tylerdru

I was looking at my exhaust system and realized that none of the pipes appeared to be welded. My dad and i were considering renting a welder and welding all of the exhaust pipes together. We were told that welding is pretty easy to get. All of the pipes are connected, they just need to be welded. Also, what is so hard about installing the headers onto the intermediate pipes. What do you guys think? I have experience in soldering. (joke but true)

dsmith678

By the time you rent a welder and equipment you could most likely have a muffler shop do it for same amount of money maybe even less...Welding is not something that you just rent and can do the first try...But I'm sure if you really want to that you could figure it out and make it work for you...Just have to practice on some scrap metal first...

351foxstang

its do-able, but definately practice somewhere first. its not fun laying on the ground trying to weld the top pieces of the pipe together. i ended up welding everything together on the ground and just clamping the end of the y-pipe to my homemade system for my f-250's exhaust.
good luck

Derf00

First question...how does the exhaust look? Does it look like it will last for a few years at least? If not, don't bother welding it. It will just make it harder to replace when it rusts through. Also, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Any leaks on anything? IMO leave it alone if there's no problems. Are the joints at least clamped? I would at least do that.

dodgestang

What makes you think all your pipes need to be welded?

How will you remove your tranny if you have too?

A good exhasut system will not leak and will enable you to remove portions of it without the need to replace in case you need to get work done.

I have an 'x' setup that connects to my headers with ball sockets. So it unbolts.
My pipes are also clamped onto the rear outlet of my mufflers. So I can unbolt from the headers, unbolt from the rear pipes, and drop the center section.

Any other joints in the system (like the x itself and the muffler inletss) are welded.

tylerdru

It is all clamped down with clamps. I might just had my h pipe with clamps. How does this sound?

jrrhd73must

I have installed two FLowMaster cat back Muffler systems on trucks. All they come with are clamps and they work fine. I have never had a problem with clamps.

Soaring

As mentioned, it depends on the age of the pipes, etc. If you are putting on a new system it is best that you have it welded together to prevent any leaks, and to avoid hitting a rock or something and the pipes come apart and get all bent out of shape.

superdavid

I would recomend taking it to a muffler shop. Welding isn't that hard if you know what you're doing, but exhaust pipes are made from very thin metal, and it will be VERY easy to burn a hole through them, especialy for a beginning welder. Also, if the pipes are stainless, that further complicates the welds. So, I would say to take it to a muffler shop, they will make better quality of welds and it shouldn't cost very much.

Soaring

What he said. [sm=exactly.gif]