Exhaust mounting ideas

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Ok. The Pypes system that was mounted on my car was bolted directly to the frame, by where the exhaust tips exit. Too much vibration. Plus the bends that go over the axle hit the upper control arms. The shop that normally works on all the local cars with no cats traded hands. (I knew I shouldn't have waited) Before I go down there and hear the same old "I can't work on your car because it has no cats and I don't wanna lose my license" speech again, what options do I have to mount this thing the right way myself?

 

[earlbrown]

Odd. The way I understand it a shop can't disable a working emissions system but they can work on one that's already disabled. ESP since I think federal law states you only have to maintain emissions systems for 10 years.

Have you thought about rubber mounting the tips with something like a sway bar end link bushing?

 

[Squid4life]

The Pypes systems come with those, at least mine did a year ago. It isolated it nicely, and I was also able to maneuver/manipulate the pipes around to clear the control arms. No shop necessary.

 

[Nick Micale]

It needs some "adjusting", as the tail pipes fit nicely and will have clearance over the axle and springs.

After installing about 10 of these Pypes systems, the "trick" is to have the mufflers positioned properly on the exhaust pipe and tail pipes for proper clearance.

If you do not have the car on a lift, it would be VERY difficult to have everything adjusted properly.

Like James stated, the system comes with poly isolators for mounting the tail pipes to the frame.

 

[turbojd]

I just installed my Pypes exhaust system about two weeks ago. I did it in my driveway with the car on jack stands.
A bit of a pain lying on your back, but I got everything adjusted up great. It did take some playing with the tail pipes
to get everything lined up right. I didn;t have to cut anything, I've heard of some people cutting the tail pipes to get them to fit.
A lift would have made things so much easier

 

[Squid4life]

One thing that helps make sure the pipes don't hit the control arms, shocks, rear end, etc is to install the system when the suspension is at the same level it will be while driving. Sometimes if you install the system while at full droop, you will have issues and will have to readjust the suspension. I did my install while it was on 4 ramps.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Wow. I wonder why the rubber insulators weren't used on my car? Odd. At any rate, I don't have any ddof that so I will have some challenges ahead of me.

 

[earlbrown]

Got an old tire? If so, get a box cutter with a new blade and cut some washers out of the side wall. If you have some bald as hell rears, the treaded portion makes really tough steel belted isolators.

 

[Squid4life]

Got an old tire? If so, get a box cutter with a new blade and cut some washers out of the side wall. If you have some bald as hell rears, the treaded portion makes really tough steel belted isolators.

Or cut a chunk out of one of your jack a$$ neighbors new car tires. Love that new tire smell.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

And do what exactly? I have a poor imagination. It's hard for me to come up with this shit on my own lol. Sorry. What shape do I cut the insulators to?

I ask because I have two problems. My first one is that my humps in my tubing hit my upper control arms. If I were to change ANYTHING about that relationship, my hard mounts on my tips won't align then to screw back into the rear mounts any more.

 

[Raeban]

I had a bolt come loose on one side and lost the isolators. I tried to use rubber but it was to stiff.... (That is my best Earl impression) Anyways, now I am using a sway bar endlink bushing cut in half with the metal tab sandwiched between the two halves.

 

[earlbrown]

There's a lot to be said for being sandwiched between two halves.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

But still bolted to the frame?

 

[Raeban]

Yep, basically it goes frame, one half of the endlink bushing, exhaust tab, the other half of the endlink bushing, washer, then nut.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

So how does that give your exhaust system room to grow when it gets hot? An exhaust system can sometimes grow up to an inch longer when run hard.

 

[Raeban]

My test pipe has some slip fit and appears to be taking up the growth there. Also, the bends in the exhaust translate some growth into different directions so you wont see 1" in the axial direction in one spot.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Ok, unbolted the tips from the frame, repositioned the humps to clear the springs AND the upper control arms, at the same time lol, and now my mounting tabs on the tips are nowhere near where they need to be to line back up in the hole. So I just wedged some dense foam in between to cushion it and now my system is totally insulated from them frame It's just temporary but when it dries up outside I will take it out and see if I get drone or false KR.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

My test pipe has some slip fit and appears to be taking up the growth there. Also, the bends in the exhaust translate some growth into different directions so you wont see 1" in the axial direction in one spot.

Your test pipe has slip fit? Then you have an exhaust leak and your clamp right there isn't tight enough. And how do you know the bends in our exhausts grow? There isn't enough heat there. It's kinda dispersed by that point. I'm guessing it's the downpipe down to about right before the bends. I bet that's where it grows in length.

 

[Raeban]

Yes my test pipe has a slip joint. It is tight but you can see where it grows. The clamp I use does not crimp the joint.

In regards to the bends, they don't grow. They move in a different direction. It is the same reason that steam piping in industrial use has expansion loops built in. Lastly, and more to the point, the temperature in our pipes, especially at the tail pipe is not enough to cause significant thermal expansion. This is largely part of the reason why 3/8" clearance near the springs is enough to avoid contact.

Oh, and FWIW a 10' length of mild steel pipe at a temperature 400F hotter than ambient grows about 0.4"

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Hmm... Ok. I feel better about that now lol. Thanks.