Alright, I have been wondering about installation and stuff like that so I figured I would just ask. I've been on here for a year and never remember anyone talking about the actual guts of the install. Seems like people on here are 40/60 between catbacks and custom installs. This is more geared towards the custom install portion. Do you guys buy all your pipes and have someone install? Buy it all and do it yourself? Or do you just buy the big stuff (Muffler, tips, X pipe, H pipe, etc.) and let the exhaust shop supply the tubing? Do the salt belt guys have SS tubing or aluminized?

I make no bones about my expertise or lack thereof . I've had the exhaust shop do everything and have done my own catback work. Just interested in how people go about putting their systems together.

 

The best way to go about having a system done is buy the muffler(s), tip(s), crossover if needed, all online through various vendors and have a shop weld everything together. Stainless steel piping is the best way to go

 

No one goes as far as buying piping for the shop to bend, unless they want stainless and the shop agrees to bend stainless piping.

 

^ agreed. Buy your mufflers, tips, and crossover for duals.

 

That's intesting about the tubing. I remember somebody recently was looking at mandrel bent piping on here. I would think that it would be to hard to deal with that considering the various locations where the muffler could go. So most people get the big stuff and take it in and hope they can get SS piping.

Darren, do you have aluminized piping? I would think that you wouldn't but you've already said that you are OCD about cleaning which may negate the salt problems we face. Do most exhaust shops have SS to use if we request it? The two exhausts that I've had done by exhaust shops have been aluminized. Maybe just my ignorance showing.

 

I have t-409 stainless pipes. The same stainless metal the Magnaflow mufflers are constructed with. My exhaust guy and I are good friends and he had enough t-409 left over to fab my system after 20 minutes of measurments. He priced me for aluminized piping though . I'm not worried about how my exhaust looks exactly, but more about how durable it is ( and its durable as F it wont shake the least bit, even the tailpipes barely shake when kicked ), and how long it will last, especially when coated with a bit of salt from the nasty snow trucks letting it fall out of their trucks.. lol.

The big name shops like Menekee, Midas, Monroe, may have some low grade stainless piping in stock, if not you could probably pre-order and have them bend it for the same general labor cost, but with an added profit charge for ordering the stainless. If you are questioning how to mate up the Flow 40 you just got, well removing the MBRP oversized 3.5" midpipe and adapt the stock 2.5" pipe to a stainless 3" adapter and run stianless 3" direct to the muffler, you could probably do it all on your own, or supply all possible parts and let the shop do the cutting and welding.

edit

Correction, there is a little bit of aluminized pipng in my system, and it would be in my cat delete pipes. I bought basic 16 gauge alumized from napa. Should have paid the extra bucks for t-409 grade.

My t-409 exhaust: http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv311/DarrenWS6/04%20F150%202009/ExhaustHDR1.jpg

My alumized rear cat delete pipes: http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/v...xhaustHDR4.jpg

Not as pretty as the t-409 huh? As soon as it starts leaking and losing durability I will be looking to re-do it all.

 

Agreed with Darren

 

Yeah, in part it was about the MBRP. I kind of figured out that I needed a 2.5" to 3" adapter, a 2~3" clamps, some SS 3" tubing, and a hanger if I am going to do it myself. This was after I reached the end of the Internet and couldn't find a intermediate midpipe longer than 44". Mostly it was just to get a better understanding of how differently it is done. I knew that most people had SS but didn't think most shops did SS.

 

Well just how far back does the MBRP kit connect to? Since the intermediate pipes on these trucks are 3 pieces put together ( or at least 04 - 07 is ) 20 some inches before the muffler is the clamp where all general cat-backs bolt and slip fit into.

 

for the setup i am going with, it wound up being cheaper to have the shop order everything. i looked up the price of the mufflers, tips and x pipe. by the time i bought them and then payed him for the pipe and labor, it will cost less just to have him get it all. but that probably depends on location and availability of multiple shops. i did a lot of shopping around at shops that didn't know their a** from a hole in the ground before i found one that is willing to do what i want.

 

Not with MBRP. One 44" long Intermediate/Mid pipe that goes from the factory Y to the hanger bracket at the muffler. There you clamp the I/M pipe down onto the muffler and that clamp also has the hanger rod. These instructions may explain it better than I can.

MBRP Installation Instructions