X or H Pipe Question?

[1978steven]

I'm fixing to have my exhaust done in my truck. I already know I want two 40 series Flowmasters dumped at the axel. As of right now the motor is stock but I do plan on a rebuild, heads, cam, intake, and so on. I'm not looking to have a race truck, but if I can get it done cheap enough I'll do it. I will be getting it done at Kinney's Muffler Shop in Hurst, Texas. Some of the Texas board members might know the place; they always do a great job for me.
They quoted me $325 for 2.5 pipe from the motor to an H-pipe and then to two Flowmasters dumped at the axel. My question is should I leave it to the H-pipe or go for the X-pipe?

Thanks for the help,
Steven

[neonlarry]

My vote would be X-pipe.

[crazy longhorn]

the X is newer tech, & works better than the old H pipe. if you have the room, i would also vote X pipe. one thought on the muffs tho.....if you run a 3.73 or 4.10 gear, you might be happier with a set of 50's flows. i have run both 40 & 50 series flowmasters on my longhorn.....even with the rear exit tailpipes, the 50's make plenty of noise best of luck,crazyL

[GreyHoundSteve]

My truck has 40's dumped at the axel with an H pipe. Most people like the sound of it but i dont. IMO flowmasters are played out. When i bought my corvette back when i was a youngin the first thing i did was run out and put a pair of flowmasters on it and went out to the street races to see that 90% of the guys out there had the same sounding exhaust. When everyone started their car it sounded like a flowmaster commercial.

Later on i bought another sports car and decided to do more research before i bought exhaust and i decided on Borla mufflers and when i got them and opened them up i was amazed. You can literally see right through them. I took them to my exhaust guy who did my flows (and is a flowmaster fanatic) and he was amazed. He wanted to do some flow tests on them and told me if he could keep my car an extra day he would do the set up for free so i agreed. When i got my car back he told me that the borla mufflers flowed like nothing he had ever seen before and when he fired my car up if was a sounded like an indy car. It made my flows sound like glasspacks in comparison (borla is much throatier). To this day that same flowmaster nut only recomends borla now. They arent much more expensive (at least i dont remember them being) and they come with a "million mile waranty". When i drop my new engine in i will be replacing my flows with borla.

Thats just my opinion but if you havent already bought your mufflers i'd look into a set of borla mufflers.

and .... go with the X pipe is you can, H pipe is old technology and wont flow as good (though im sure the differance is marginal).

[shortymac83]

on realoldspower.com, one of our guys on there (Nick F, who works at Kook's headers now) was one of the X pipe pioneers back in the mid-late 90's. He had an article done in Hot Rod using one of his cutlasses (I believe that one ran 9's...). They changed nothing but went from straight duals to H pipe to X pipe (used an H pipe with a removable crossmember for the straight duals) and found that the X pipe was only like 2 HP less than the straights, and the engine gained torque when going to the X pipe. Go onto ROP and ask him about it.

[GreyHoundSteve]

Originally Posted by shortymac83

on realoldspower.com, one of our guys on there (Nick F, who works at Kook's headers now) was one of the X pipe pioneers back in the mid-late 90's. He had an article done in Hot Rod using one of his cutlasses (I believe that one ran 9's...). They changed nothing but went from straight duals to H pipe to X pipe (used an H pipe with a removable crossmember for the straight duals) and found that the X pipe was only like 2 HP less than the straights, and the engine gained torque when going to the X pipe. Go onto ROP and ask him about it.

I figured the differance was marginal but i didnt think it was that insignifigant, good to know.

[barn9]

It's kinda like 6 of one, and half a dozen of another, they both accomplish the same thing.

[Sierra]

I went with the x-pipe at the recommendation of my local muffler shop. It was a decision I couldn't be happier with. The sound of the exhaust changed so much, I looked under the truck to see if he had swapped mufflers. Much quieter, except the frequency of the exhaust note basically doubled, and now sounds more like a European sports car. Absolutely no resonance at highway speeds.

[1978steven]

Thanks for the help everyone. Lots of good info here. I think I will be going with the X-pipe and I'll have to look into the muffler thing a bit more before I have it done.

Thanks everyone,
Steven

[68w/sbc406]

i tried to get an 'x' pipe instead of an 'H' pipe, but the guy i that did my exhaust said it wouldnt fit. i have long headers sb400 and a th350. if you can get it in do it but if not an 'H' pipe does a world of difference too

[3 on the tree]

Mopar Muscle Magazine just did a comparo between H and X pipes. The X pipe won-faster AND QUIETER, IF i REMEMBER CORRECTLY.

[Longhorn Man]

One thing to think about...I would have another set of collectors welded on at about the tail shaft of the tranny. This way, if (or when) the tranny comes out, you just unbolt the collectors, and remove the pipes. no cussing, no cutting, no paying to have it done again.

[Richard]

I had read in an article some time back that increasing the size of the crossover in the H-pipe set up provides similar results as an X-pipe set-up. 2.5" system = 3" crossover pipe, 2.25" system = 2.5" crossover. The ends have to be ovaled into the smaller main sections. I have looked through all my mags and can not find the article. I am going to give this a try with my exhaust.

[1978steven]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

One thing to think about...I would have another set of collectors welded on at about the tail shaft of the tranny. This way, if (or when) the tranny comes out, you just unbolt the collectors, and remove the pipes. no cussing, no cutting, no paying to have it done again.

If I have it dumped at the rear axel will I still need to make the section under the tranny removeable? This is something I need to think about because I do plan on making it an automatic. I'm still looking for a decent set of headers for it also. I have been looking at a set like these on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

You guys think this set will work?

[383 Stroker]

I used a 3" Summit X-Pipe. It's mandrel bent. I put collectors on both end so it's easy to remove.

[Longhorn Man]

not trying to rag on you or anyone else doing this...but why in gods name do you only want 1/2 an exhaust system under there?
The exhaust fumes are corrosive and can lead to paint peeling and then rust.
IMO, they sound kinda crappy like that from the outside of the truck, and extreemly loud inside.
Many state it is not legal. (No one really cares though)
And..again, IMO, it just seems ghetto to me.
I have always run poverty pipes myself...but that has always been a neccesity...not a choice.


Just curiouse, and giving my reasons for this opinion...not trying to diss your ride in any way, shape, or form.

[1978steven]

383stroker, great looking setup. I will have to look into doing something like that.

Longhorn Man, I have always done my exhaust setups dumped. I really like the sound and didn't want to spend the extra money to go over the rear axel. I never could make up my mind on the exit either, just cleaner under the truck and hidden. Good info though; I did not know that the exhaust gases were corrosive. I never really looked into it! That is one thing we fight when tring to restore one of these older truck is corrosion, and it is an ongoing process!!

Thanks for the help everyone,
Steven