The expansion and contraction of the steel uppipes causes a movement within the donut gasket which in turn erodes the pipe. The expansion joint allows the pipe to move, but the seal at the joint to remain stable.

 

Very clean I like it. What was your total cost? Was it worth the savings? haha

If I had the skills a I would do this, but I have a 2002 so my bellows arent as bad. I will get some some day.

 

Thanks Trey Well it wasn't a matter of savings since I don't have any money. And is it worth all the time I have into it well only time will tell. And as far as money spent including: bellows, gaskets, paint, wrap & wrap ties.
I have a total of $120 and more hours than I care to say I tend to over think things but this time it paid off.

 

Wow. That is a huge savings over the international bellowed pipes. Do you happen by chance have a write up on how to do this or was it trial and error.

 

Well Seth like I said in my first post "adding bellows to help the problem and by no means is it as good a fix as IH pipes are." But it is still better than stock. The IH bellow set up does not have donut gaskets. And the donut gaskets are problematic to say the least on a turbo up pipe.
I also said in that first post "And all I can say to anyone with a Early99 is if you have the $$ switch to a Late99 or H2E set up instead of dealing with the head aches that come with the E99." And the only point I am trying to make is that what I am doing is improvement over stock but in NO way is as good as the IH pipes. So my suggestion to you is save your $$ and get rid of the E99 set up.

But if you still want to do this modd I will be more than glad to try to be helpful. I did this write up because there isn't one to be found for the E99. And I would like to believe there is enough info in this write up to help you or scare you away from doing this modd.

If I had a job I wouldn't be doing this modd I would have just saved up for a better turbo set up. I am just a poor white boy trying to make the best of what I have.

 

To do the switch what do I all have to do? Just the turbo spider and intercooler tubes or is there more to it? Sorry I have never thought of doing the switch because I love my fast spool early turbo

 

Well you just pointed out the only thing the Early99 turbo is good at " spools up quickly" and the down sides I don't even want to go there.
And as far as what you need to switch over Clay has made it easy with this kit. Riffraff Diesel: Riffraff Early 99 7.3L Conversion Kit
It has been on my wishlist for a long time. It is a very nice kit has everything you need to convert to a late99 set up.

 

The bellow allows the pipe to expand and contract with heat cycles. It needs to move as to grows and shrinks whith the cycles. The donuts allow the pipe to slide while the bellows design keeps the movement in the bellowed section sealed up.

Here is a video I did showing the principle.

Bellowed Up-Pipes - YouTube

 

Thanks Ken I think your video does a great job explaining why the IH pipes are the best solution for leaky up pipes.

 

looks good ed did he tig that with stainless ? welds look good now ya just need to run some exhaust thru them.what elese do ya need to put her on the road? yea i looked at that kit from clay for over a year and finally bit the bullet and did it all man its a big differance its like a new truck.ive seen over 25 lbs of boost since!

 

Thanks Wes Well after this I have trans pump modds, torque converter and u joints and I am back on the road !! And hopefully when I get back to work and then save up for the kit from Clay. Someday I'll be able to do like you did. I see how happy you are with the set up!
And Derek mig welded them with .023 wire.

 

I'm sure I am not alone here but I just find it amazing how anyone can buy $10 of pipe for $400. Now thats some serious profit. I personally re-used my oem up pipes and bought the correct donuts from ford and installed them with no problems what so ever. They are capable of lasting 300k or longer. I don't see why everyone says they are crap. Is 300k not long enough for some of us? But I guess we all have our reasons. I just hope it isn't so we can say the word "bellowed" when bs-ing about our truck to our buddies. I'm not dissing anyone just saying what i think. Besides who in their right mind would modify a 14' cube van to kick a cars ***, besides me.

 

I don't know where you get $10 ?????? You have never priced bellows I guess?? Well I myself would pay $400 anyday of the week for a IH set up. First all it is 2 pipes with bellows and flanges, 2 gaskets and a new collector (baby butt) It is well worth it. But in my case it is 2x's that amount.
And here a few photos of my stock pipes with 205k.

pipe erosion due to donut gasket with 205,000 miles


So your truck with 300k is the only ONE I have ever heard of that had such good luck. So I am happy for you. The other 9 out of 10 people ALWAYS end up having problems due to pipe erosion. I am just posting this so that people can see first hand.

 

Nope, never had up pipes do that. I've taken them off and they have been as smooth as the rest of the pipe. I can see why you would need to replace them being they have been indented and that obviously will cause leaks.
My comment about $10 was based on two straight pieces of exhaust pipe with a value of maybe $10 and someone sticking them in their pneumatic pipe bender and hitting the program button and waiting about 30 seconds for the screen to tell you to remove them. I'm saying, thats alot of profit.

 

First I painted with VHT Flame Proof, I have found over the years painting before wrapping help you to get a tighter wrap. And also helps to keep the pipe from rusting under the wrap. And if you can see the pipe where the donut gasket would go it is shinny and smooth.


Well I also sand blaster the pipe where the donut gaskets go in hopes of getting better bite between the pipe and gasket. Wrapped with DEI Titanium wrap and used DEI ties. Well the SS wrap ties were the worse I have ever used and the Titanium wrap did wrap nice and tight but it is way to thin and was coming apart at the ends after cutting. I don't think it will hold up well. But it does look cool. I wish I would have used Thermo Tec I like using their products and I know from the past their stuff holds up very well. Live and learn


Now the last thing I did in hopes of keeping the donut gaskets from leaking was I went and bought a pipe expander. And in this photo you can see the sand blasting better.

Also you can see this tool was made in China !! So far this whole project I have used Chinese bellows and now the pipe expander. So this project should be called Chinese parts installed by a unemployed American!!! So say what you will but being unemployed I can't afford American parts. And actually I don't think there is a American company that makes bellows state side. Too bad it would have been a job I would have taken if it was here to be had!! Sorry

I installed the flange and gasket before expanding the pipe. I also clocked the gaskets so the notchs lined up with bolt holes before expanding.