that spare up REAL TIGHT. So tight I dont think it would move back to its original location.

On my Screw, I had mine so tight, it dented the sidewall's steel belts, and I wasn't even trying to get it tight. I dont have any clearance issues, I just cranked it up after working on the truck.