Several years ago I took my 97 directly to Gibson and had them put on the Single Swept Side. It was relocated to exit behind the rear wheel and an additional hanger was added to support it. Gibson told me they made it exit there to optimize performance. If you buy the kit it should include all necessary hardware and hangers for the relocate. I loved the performance gains on my 4.6L and never regreted going with the Gibson. I've since traded that truck on my 2000 and just this past Saturday installed the Gibson Swept Side on my new truck. The install was very straightforward and easy to do. The instructions listed it as a half day project for the beginner. This was my first install and it took me an hour of casual labor (course I cheated and used a saws-all on the old exhaust). Just my experience, hope it helps.

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2000 F-150 Lariat S/C 4x4 ORP 5.4L Bright Red/gold

 

Hello everyone, I just have a few questions for those of you who know about Gibson exhaust. I have a 1997 4X4 4.6L ExtCab with a 3" PA Body Lift. I want to put on a Gibson exhaust, but my question is, does the Gibson relocate the exhaust behind the rear tire instead of in front of the rear tire like it is stock? If it does, are there any new brackets or anything like that you have to deal with? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

tirenut,

Depends on which model Gibson exhaust you are going to use...Have you looked at their (Gibson) website? Some of your questains might be answered there. Hope this helps.

RansToy

www.gibsonperformance.com

 

Thanks ransome123, thats what I needed to know. I just wondered if I was going to have to fab the extra bracket or not. Thanks again!

 

Live and learn... Make sure you get the alignment right between the shock tower and the spare tire. Exhaust shouldn't hit either... I did 2 trucks on Saturday... Mine and a buddy's. Wouldn't you know I misaligned mine a tad... It was bumping the spare. You don't wanna have to loosen those clamps and attempt to twist those pipes into a different alignment. It sucked. Oh well...

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2000 F-150 Lariat S/C 4x4 ORP 5.4L Bright Red/gold

 

Swung the truck by a muffler shop today and outlined the problem I was having with the spare tire clearing the exhaust. Long story short had to cut about 4 1/2" inches out of the exhaust to move it forward and away from the spare. This put the hangers out of alignment so had to fab a new clamp on middle hanger and cut off the Gibson rear hanger and fab a new one of those and weld it on. Had 'em weld up the whole system while I was there so no more bolt together. $50 out the door and the spare clears with no problems now. Gibson's instructions had me cut off the factory exhaust 17" in front of the muffler. If I had it to do over straight outta the box I'd say their system would be perfect if you hung it up where you needed it then measured your cut (would probably be somewhere in the 19-22" forward of the stock muffler). It would have then bolted up and cleared perfectly. Of course I'm assuming ALL their systems are identical outta the box. Oh well... Live and learn. Still happy and still think it's an easy install, just won't ever blindly follow instructions any more assuming they are dead on for my application.

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2000 F-150 Lariat S/C 4x4 ORP 5.4L Bright Red/gold