Economic Exhaust choice?

familywhip · 12-21-2006, 09:18 PM

I ran over a large piece of metal in the road and messed up the right side exhaust manifold, CAT and Exhaust can on my 2005 SXT 3.5 L AWD Magnum.

The dealer wants insane amounts of money and the parts are on back log. of a week.

The internet shows various aftermarket products, but I have no idea what is what. I have dual exhaust so I would either need stock right side set up or I would need to replace the wholse system. I am looking to save some cash if possible. Any advice?

steve · 12-21-2006, 09:27 PM

Take it to any local exhaust/muffler shop. They will be cheaper than the dealer and can custom make a kit for you with the mufflers you desire.

familywhip · 12-21-2006, 09:33 PM

I went to a Midas and they said that the car is too new and they would have to order the parts from a dealership and mark them up, so I would be better off going straight to the dealer.

peybella · 12-21-2006, 10:33 PM

Blastin Bob can sell the entire replacement kit for a decent price. You would be able to install it yourself and save some cash or take to a local installer and have them do it for a 100 bucks. Just an idea.

I have the 6db resonator replacement kit that took me to a dual pipe system and love it. Of course your going to need the new muffler system and he offers this in kits as well. You can see the results on my web site under upgrades.

Their site is
http://shop.alliedmuffler.com

Or give Bob a shout at BlastinBob@aol.com

steve · 12-21-2006, 11:10 PM

Let me rephrase that, go to you local custom exhaust shop. When I think Midas, I think of a One Day paint and body(in and out as soon as possible). Any muffler shop should have a universal catalytic converter. Is your exhaust stock? Maybe you should swap your mufflers for some performance mufflers. As for the manifold, you will probably be stuck ordering from the dealer. I don't think anyone offers a header for the V6's. What in the world did you run over and how did it damage your manifold? Those things are usually pretty thick.

peybella · 12-22-2006, 12:01 AM

Sorry = Sounds like the damage is worse than I thought. Steve sure knows better than I. I hope you realize that I was just throwing out some ideas and didn't mean to try to steer you in a poor direction.

And his question is a good one. What in the world did you hit to do so much damage? Sounds like you were lucky not to have more damage than you were dealt.

Also, the point is a good one. Maybe you can go ahead and have a high performance system installed and maybe insurance will help?

Hope you end up with what you are looking for and possibly turn a bad thing into a good one.

Sorry again,

Greg

familywhip · 12-22-2006, 09:46 AM

There was a piece of metal kicked up into my lane during rush hour traffic. It had a six inch or so pipe attached to a six inch or so flange. My heart dropped out of my chest with the sound it made.

Perhaps the dealership overexaggerated the damage or I misunderstood? I crawled under there with the car on a ramp. The frontmost exhast pipe that that connects to the engine (the header?) is flattened down to half its diamiter. There is some sort of can at the very front of this pipe, then an electrical exhaust sensor, and the damage is shortly after that, right where the pipe starts to run parallel to the undercarriage. Seems to me that it could be cut and a new piece of pipe could be bent and welded, then a new exhaust could be bolted on. The header pipe appears to be alluminum, not cast iron.

Upon close inspection, my stock exhaust is two into one. It seems to me that the CAT is on the left side and there is not one on the right. If so dealer is trying to ride me on a new CAT. Is that true?

The dealership says to replace the "exhaust header pipe", CAT and of course the exhaust can that has a hole in it.

Further advice? If I upgrade the exhaust what should I put on there to increse HSP and improve MPG, without the drone?

steve · 12-22-2006, 01:28 PM

The manifold is physically attached to the engine block. What you are speaking of sounds like the mid pipe or y pipe, which connects to the exhaust manifold to the cats.The can you see on this pipe is probably the cat and the sensor is the O2 sensor. You should just be able to order that pipe or have one custom built. I would use the damage as an excuse to upgrade the complete exhaust system

. As for the brand of muffler, I am sure some other V6ers will chime in with suggestions.

familywhip · 12-23-2006, 04:54 PM

Steve and all,

Thank you for your advice.

I found a local custom shop and the guy was great. He cut out the damaged section, just past the CAT, welded on a new length of pipe and installed a flowmaster and a nice chrome tip, all for around $300.00.

Dealer wanted to replace the CAT and everything else for $1,600.00.

peybella · 12-23-2006, 06:56 PM

Good for you. I'm glad you were able to get things fixed for a decent price. When you mentioned "Can" the only thing I could figure was the O2 sensor close to the Y pipe and maybe the resonator. Thus, my above mentioned suggestion as I replaced everything back of the Y pipe into a dual system for around 200 bucks. I feel better about my suggestion now that I know more of what happened.

Glad your happy with the results and you didn't get ripped. Dealers!! I've have my fill of them this week for sure.

Regards,

Greg