I'm looking for someone or a link who has done a clean install of the down pipe. Not chopped up bent up. I don't want mud and dirt build up in the cut out area. Or has someone built a custom down pipe the ovals out yet keeps the flow going. Thanks.

 

Not going to happen that pinch weld is on the way even with the cobra head. The only way around it is to do a body lift

 

I understand it needs to be cut, I was wanting to see if someone has done a clean cut and patch to keep the integrity of the body. I don't have the truck here so I don't know how much room there is to work with.
Thank you.

 

If you are in a situation where you are testing the structural integrity of the body in that area you have much bigger problems!

 

Its not the structural but more the keeping the junk out from the inside of the body and rusting it out and any heat soak that may or may not happen. I don't know. I just don't want to cut up and bend the metal and leave it like that..

 

Just paint where you cut and bedline it

 

I didn't have to cut anything to get mine installed... Just took a bfh and 36" crowbar and bent the firewall up and toward the rear.

 

I made a few cuts in the pinch, perpendicular to the weld, but stopping at the floor pan. Then I removed the trans fill tube, and fought for a few hours with pry bars, a floor jack, and 2X4's to bend the weld out. I get some resonance in right turns, but other wise ok. The cuts make bending MUCH easier without creating any openings. I've heard of guys using scissor jacks b/n the weld and the bell housing. Looked like it would work, but the scissors I had laying around where about an inch too thick. And for what its worth, I had better luck sliding the DP up from the the bottom, rather than down from the top.

 

I pulled the transmission to do mine, I work in a transmission shop so it's like 20 minutes to pull. I cut the seam on mine and used a pry bar to flatten the seam. I have an AFE turbo back system the down pipe fit like a freakin glove, the rest of it not so much, but with some dickin around I got it right. This one has a muffler and I like it a lot better than straight piped. I have zero contact with the firewall, and what I cut and flattened will never be a concern and I'm kinda picky.

 

My mule and mare were not to bad after getting rid of the seam. My OX was a completely different animal. this had to be done. These trucks are all different. The picture shows a 3" DP.

 

Were any new swear phrases created during that procedure?

 

Haha, lots of them! That's only a 3" DP too!

 

After you cut the pinch weld, you just put seam sealer on it. NOT that big of a deal