RNSAK

My factory exhaust is a full 3" mandrel bent, alot higher quality pipe than what you'll get from napa and alot of muffler shops. However I did do an exhaust on a friend's non HD 2500, (2001 I think) with a 6.0 that had 2 7/8" pipe............knowing what I know now about the system I likely would have just ordered long tubes and fabbed the rest myself, would have been alot easier than all the cutting and welding I did to make what they sent me work with what was left of my factory exhaust.

1994Vmax

iTrader: (4)

Mine is 3" mandrel bent polished 304 stainless duals..... not the trash the factory installs with it's cat's and mess of bends. Your factory exhaust isn't dual through the muffler either..... one of the 2 pipes coming out the back of the muffler is a resonance chamber..... it doesn't flow through to the tailpipe. It's easier to cut that junk all off and build something actually nice lol.

RNSAK

Congratulations lol, my point was the factory tubing isn't exactly cheap or poor quality, can it be improved upon, sure. As far as the muffler is concerned I wasnt sure how it was internally baffled but the dual 3" in and dual 3" out make it super easy to replace with some free flowing mufflers before it Y's down to the tail pipe. But back to the original point of the post, it sounded like he was looking for a direct bolt in long tube setup that would mate to his factory exhaust. To the best of my knowledge no such system exist so I was trying to save him the hassle of learning the hard way like I did :-).

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

Yeah, but it won't hurt him either.

Go 1 7/8" and don't look back.

1994Vmax

iTrader: (4)

It's been established long ago in the thread there is no bolt in kit lol... and he wanted to know what to do as an alternative. So sure... spend $1500 plus on headers that still don't fit and cut the intermediate pipes to pieces...... or..... Buy headers that fit the chassis nicely for $300 and make a new exhaust system...... or fight with factory junk under the truck... op's choice. The factory's exhaust tubing is like a 409 grade stainless..... It works long enough for their corrosion warranty.. but isn't exactly high quality either. By the time you hack it up to make a set of headers fit you may as well toss most of it. Pre made mandrel bent pipe in 304 isn't expensive to buy for the couple of pieces a person needs to make it work.

RNSAK you should just link your ARH install thread lol.

RNSAK

Well news to him apparently, I was just trying to give him some helpful information. For guys like me running bolt on mods on their daily driver I would have a hard time spending the extra money on a full stainless system and the equipment to do it. Especially when if you have a mig welder and a little skill you can make a pretty decent great sounding/performing exhaust out of what the factory gives you. Not to mention in the 300 to 400 hp range the fanciest (most expensive) exhaust in the world hardly gains you any more ponies than just piecing it together like I did as long as you know what your doing.

1994Vmax

iTrader: (4)

Lol.. or you could read haha. He doesn't need a full system.... if he wants he can buy maybe $100 of mandrel bends and hook the intermediate pipes up before the mufflers. If a person can weld you can do all that at home... but hey. $1500+ on ARH's that need the same mods makes more sense than $400 to $500 in parts for the budget right lol. And in that price buzz on a pair of V bands on the collectors if you want to get really spendy.... the Yonaka ones are actually nicer quality in my opinion that the Vibrant ones for over twice the price.

RNSAK

In his original post he asked if they would fit with his factory system, or if he would have to modify it, i was just trying to let him know they won't despite what some manufacturers advertise, so expect to modify/replace what's there. Like I already stated, knowing what I know now I would have done it very different. But I was between a rock and a hard place so i had to make what I had work. To ARH's credit they sent me a brand new set of intermediate pipes with high flow cats that are supposedly "correct" for my truck free of charge, so should my hack job ever fail I have a backup set

1994Vmax

iTrader: (4)

Yep... he asked if he needed all new or could reuse some of it... well he can. He can go whatever way he wants... but there is an alternative now with Speed Engineering over buying kits that might fit... or don't. Even paying an exhaust shop to cut and install pre-done bends he would still be ahead over the prices those guys charge. I don't mind paying... and oh I paid because mine is show quality and all tig welded.... but for a driver you don't need that. Plus the actual headers themselves fit so nice I wouldn't bother buying anything else.

RNSAK

Someday I hope to have a vehicle worthy of a tig welded stainless system ..........and yeah for the money not to mention the **** show I had those headers look like a great option........but I had the option of admitting to my wife I just spent $1800 (after shipping) on shinny parts that don't fit, or hacking them pieces, for me it was an easy choice lol. In hindsight the money would have been much better spent on some top end goodies to gain some actual HP, but hey it's a good supporting mod should I ever venture down that rabbit hole