Piecing SS exhaust together. (1 Viewer)

[86aggie]

Since OTRAMM is no longer fabbing SS exhausts, has anyone bought off the shelf SS bends/turns/straight pipe to build their own system? The local shops aren't able to bend SS...

I know I would have to get someone to TIG weld, or use the wide band clamps, and connect the hangers.

I'm having to replace my OEM exhaust every 5-6 years. Its a DD, no off road or performance mods. Minimal, if any salt exposure. Doesn't make sense but it is what it is.

 

[DrRock]

My advice would be to go to Burns Stainless, they have all the bends one would need to fabricate a nice exhaust. I used them for merge collectors for my 911 racecar and they have a fantastic selection of products.

Burns Stainless

 

[LazarusTaxa]

Man, im surprised you cant find a local shop to make you a stainless exhaust. Even in my (relatively) small town there is a shop nearby that said they could make me one (header > back) with at cat for ~$1200

 

[Spike Strip]

Honestly, a heavy duty 11 ga aluminized exhaust is more than sufficient and will easily last 20+ years in non salt conditions. You have to find a Hot Rod shop that'll work with the HD pipe.

 

[cwwfj60]

I build stainless exhaust in my shop. It’s expensive….I raise the price every time I do it and I still don’t make much money doing it…..BUT I love doing it.

I also use burns for my materials, good quality USA Stainless…it’s also pretty much the priciest option FYI.

If you are willing to learn how, you can buy a decent tig welder, materials and all the gear for about the cost of someone to build it. But it takes some time get good, don’t enter into this lightly.

Lastly, look for tuner shops, speed shops, etc….there is someone within a 100 mile radius that COULD do it….sometimes those guys don’t want to though. Good luck.

 

[Freewheel]

Yes, thats exactly what I did. Got 2.5" bends and straight pieces and had a local shop do the welds after I did all the measuring, routing, and cutting. I wanted it to be somewhat modular, so I got the local muffler shop to do a few flares as well. They warned me that a flare was likely to crack the pipe, and I took responsibility for that possibility. We had one crack in 4 flares. Instead of chucking that part, we welded that joint together and welded up the crack as well.

I got really tired of replacing parts of my exhaust every couple of years. The salty wet north is very hard on the exhaust systems- to the point where my aunt and uncle had a new Landcruiser in the 1980's and had a new exhaust put on (under warranty) several times. They eventually sold the truck ONLY 'cause they couldn't keep an exhaust on it - otherwise, they though it was a great vehicle...

My homemade stainless exhaust is now 10 years old and looks the same as it did two weeks after I installed it. Worth every penny if you intend to keep the truck for a while.

 

[LazarusTaxa]

Man, im surprised you cant find a local shop to make you a stainless exhaust. Even in my (relatively) small town there is a shop nearby that said they could make me one (header > back) with at cat for ~$1200

OK i was totally wrong.. Finally got an updated quote yesterday. Our local shop that will do SS exhausts (there's only one shop in town) quoted 1400-1600 for an exhaust system from a y-pipe back and WITHOUT a cat.. Then, they quoted $850 for a y-pipe to use with man-a-fre headers... So ~$2,400 for a system which is a ton more than I was hoping to pay.

Anyone got any other suggestions? I REALLY want to go with 3FE manifolts into an OTRAMM exhaust, but he isnt making them and I doubt I can find one in mud classifieds.

 

[86aggie]

I circled back to the shop I had spoken to. My mechanic had looked and thought it was just a joint that had rusted and a sleeve could be used to take care of it, rather than needing to replace the entire exhaust, back of the cat. He only crawled under it, not on a lift, to look at it, as a favor. When the muffler shop put it on a lift for the sleeve, they could see where the muffler was rusted out...

The lead told me to order a Magnaflow SS, and he'd get the SS pipe. My goal is as quiet as possible as you may have seen in another post, and the advice I got was 'length matters...' so, I ordered a pair of 14", an 18" and a 24" Magnaflow. I figured that I would let him see what he could fit in, and I'll find a home for the leftovers. They ranged from ~$110 to $150 each, with shipping from the West Coast included. When I went by today to schedule the work, they said, maybe an hour or so. Even if it is 3 hours, labor and materials can't be more than $750 I'd guess - steel is high these days - worse case I'm looking at $1000, stainless from the muffler back. I'll update this on Monday, after the work is done...

 

[brian]

I used 2.5 sanitary tubing and fittings...its almost a straight shot right out the back. Have a thrust welded muffler and no cat.

 

[86aggie]

It took the shop about 40 minutes to cut out the old muffler just behind the flange joint, weld in a new Magnaflow, and bend a new SS tailpipe from the muffler back to the rear bumper. They used a 5x8x14 Magnaflow. They charged $200 for the labor and the piping. Net of it - SS from flange past the Y to rear bumper, less than $350.

 

[Seth S]

It’s amazing how fast people who know what they are doing can get things done