Haha, I'm sure...

I'm having a slight problem now though. I called the same 3 shops that i called the other day, the first time i called i asked if they did mandrel or crush bends. 1 told me they do mandrel, and the other 2 told me they do smooth, not crush. Well, i called all three back today, the one that said they did mandrel (Monroe Mufflers+Brakes) in fact does not, they have a bending machine but it is crush bent. The guy i was talking to apparently did not know what he was talking about the other day.

Then i called Lou's custom exhaust, which the other day told me they do smooth bends but not mandrel. Today someone else there told me they infact do crush bends.

Then i called Meineke, and they also told me the other day that they do not do mandrel bends, but infact do smooth bends. I called them back, and asked again if it's crush or mandrel, they said neither...its smooth bends.

So, if a shop does not do mandrel bends but is saying they do smooth bends, are they just blowing smoke? I thought it was either crush, or mandrel....or is there infact another technique known as smooth bends?

 

It sounds like them shops are an by retards. Try not to have to get crush bent, get mandrel or smooth. Crush wont flow and sound as good as smooth/mandrel bends.

 

Oh jesus...i just called Meineke back again to set up an appt..the one that said they do smooth bends. And i asked the guy that set me up what kind of pipe bends do you do......he said what do you mean? wtf!.......I then went on to explain, and he said oh well the pipes come out pretty smooth, we dont crush them that wouldnt be good lol.......This is not looking good for me. I get different answers everytime i call these places.

 

Ok well i called Meineke back yet again to talk to the owner, because i was just not satisfied with the answer i got on my last call. The owner told me that they use the sand-bending technique, filling up the pipe with sand so that when it's bent there are no kinks, in turn making a smooth bend.

 

Thats what you need, those co-workers there dont have their heads on straight apparently . Well now that you have your answer, you should be good, when you go down to have it all installed double check with the installer requesting smooth bends, and you should be good. Looking real forward to it as i'm sure you are

 

Well i had a nice surprise waiting for me on my porch when i got home from work tonight....

PerformancePeddlar.com is now good in my book, great prices and very fast shipping.
But what is that little tiny hole on the bottom of each tip located near the 4" end though??? You'll have to excuse my ignorance as these are the first tips i've ever purchased.

I'm dying to have this all put on now, and i mean now as in right this minute!!! It's all i could think about at work tonight lol.
I'll definetly let you know how it goes, and i'll post up some pics and a sound clip this weekend.

Thanks again for all the help Darren.

 

Awesome man good to hear you got the parts. Looking forward to the install.

The holes at the ends of the tips is to allow water to escape. All Magnaflow tips have them. Hardly noticeable.

 

Well i had a little problem with my above plan. I was not able to get stainless steel tubing from any of the shops without them having to special order, and in result me paying an arm and a leg. I went to about 5 different shops in my area this morning and it was the same thing at each one. they must of misunderstood me on the phone or thought i had the SS tubing already, i dont know..wtf..clowns!!! I was pretty pissed off this morning that all these shops around here say one thing on the phone and another in person, and you would think stainless steel would be carried by most up here in NH!

But i ended up just going back to Meineke and had it all done for $205. Granted it's not mandrel bent or stainless steel tubing, but it was the best price i could find this morning (in person). The guy did a good job though. It's all welded on (no clamps) and the bends in the pipes seem to have no crimps and be very smooth. I was talking to him and he's been doing this for 22 years so that made me feel a little better. He even called me over to have me make sure it was exactly the way i wanted a couple times, so that was a plus.

While i was waiting (for almost 3 hours) part of me was wishing i just went with the Magnaflow Catback or Roush Off Road so i could have mandrel bends and stainless steel tubing, but it is what it is i guess. But once i saw it all done and he started my truck up for me, i was instantly surprised and had a big grin on my face. It has a nice deep rumble when it's started and sounds very good to me, most likely because this is my first custom exhaust ever, but still..


I'll try to post up some pics and a sound clip this weekend if it ever stops raining here. And i'll give a better review of it after i drive it some more. Now it's off to work i go, thank god it's friday.

 

Awesome man! As long as its bent smoothly you'll be alright with performance. If you got basic steel, well dont feel bad because I do to and i'm in PA. Great to hear you like it. Enjoy!

 

I stopped into Meineke today to talk to them about installing my exhaust (same setup as Dan) and I asked them about stainless steel pipes. They said it is very hard to get if they could get it at all. They also said it would take a special machine to bend it. They did say that the pipes they use are aluminized steel so it should stand up better to corrosion than regular steel. Can't wait to get mine installed on Monday.

 

Not too sure on that one, my old aluminized Super 44s rusted out a hell of alot quicker than my steel tailpipes did on my last truck.

 

Another thing i was told about stainless steel pipes, is that they are brittle and hard to bend without damaging (because it's a harder steel), which is why shops do not carry them around here. Also the lack of mandrel bending machines around here add to the reason why SS is not carried. Shops around here have to special order and send them out to be mandrel bent (costly). A mechanic at work told me this.

I think that is what Meineke used for my intermediate pipe during my custom job today, the aluminized steel. I'll have to crawl under and check again tomorrow. But if it is aluminized and it rust's out on me, then i may fork up the cash to have the SS special ordered and sent out to be bent, but i'd rather not spend anymore money on this anytime soon (but knowing myself i probably will haha).

So far i'm very happy with it, i absolutely love the way it sounds when i start my truck!!! And i got a bunch compliments from the guys at work so that was cool. I have not had much time with my new exhuast yet though, seeing as how i only live a few miles from work. So i definetly have some playing around to do yet.

I think you'll love it too!

 

Oh and Darren, I got my tips almost exactly the way you did so it worked out great. Once i take pic's i can compare better, but i think they came out pretty much the same. That is a great idea you had and thanks for the inspiration!!!

 

Yeah....that's just what I have read online. Heck, for all I know my current pipes might be aluminized steel and they are in bad shape after only 4 years. Apparently they are prone to rusting from the inside out. The winters here don't help much either....there was a lot of salt on the roads last year.

 

Yeah, I clean my pipes each month, but winter I dont know what i'll be able to do. Probably keep up on them, after driving for awhile the exhaust will be warm so I could still clean salt off with a cleaner and cloth, but then I would be tempted to do the rest of the underbody If I had a garage I probably would though.