bolt on exhaust

[fvumbaca]

i've been looking for a new exhaust for my 98 sohc sport, and basically everyone has been telling me to go to a shop have one put on there, not to sound stupid but what is the advantage of doing that over buying a bolt on kit from pacesetter or another company and doing it myself? Or do you think i will get that much more horse power if i get a custom one done? thanks

 

[red96camaro]

My decision was made based on cost. 100 bucks for a muffler and something like another 100 for the install and larger piping. Beat any system prices I could find.

 

[Alec]

Firstly Pacesetter products suck.

That being said, a welded system will last longer and be much more reliable than a bolt on system. Many members do get bolt on systems and install them themselves; then they visit their muffler shop and have them weld it up. But if you're already spending around $200, why not have someone else do the work for the same money?

 

[mattadams]

I had a "bolt-on" gibson in my 98 F-150, I ended up taking it in to a muffler shop and having all the joints welded as theyw ere rattling so much.

 

[fvumbaca]

man i'm really happy now that i didnt get a bolt on then....all of the sites that i visited i.e gibson, dynomax etc made it sound really easy and like it was two bolts in and greater sound and performance

 

[dec322]

I put on the force II cat back from flowmaster. It sounds awesome and I haven't had it welded. I just made extra sure it was tight. No noise or rattling. Plus it only cost 169 from Summit Racing. I've had no regrets!

 

[Fischer]

I got the Gibson, Stainless cat-back, Sweptside. Love it!!

#1. You will have major pains finding a shop to bend and weld stainless....
Advantage: Bolt On

#2. You will know more about your own truck as you did it yourself...Pride factor, and ability to speak Greek to people with no idea what the hell you are talking about...
Advantage: Bolt On

#3. Products such as the Gibson, Borla, Bassani (Ranger only I think) are "tuned" for your particular application. Now this may not make a difference, but....at least you know it works to it's peak.
Adavntage: Bolt On

#4. Personal Preference of a stainless system and a nice polished tip and a sound I like, not too loud or soft.
Advantage: Bolt On

#5. Knowing it is done RIGHT!
Advantage: Bolt On

#6. Sticker to put on tool box or under hood
Advantage: Bolt On

#7. Cost...
Advantage: Custom Shop

#8. Not breaking a nail...
Advantage: Custom Shop

#9. Spending quailty time with your baby, as well as inspecting other areas about undercarrage...
Advantage: Bolt On

#10. Having a truck you love to hear purr...
Advantage: Tie

Good luck man. This is a pretty easy thing to do in a few hours. You can see which I prefer. But to each his own. :cheers:

 

[taxx]

Welding aside what is the big differance as far as performance goes? I can weld my own exhaust on if I have too.

 

[Alec]

as long as you choose exhaust components wisely, neither is better performance-wise.

 

[Fischer]

Probably not a huge difference, if at all noticeable I am not sure.

I have heard the Gibson is better for low rpm torque and the Borla is supposedly better for the higher rpm and Ponies. I don't revv the hell out of mine and I live in Colorado, so torque is more attractive for me.

Do the Cat-Back and a KKM (S&B) conical filter and you'll notice a difference in both power and sound.

*:EDIT:* Also I forgot to mention that the Gibson is true round mandrel bent all the way. No restrictions at the bends. They are perfectly round.

 

[Alec]

oh, one more advantage to having a shop do it: if there's a problem, they'll have the replacement parts to swap your stuff out quickly. no hassle of shipping anything or having to install your exhaust more than once.

When I upgraded my exhaust from a 2.25" Magnaflow system to a 3" system, I got half the components for free due to us saying they were warranty repairs.

 

[Robert]

A shop will usually do it for less than a high quality bolt-on will cost. I paid about $279 for my Borla on my SOHC Sport. I don't think you can find a higher quality than Borla anywhere and their warranty is the best in the insdustry. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to get my stock exhaust off and another hour to bolt on the Borla. After two years I haven't developed any leaks and it still sounds as good as the day I put it on. Not a hint of rust on it but then again I wouldn't expect it to being stainless steel in Phoenix.

The biggest problems with going to a shop and having them do it are they may not be able to do a mandrel bend and you don't have much say as to the way they run the piping nor their quality. Be sure and look at several vehicles at their site that they have done to get a feel for their quality. If you can find a high quality shop that knows what they are doing, you can probably save $50-$100 and avoid doing the work.

 

[taxx]

With the after markets being stainless, I don't see how you could weld them on. Sure you could weld the joints on the aftermarket, but where it meats up with the cats, it can't be welded, two different types of metal.

 

[Robert]

I don't have a need to weld my Borla. The only additional connection that it has that my factory exhaust didn't have is coming out of the muffler. There is an additional clamp there but it doesn't leak. The other connections between my cats and muffler connect the same way my factory exhaust did. Ford didn't have a reason to weld them, neither to I.

 

[taxx]

Originally posted by Robert
I don't have a need to weld my Borla. The only additional connection that it has that my factory exhaust didn't have is coming out of the muffler. There is an additional clamp there but it doesn't leak. The other connections between my cats and muffler connect the same way my factory exhaust did. Ford didn't have a reason to weld them, neither to I.

That is what I thought, but for some reason there seems to be concern above. I could see if I wnet to NAPA and bought tubing just to slp together but that aftermarket stuff is prebent and ready to roll.

 

[Hartman]

What's involved in removing the factory exhaust? I'm thinking about the Gibson sweptside kit mostly because I want to install it myself.

 

[FordExplorerGuy]

So far, as i've read, it seems that the bolt-on systems have their advantages as do the welded systems. Would anybody recomment spending the money to get the bolt on, but weld it yourself?

 

[taxx]

Originally posted by Hartman
What's involved in removing the factory exhaust? I'm thinking about the Gibson sweptside kit mostly because I want to install it myself.

Although I have never done it, I can imagine around here you will have some problems beacuse of rust. If you ever stop buy any shops they are always torching them off (maybe for another reason too), but none the less, I was looking at mine over the weekend and they don't look like they will come apart without cutting...?

 

[Hartman]

I have a hacksaw, I know I'll have to cut the exhaust out because of rust. I'm talking in terms of the exhaust hookups to the headers, etc. How many bolts, etc.

 

[Robert]

The Borla I put on my '97 SOHC connects to my factory catalytic converters the same way the factory exhaust did. One pipe has a 'U' bolt whereas the other pipe has a 2 bolt flange. The outlet of the Borla is connected to the tailpipe via another 'U' clamp so the total number of bolts to install it was 6 bolts and several exhaust hangers. My factory one came out easily with only 4 bolts since the tailpipe is welded to the muffler. My Explorer spent its first winter in Toledo, OH but we didn't get much snow that year. I moved to Phoenix the following summer so rust wasn't a problem getting mine off.