Is there room under a 73-87 2wd for a large single(5") exhaust?

 

bump! Did you figure it out?

 

The guys over on 67-72 truck board say there is enough room for a 5" but I haven't verified this.

 

I wouldn't worry about a 5", unless you are lowered more than 2/3 or 3/5 at the lowest.

I know some of the guys running 4" with 6.2/6.5 turbo diesels and there is still room to play around in. The only issue with any of the turbo setup is fitting a big downpipe in between the engine, firewall and frame. But the diesels will have a different setup and the routing won't be exactly the same...but that's about all I can help you with in that regard.

 

We were at my in-law's today so I climbed under my father in law's '87 2wd long bed w/305/700r4. It looks like the tightest spot is above the trans crossmember. There is a bit of room there, but I am not sure if the 5" would fit with the stock crossmember. Also, I don't know if a 4l80e would be a lighter fit alongside the pan rail compared to the 700r4.

 

If the trans member gets in the way, you could try dropping it w/spacer blocks to get added clearance. I'd just grab the right thickness of steel, then measure and drill the right holes into it. If you go more than 1" I think you would definitely need new hardware, but grab some grade 8 hardware to finish the job and it should clear easily.

If you have fitment issues, I've seen people use oval exhaust tubing, but I don't know if it would come in 5" sizes.

These are all weird options I've explored trying to figure out how to put a 3" downpipe and 4" exhaust on my 83 K5 w/6.2L diesel. I'm gonna go with beefy solid engine mounts and do a bit of grinding to fit. That should make enough for the 3" downpipe I want.