Hello,

I've ordered a Flowmaster American thunder stainless exhaust kit for my wife's truck and I've got a few questions.

Ok after looking over my factory exhaust I noticed, the clamp connecting the inlet pipe to the y pipe that has the cats has nuts and bolts that are rusted up pretty badly. No chance of spining those off. They don't even look like nuts and bolts anymore. so it looks like I'll be cuting the nuts to get the clamp off.

Should I order up a couple of stainless band clamps (a spare in case) instead of using the clamps Flowmaster supplies or will my kit come with a clamp that locks there inlet pipe into the y?

Also, the hanger mounts that hold my factory exhaust, the bolt/nuts on them dont look too healty either. I may be able to work em off the threads are still decent looking, but in the event I cant get them off and have to cut them too, should I just get new hanger mounts and hardware that way everything goes on nice?

If so, Does napa vip or advanced auto carry them or do I need to order them or go to a dealer?

Are the rest of the clamps that come with the kit decent or should I get sturdier ones all the way to the back?

I know these seem like newbie questions but I've never done a truck exhaust before, only small engines and what cars I've done I've always just welded.

My first time using a bolt up Catback system and just want to be prepared in case I run into some snags so any answers or suggestions are greatly welcome.

I usually do things like this without asking for help. Installation looks pretty straight forward but this is a present to my wife so failure is not an option if you married guys know what I mean. :P


I almost forgot, the truck is a 2005 F150 5.4 XLT Super crew and is in mint shape. The under carriage is rust free. Minus some bolts and nuts. The stock exhaust is in great shape as well so I'd like to keep it so I dont plan on cutting everything out.


Thanks for reading, and I'd appreciate your answers as well as any other tips or suggestions I may need to know.