I was wondering if there is any difference between ordering a full system off the internet or something compaired to having your local shop do it, other then the price and shinny metal.

 

Most complete systems come with mandral bent pipes. The local shop uses a conventional pipe bender. Mandral bent pipes have no pipe distortion (so I've been told) and flow better. The conventional pipe bender will distort the pipes and may cause turbulance in flow.

I really can't tell you if there is a difference or not, I got a stock system with a magnaflow replacement for the stock muffler. Works good for me.

 

local shops usually dont mandrel bend the pipes

 

Beyond mandrel bent pipes, pre-engineered cat-backs are designed to fit and perform.

 

Another plus to complete cat-back systems is the lifetime guarantee most of them come with. I know Gibson, Magnaflow & Borla all guarantee their stuff. You will only get aluminized pipe at 90% of the local shops and NO ONE is going to guarantee aluminized pipes. I work with a guy with a Nissan Titan, he had the Flowmaster 40 Series with dual 3" chrome tips installed about 7 months ago. Both tips are rusting and ALL the pipes are rusting badly where they were welded.

Full cat-back systems are the ONLY way to go in my opinion.

KC-10 FE out...

 

Mine too, if just for the knowledge that I'll probably never have to replace it or worry about it rusting out and falling apart like one usually does with the pipes that the good ol' boy down the road throws on for $150 and welds together as one piece so that you've got to cut the sucker off to replace that cheap aluminized crap every 5 or 6 years.

My Magnaflow should be here Tuesday afternoon. I can't wait.

 

Would I even notice the horsepower diffenence between the two pipes?

 

Depends on how finely attenuated your personal butt-dyno is.

 

The deciding factor for me was fit quality. I've seen muffler shop work and it is just hacked together with sloppy welds, poor fitment, and just looks like someone just threw it together--which is basically what they do. Being the perfectionist that I am, I wanted it done right. I had a muffler shop put exhaust on my previous truck and swore I'd never do it again.

 

if you could notice a difference, i think you got some talent!!!

i have drivin a truck with a dually set up from the local muffler shop here downtown, i noticed a nice increase in performance compared to a stock system, and then i drove a friends F150 with an aftermarket system that he purchased online Magnaflow....and honestly, i couldnt tell a difference at all....

now we did notice a difference between single and dually...go figure..well i should say true dually...

 

True, you may not notice any increase in sheer performance, but you may notice an increse in fuel mileage. The biggest thing to me is that I know that it is done right. Most people don't care what it looks like if you crawl under the truck and look, I do. I'm not knocking it at all, heck I've done it before. Just my personal opinion.

 

better for fuel? How so?

because one has a different bend radi then the other? im sorry, but that is highly unlikely as well..lol

and as far as looks...well then like i said in some other post, see how others look in comparison.

i went down to a muffler shop here locally because i looked over my friends job on his, and i was quite impressed.

what he does after his welds, is he sands it down, and paints on some rust inhibitor...does it work? well it has been over a month, i see no signs of any rust on the welds...

you cant generalize your one experience to be all true with every other shop any where else in the USA....its all about who takes pride in their work, and takes the time to do it right. thats why i suggest for you to stand there and see how its done (like i did) and ask and or point out any problems you may aparently see.

but to say you get more horsepower, and or better fuel economy..just because of a certain bend , i find that really hard to believe, and if in fact that was true, then i should be getting WORSE gas milage now then before, which is entirely false. my gas milage has improved greatly, my power has improved big time with my dually's, sounds just right, and i have had zero signs of rust and or cheap welds, or any defects.

but i guess people will do what works for them best, so im glad to hear you found something that suites your needs just fine

 

I've had both. No problems either way, except back in the 70's when I had glass packs put on, and they blew out within a year. Sure were noisy.

I'm inclined to go with a brand name system though, since they are engineered to perform for the specific application. I once had a muffler shop try to convince me that putting a 3" system on a V6 was a good idea. It's not.

 

Thanks guys. I found a guy that has his own muffler shop and works mostly with race cars (I don't know if that matters but it makes me feel better) and he's going to do a 3" from the y-pipe back for $75. I'll let you know how it performs and looks after it's put on.

 

I had a local muffler shop put on my dual exhaust. It uses mandrel bends and came with a 1 year warranty.