exhaust advice needed

[Purs]

I'm getting the exhaust done this week and need some advice. It will be 3" from the headers to the Magnaflow straight through mufflers. I have a 2.5/3 drop right now. I'll probably end up with a 3.5"/5 drop one of these days. Anyway, I'm most interested in a "free flowing" exhaust system over one that is completely hidden. I've seen how Stacey David did his and my budget won't allow me to run the pipe through the crossmembers. My 2 questions are how and where to run the pipe once I get to the rear trailing arms and 2) should I dump the pipes right in front of the rear end or right in front of the rear tires. Any advice (and pics) would be appreciated.

[matthufham]

well i'd say drop it down after the cab and side pipe it in front of the rear tire, but you want it hidden. buy some 3 inch turn downs and right after the muffler,weld those on.

[72BlckButy]

I am currently in the same area. I'm planning on picking up the 3.5/5 drop as well, and I'm having a hard time deciding where to run the new exhaust. PURS, are you planning on running an H or X pipe in your system? I would like to regardless of a waste of time/money. I'd rather have it than need it after I get the exhaust buttoned up.

[72MARIO]

I have my 3" dumping under the box. I would advise running tail pipes of some sort. Out back or in front of the wheels. It's just too loud inside with it dumping under the box. Have to get the sound out from under there.

[Purs]

thanks for the advice guys. I'm scheduled for tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

72BlckButy, no X or H Pipe planned for tomorrow. I had an H Pipe on my Chevelle and it helped make it sound REALLY good. If money were no object I'd do an X on this truck but I'm WAY over budget and I've had to make some sacrifices in some areas to get this project finished.

Mario, I'm afraid that under the box will be loud too, but until I relocate my gas tank to the rear it will be dumped in front of the rear diff....

[tomatocity]

One of the other board members just went through the same thing and it sounded so bad he thought it was the engine. He added an H pipe and it cured everything. I am going with an X pipe to prevent the sound of two 4 cylinder engines at the same time. Find something in your garage to sell and make it an H or X pipe. One of these days I am going to be able to do my own exhaust and help friends with their exhaust.

[wessscott]

This is a picture of mine. It has an H pipe and is turned down behind the bumper. The hard part was the bends to clear the axle. This truck has a 4/6 drop. It is in for paint and body so this is the only pic I have.

[matthufham]

do the pipes run through the driveshaft crossmember?

[LUV2XCLR8]

Well it ain't a 2wd, but on pages 16 - 18 in the link within my sig is
pipes dumped out in front of the rear wheels, I chose it because I
used to work at the shop part time that did my work and everyone
and their brother has turn downs, or out the back 45 degree or str.

[72MARIO]

Well if you only drive it 1/2 hour at a time it's not bad. The 3 hour drive's up north and 3 hours back are what made me feel deaf. At least get the dumps angled out to the side.

[Low69CST]

I would run pipe to infront of the tires. Exhaust gasses can accerlate rust in your truck. I have a lowered truck with dual 3", gas tank, and a sway bar in the back. It gets tight running the pipes over the rear axle, but it's doable. I also have a X-pipe. I don't know if it's the stroker crank, cam, headers, x-pipe, or the combination, but my motor sounds bad ass.

[55454]

When you dump straight down get ready to wash your truck when you start it, it will move any dust or dirt, I am a straight out the back fan. If you get hit in the back it could be a problem, but it would be a problem anyway. In 1981 I had BB SWB with factory dual they both exited behind the rear tires. Brit I have two under cab dual hangers blasted for the price of shipping. As for in front of the rear tires I would not like that heat over my tires. Also exhaust fumes trapped under a vehicle will make it rot.

Tommy

72 BB
68 C/10
14 year old chihuahua (factory teeth)

[Rokcrln]

I have my 71 body droped and I still plan on running it out the back over the diff. I have spent alot of time building the frame and body to let me do this. I have had rigs that just dumped after the mufflers and it sucked big time. I think I will do my own exhaust and run it just how I want it done. It will be 3" duels all the way out and it will have an X or H pipe. Here is a pic of the start of the exhaust om my 4x4 buggy I am building. It is so tight I had to go over the trans. It is 2 1/2" into a two to one colector I made then 3" out.

I bought the mandrel bends from summit and I will be picking out a muffler tomarrow.

Kevin

[71Dragtruck]

Originally Posted by Purs

I'm getting the exhaust done this week and need some advice. It will be 3" from the headers to the Magnaflow straight through mufflers. I have a 2.5/3 drop right now. I'll probably end up with a 3.5"/5 drop one of these days. Anyway, I'm most interested in a "free flowing" exhaust system over one that is completely hidden. I've seen how Stacey David did his and my budget won't allow me to run the pipe through the crossmembers. My 2 questions are how and where to run the pipe once I get to the rear trailing arms and 2) should I dump the pipes right in front of the rear end or right in front of the rear tires. Any advice (and pics) would be appreciated.

Just cut your own holes through the cross member, and beef them up with steel doughnuts, shouldn't cost that much even if you had it done at the muffler shop.

[AesC10s]

NO EXUAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STRAIGHT HEADERS! THATS VERY HIDDEN!!!!!

[tomatocity]

some people were born with a silver spoon and i am guessing you were born with a welder and slide rule (slide rule=old, engineering calculator=new).

Killer exhaust Kevin. I gotta come to your garage and drool.

[72BlckButy]

Tomatocity, is there a better way to go....H or X pipe, or are they about the same?

[rivernut]

I had this same dilemna last week. I ran 2 1/2 pipe with exerator pipes and dumped it in front of the rear axle straight from the muffler. I have to agree that it is dusty on gravel. blowing everywhere. It had a terrible tinny noise and was just plain crappy. I put an H pipe in and it got considerably better. I am still trying to decide if I should run them out the back. My suggestion is drop early see how you like it but leave the option to go out the back or to the side if you need to.

[rivernut]

I forgot. An x pipe is better in my mind but an H pipe is effective and less work for the shop to do so less expensive. Just my perspective.

[tomatocity]

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

Tomatocity, is there a better way to go....H or X pipe, or are they about the same?

Just my 2 cents! If you are planning on building an exhaust system I would use the X pipe. If you want to correct and existing exhaust system I would use the H pipe. I would guess that the X pipe is more effective than the H pipe since it acts like the collector of a header. The H pipe is more of a bridge though it should have similar properties as the H pipe. If the X is more money than the H then I would not make the effort to get the little performance difference we Street Drivers will ever see. In no way am I an expert at exhaust. Just a concerned truck owner that wants all the quality, looks, and performance I can get for as few dollars as possible.
I had a 1976 Blazer some years ago and I had new exhaust installed by by a local company and it sound weak. They added the H pipe and it sounded much better even with 2" exhaust. This was in 1983.