Repair-It

Not that exciting but the hanger that is welded to the tail pipe rusted off, so the pipe is not supported at the rear of the truck. As a result, the pipe hangs down 4-6 inches. The rubber mount is still there so I am sure I can fashion something up. This was the aluminized exhaust catback that I bought from Napa back in early 2008 when I bought the truck. It's already past its life expectancy.

An illustration may help explain. The welded on hanger is long gone. In its place is a nice stamp-sized hole. I am certain I could have at least rigged this up with a metallic solution. But I actually like the redneck engineering approach here. And when I say engineering, I mean I thought for a second about putting the zip ties directly on the pipe, which may still have been fine. But instead, I used the hose clamp as heat isolation. And 3 ties, for maximum strength. Total cost: $0. I've had the bucket of zip ties for years, so that doesn't count. And the hose clamp was a leftover from fooling around with the flex pipe on the Maxima.

So this failed. The pipe just continued rusting (shocking). Now I've resorted to a coat hanger around the remainder of the pipe, clamped in place to the pipe. No pics yet...

This should get me to whenever I feel like doing another cat back. The only cat back I've ever put on this thing was when I first bought it in 2008. I used the standard Napa aluminized kit and it lasted this long. Even passed inspection in early 2014 (due again in Feb 2016). That is a perfectly reasonable service life.

Maybe I should find a nice fart can exhaust like I did on the Maxima.

My sad looking repair.

You could try adapting this:
http://www.amazon.com/Flowmaster-17159- ... B000QJH2C4
Fits the V6 extended cab but might be close enough.

I would only do something like that if it was cheaper than the aluminized replacement.

Speaking of, let me check Napa's website.

Ugh, they don't have a cat-back as such. Have to build it.

Since Napa is no longer less than a mile from my house, perhaps Rockauto will be the supplier.

Muffler and tailpipe: $104
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinf ... 503&jpid=0 Wow, Dynomax Super Turbo. That's cool.

Intermediate pipe: $18
Exhaust system view w/ P/Ns: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinf ... 504&jpid=0

I may also need a donut gasket, at $8. And/or a flat gasket at $1.64. And a bolt kit at $10.27. I guess I need to peek under the truck to see if the cat to intermediate pipe gasket is a donut or flat. It can't be both.

Min parts price: $122 + S&H
Max parts price: $140.27 + S&H

I paid around $140 at Napa for the whole cat-back in 2008, so this is good.

I ordered the stuff from Rockauto. Shipping was $30 between two places. Oh well.

I did get the Dynomax kit, which will be interesting. I look forward to 50 extra HP.

Did the exhaust this morning. Some highlights from removal:
- Just cut the thing off after the cat with a reciprocating saw. I remember doing this back in 2008 and it makes dropping the exhaust very simple on this truck. There is only one hanger (a dual unit) aft of the cat, and a single hanger aft of the axle.
- I really struggled with the intermediate pipe to cat flange bolts. In total, I used the following tools to get it off: impact, reciprocating saw, angle grinder with cutoff wheel, angle grinder with grinding wheel, and a punch.
- Not bad to clean off the old donut gasket from the cat flange

Highlights from install:
- I can confirm that the springs on the cat flange bolts do in fact hold the joint together and allow flex
- The muffler, a Dynomax Super Turbo, is the typical oval cross section, while the stock exhaust was more round. Because of this, I had to angle it to avoid hitting the exhaust (ironically the very issue that lead me to replace the rusting old exhaust)
- Either the muffler or the tailpipe should have been about 2 inches longer. The first time I clamped the tailpipe to the muffler outlet, I actually didn't get it in far enough and it just fell out while I did final adjustments. This required me to get out my exhaust pipe expander to re-open the muffler outlet so I could try to insert the tailpipe further into the muffler. Doing this I apparently broke a couple fingers on the expander but managed to get the job done.
- The tip, Dynomax says, is some kind of stainless, which is sweet. But just the tip. The instructions did say it is for all engines and all wheelbases. For the short 108" wheelbase, you cut a length off of the tailpipe. For the long 125" wheelbase you just get the longer intermediate pipe.

It sounds pretty good actually. Well I mean for what it is. It's nice to hear when the torque converter locks up in 4th. If I am not mistaken, there is actually a small power boost. I'd imagine that with 100hp, any increase is noticeable.

There is a small drone at around 1500rpm but that is not a common operating RPM so it's not really an issue.

Hopefully this one lasts another 7 years.

I just realized it took me 11 months to finally fix this properly. Ha