I have a 97' F150 5.4L Triton with a Dual out Flowmaster Muffler and Chrome Tips.
It was like this when i bough the truck. Someone just welded (horribly i might add) the flowmaster onto the stock pipes. Then split off the back with one pipe to each side in the rear. And welded (horribly again) the tips on the back. The welds are the worst i have ever seen. Gobs and gobs of slag everywhere. THey built up over an inch in just weld. Anyways.

The rear pipes were hung with a single piece of pipe hanger. So a few months after i bought it they just snapped off and my pipes were bouncing around. I was living about 50miles from my home so i took it to a local muffler pro and told them what happened and they fixed it. I didnt think to check thier work i just went on. Well about a month later same thing again. They just re tacked the hanger iron back on there.
So i took it back to them said i wasnt going to re pay and i wanted them hung right with rubber buffers and everything. Well they did it. Again the welds were horrible but it was on there none the less.

Then the other day i was driving down the road and about a 3ft section from my tip back fell off the truck into the road. I got back there and the other side was completely broke in half as well but still dangling there by the hanger.

I was hearing a slight exhaust leak before and i was goign to try to track it down as soon as possible. Now after this has happened i still hear the exhaust leak. So i started doing some inspection.

There is a 1" hole in the pipe in the back, right behind the muffler just beside the weld. But i dont think that is what i am hearing. I tried to inspec the pipe going toward the exhaust manifold but i dont see any leaks, just major rust damage. After looking at the exhaust manifold, there is nothing holding it on. There bolts must have rusted in two. So i am scared to touch anything with the fear of disaster.

What is my cheepest and easiest fix. And performance boost is always welcomed but i just want it fixed.

I thought about just cutting the pipes behind the manifold and doing away with the Flowmaster, cats everything and running 2 straight pipes out just behind the wheels. But i am scared to get under there and start cutting on it because i dont want the manifolds to break off.

What are my options, and cost approximations?

Thanks allot for any suggestions in advance.
Cody

 

Realistically, I would start over fresh with all new pipe. Have a new 3" Y pipe built, or bought online, run 3" pipe into a 3" diameter straight through muffler, and out to a nice 3.5" SS tip. Do away with the dual pipes which will cost you more to do it all new. 3" single pipe is a good performance upgrade too. While the truck is under the knife, I would have the shop (find a good one who does good clean welds) and have them tell you whats up with your manifolds. Hopefully they are ok and maybe youll just need new header bolts, but if push comes to shove you can get shorty headers for cheap.

I would say that job would cost about $300 including the muffler, tip, and all labor.

 

thanks allot for the advice i will look into that.