Help me understand the reason for cost difference.
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Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 397
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From: Ohio USA
Help me understand the reason for cost difference.
I can buy a ss magna flow muffler for my truck for about $80 and a mandrel bent ss tail pipe for around $70, but a cat-back is $600 +.?
It has been covered numerously why catbacks cost more, and why shop fabbed systems do not.
Catback kit: Often are full stainless, whether t-409 ( Magnaflow ) or T-304 ( Borla/Roush/Corsa ), this costs more. The hangers are also stainless and retain your OE rubber hangers. The warranty provided by manufacturer is often lifetime of the truck for as long as you own it. Catbacks are also cleanly welded in a tig manner. And it is fully bolt in in your own driveway, removable whenever you want it removed.
Exhaust shop kit: Oftem aluminized steel, smooth/crush bent ( kinks in pipe ) or even worse, crimp bent ( waves in the bends ). These neck down flow and static pressure fluctuates back and forth. Aluminized/steel hangers that can rust out in 3yrs, often they weld different hangers in and bolt them elsewhere to the frame. Warranty that the shop will give you is often 1yr after installment. Leaks can form through steel weld joints rotting apart, and leaks can silently be present when leaving the shop because they install it all and weld it in unless you request clamping. Sometimes they can not weld the top of the pipes under the floor panel and it will eventually burn out the pipe and leak more. Fully welded pipes are also permanent. Not a big issue to some folks but others it may be.
If you are lucky enough to find a shop that will use stainless tubing to fab exhausts with, and have a $4,000 mandrel bending machine, parts and labor often touches $800.00! In that case, a cat-back is cheaper, direct fitted, D.I.Y., and backed with a lifetime warranty and no BS.
So there you have it. Explanations as to why one costs more than the other.
Catback kit: Often are full stainless, whether t-409 ( Magnaflow ) or T-304 ( Borla/Roush/Corsa ), this costs more. The hangers are also stainless and retain your OE rubber hangers. The warranty provided by manufacturer is often lifetime of the truck for as long as you own it. Catbacks are also cleanly welded in a tig manner. And it is fully bolt in in your own driveway, removable whenever you want it removed.
Exhaust shop kit: Oftem aluminized steel, smooth/crush bent ( kinks in pipe ) or even worse, crimp bent ( waves in the bends ). These neck down flow and static pressure fluctuates back and forth. Aluminized/steel hangers that can rust out in 3yrs, often they weld different hangers in and bolt them elsewhere to the frame. Warranty that the shop will give you is often 1yr after installment. Leaks can form through steel weld joints rotting apart, and leaks can silently be present when leaving the shop because they install it all and weld it in unless you request clamping. Sometimes they can not weld the top of the pipes under the floor panel and it will eventually burn out the pipe and leak more. Fully welded pipes are also permanent. Not a big issue to some folks but others it may be.
If you are lucky enough to find a shop that will use stainless tubing to fab exhausts with, and have a $4,000 mandrel bending machine, parts and labor often touches $800.00! In that case, a cat-back is cheaper, direct fitted, D.I.Y., and backed with a lifetime warranty and no BS.
So there you have it. Explanations as to why one costs more than the other.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,730
Likes: 42
From: Concord, NC
Darren hit the nail on the head. Luckily there are people like me that hate that and hope to have something to offer the site. I hope to have a few prototypes next year once I get some welding under my belt. I hope Darren still wants to be my guinea pig 
