I am going to be putting a cat back system on my 06 ram this weekend, does anyone have any tips on how to get the stock exhaust off? I am going to be putting penetrating oil on the exhaust, where it is clamped together to hopefully help it slide apart easier. Any other tips for removing the muffler?

 

The clamps were tightened to the point of crushing the pipe on top of the inside pipe on mine. They tighten em pretty hard at the factory. You might get lucky but will probably end up reaching for a sawzall.

 

they were spot welded on top on my 05. I had to cut mine

 

Yeah, good luch sliding it off!!! Your best bet is to cut it and get it out of the way!!!

 

Sawzall is your best bet, just keep it straight. I torched mine off.

Donaldson seal clamps are your friend.

 

I did it last weekend and I used a torch

 

So when I try to install my banks cat back system, would cutting the pipe infront of the muffler not screw it up? I would think that it would change the length. What I was thinking about was cutting the pipe on the backside of the muffler, so I could remove it out of the way. Then use a dead blow hammer or a sledge hammer to pound the stock muffler off the pipe. Don't know like I said just a thought.

 

I had to do mine the hard way. My dad doesn't have a sawzall. So, one way to skin a cat is to use a pneumatic grinding wheel to cut slits in the muffler collar (both ends). Then take an assortment of chisels and a small (or big) hammer or mallet and work at loosening the collar. Work a little penetrating oil in there, keep chiseling, cutting, lubing ect, it will come loose took me the better part of 3 hours. But OHHHHH so worth it. On a serious safety note- fully protected goggles are an absolute must. Leather gloves and an old hat are good too. I had so many metal filings (slivers) embedded in my scalp by the end of the day I felt like I got stung by a swarm of yellowjackets.

 

sawzall !!! You can forget trying to slip the exhaust system apart, they tighten it down so much that it rings the pipe together. I tried for an hour to get it apart before I finally just pulled out the sawzall and had it done in 5 minutes.

 

Has anyone tried to just replace the stock muffler with a magnaflow? I was thinking of cutting out the old one and installing this one...


Will I need extra pipe? Can I use clamps to install it or am I going to have to take it to a shop to do it?

 

The stock muffler has an offset on it, the inlet is lower than the outlet. You will have to raise the pipe up to the tail pipe to make it work. I did this when I took off my CAT and stock muffler with Diamond Eye Hi-Flow that I already had.

 

That's what I've always done in the past. Saves a lot of time. Just make sure you wear good safety glasses because metal in your eyes is not fun at all!

 

Where can I get these clamps you guys are talking about? I would like to save the money and do this myself... DODGE4X4 so do you think this will work or should I look for something else?

 

If you can use a welder well and have a torch I can't see why you couldn't do it. The factory muffler has the brackets welded on to it so you will either have to make new ones or torch off and re-weld them on your new muffler. Make sure before you weld it up that your tail pipe is where you want it and is clearing your spare tire. It did not take me very long to do it but I have all the tools it takes to do it. If not you might just want to take it to a shop and let them fight it, I can't see it costing you more that $100 for them to do it.

The clamps they are talking about are just 4" u-bolts, tractor dealers should have them just tell them what you are doing.

 

Just straight piped mine today. I tried pounding it apart. Then the old muffler cutter slits. Filannly I sawzalled the thing out. With the muffler on the ground I had to cut over half the pipe to get it seperated from the tail pipe. It was a major pita. Just cut it off!
Once I finally got all the pieces apart I added a chunk of straight 4" pipe that I got from a local muffler shop. I used band clamps (NAPA carries them and so should anywhere that deals with bigger trucks) instead of the U bolt clamps and slapped it back together. The muffler is offset but the band clamps let me **** the pipes a little before fully tightening them down and everything looks stock. Clearence is fine and no drone problems unloaded so far. I need to drive it a little more to see if I need to fab something up to replace the missing exhaust hangers. I dont know If I trust the band clamps to support the pipe yet but it should be fine. There is no movement other than the factory rummer isolators for the hangers.