How would I go about removing my muffler for a striaght pipe? I looked and it appears there are clamps on both sides of the muffler, is it as simple as removing the clamps and removing the muffler? Do I need to loosen any other bolts near the manifold or turbo to prevent cracking anything?

Thanks
Eric

 

cut the brackets, saw the muffler off, insert pipe and new brackets if needed. no need to loosen bolts.

im just saying what i saw my exhaust person do

 

You will need some heat. If you don't have a torch then a chisel and a big hammer. They really torque those things down and leave a crimp around the pipe that keeps them from slipping off.

Good luck! Usta

 

Alot of swear words help!!!

 

Save yourself time and aggrivation by taking it to a muffler shop. Quicker, easier, and should only cost you in the 30's. They had mine in about 30 minutes and only charged me 30 some and change...

 

Even brand new I couldn't get my muffler off without cutting it with a Sawzall!! Good luck.....

 

That is a fact---replaced the muffler and removed the pet yesterday!

 

Sazall.....trust me, it's the easiest method. Installed Aeroturbine yesterday. I did attempt to get the muffler off by taking the clamps off....."no chance paddles" those suckers are crimped good. Took me about a minute with a sazall.

Besides, you don't want to save that stock, hunk of junk, restrictive muffler........it may be good for a boat anchor, but that's about it.

 

did you guys cut it right at the flange of the muffler where the pipe goes (into the seam between the flange on the muffler and the exhaust pipe) or a little before that maybe an inch or so down the pipe? Or does it matter, I quess not?

 

Also how do you guys get a new piece of pipe in place of the muffler, do you have to cut the hangers so it will give a little or what? That exhaust is pretty rigid.

 

On the 2003 trucks the exhaust pipe going into the muffler is 3.5" pipe and the tail pipe coming out of the muffler is 4" and the two pipes are off-set. This makes just straight piping a little more difficult. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you do straight pipe the truck it will likely create an exhaust drone which you will not like.

I would suggest you invest in 4" pipe from the cast elbow back on the turbo and consider an Aeroturbine located on the down pipe. This will give yout he free flowing exhaust you are looking for with great sound and the Aeroturbine will keep the drone away. Another option would be to turn the first intermediate pipe upside down because of the off-set and install a 3.5" to 4" adaptor pipe and extension which would give you the straight pipe system with the least amount of parts. The only difficulty with that is rotating the first intermediate pipe to fit the other parts in the system. We stock parts to make up these two systems or complete systems to help you customize your exhaust.