bending exhaust pipe

[jkorreck]

I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to bend exhaust pipe with a pipe bender, it seems to smash the pipe alot before it bends. I've heard recently that you need a tube bender to really do quality bends in exhaust any advice?

[V10man]

Buy prebent pieces from JCWhitney?? Mandrel bent is so much better.

[jkorreck]

I'll do that once I get the money together for a good exhaust system. Right now I'm trying to do a cheap fix. I have a 92 aerostar van that I got for free a couple months ago and the muffler and flex pipe have rusted to the point that they look more like swiss cheese than anything else. Any advice on the actual bending and if it can be done somewhat decently with a ram style pipe bender?

[Ford79]

I haven't had any luck with trying to bend exhaust tubing on my pipe bender, it just flattens it. What I do if I need a piece of pipe bent, I bend a stiff wire (clothes hanger)in to the shape I need and approximate length and take it to a shop to have the pipe bent. This will get you pretty close to what you need, and doesn't cost too much either.

[Skagit]

Depending on how much bending you are doing, and the diameter, you could fill the pipe with sand, pack it in good, and plug off both ends. Should keep it from collapsing, but a exhaust tube bender might work better if you are going to make alot of bends. Good luck.