Hooker exhaust kit help

[langss]

The replacement exhaust I originally bought for my truck back in the 80's was similar to the Hooker, however it required quite a bit of time at the Muffler shop. Neither side fit without the shop rebending the pipes, but I never modified anything else. I hope this helps.

 

[Sleblanc]

well going to try and get the passenger side re bent this week I didn't get much time to mess with it this weekend so I took an hour or so and mounted the driver side and got everything tightened up. i ended up cutting about a total of 4in off the tail pipe going into the muffler these moved the pipe a little in front the spring hanger and was able to tuck it up a little more. i like how this side turned out.

 

[Sleblanc]

just had a thought i wonder if i could turn the cross member around and put that bracket on the driver side like they did on the 69-72 models trans cross-member. would need to remount bushings on opposite side of the crossmember.

 

[langss]

just had a thought i wonder if i could turn the cross member around and put that bracket on the driver side like they did on the 69-72 models trans cross-member. would need to remount bushings on opposite side of the crossmember.

Mine is the same as yours in the picture. It even sticks out about the same. Looks good.

 

[Sleblanc]

I just wanted to post an update for you all on the passenger side i ended up cutting the pipe right by the transfer case and was able to rotate it into the proper position. also added a little heat and bent the front by the collector some. Here is the finished pictures. i have not decided on if i will put tips or not yet so i did not cut the tail pipes down any yet.

 

[dyeager535]

Turned out good!

Obviously the hangers at the mufflers support the exhaust vertically, as long as they don't allow rotational movement they should be fine. If they do, need another support that prevents the exhaust from trying to rotate, or you'll end up with problems at the headers related to that. I know some of that style hanger allow rotation where the rivet is, which is why I mention it. I see there is another one near the very end, but can't make out it's design.

I'm firmly convinced 90% of the problems associated with headers leaking are related to improper support of the exhaust further back. The collector bolts and header to head bolts end up taking all the stress otherwise, and they invariably loosen up. Keeping the bolts tight doesn't actually fix the problem.

 

[Sleblanc]

the hangars in the rear are the same as the front that came with the kit. I asked my muffler shop that made the cut and expanded the pipe for me about them he said they will be fine. but recommended to come back and run a small weld on each connection to keep everything in line and stop the rotation i just have not had a chance to come back and do that yet.

 

[langss]

Nice job. It turned out well.

 

[dyeager535]

the hangars in the rear are the same as the front that came with the kit. I asked my muffler shop that made the cut and expanded the pipe for me about them he said they will be fine. but recommended to come back and run a small weld on each connection to keep everything in line and stop the rotation i just have not had a chance to come back and do that yet.

You'll find out if he was right or not if it starts leaking! If he was right, no problems. If you find you need something to prevent it, you can buy some pretty trick mounts for maybe $6 or so that would handle it. I would not be surprised to find that even the cheapest headers hold up reasonably well at the head and collector when the rest of the exhaust is supported properly.

These are Walker 36272's: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71sqaalHwgL._SL1500_.jpg

Bolt to the inside of the frame rail so the rod runs under the pipe, smack the rod with a hammer until it follows the contour of the pipe, weld to pipe.The rod portion is solid, but pretty malleable.

Thinking aloud, this is probably a reason single exhaust doesn't have the same problems....a Y-pipe effectively limits any amount of rotation the exhaust can do, mounts further back only strengthen that.

In a single setup, the pipe *somewhere* is off the center line of the header outlet and thus trying to rotate all the time. I found that due to the muffler location on the stock 6.2L dual exhaust, the exhaust tip would go skyward, as the weight and position of the muffler was such that it was trying to rotate down and towards the driveshaft.

 

[Sleblanc]

The hangars you posted are very good I had them on a previous truck.

 

[dyeager535]

The hangars you posted are very good I had them on a previous truck.

Yep, I cheated, I used the factory hangers where I could to suspend the exhaust, then just mounted these on the frame to keep it from twisting. So far so good, been a few thousand miles and a week and a half on potholed logging roads. The walker hanger does seem to be holding up really well.