Driving to work today (about 5 miles) in the new snow we just got over the night, hit a few bumps and the exhaust clamp broke from rusting in the Minnesota winters and rust. So now from behind the cats to the muffler its just dangling (maybe 3" below the cat pipes) and the muffler is rubbing against the drive shaft.

So I have a few options, instead of flex pipe (stuff just out right sucks) I was thinking either getting pipe either a bit larger or smaller than the existing exhaust pipe and slide it in or over and just put a couple weld beads all the way around (probably be flux core since I have no co2 or solid wire atm). Or just put a new clamp on there?

It's a 99 with 243K on the clock and stock exhaust.

 

no, i am a welder. material is too thin for flux core. only solid wire for that. that being said it really does not matter if it is welded or clamped. but since you dont have the right wire i would clamp it.

 

kinda hard to say, what shape is the rest of the exhaust system? Don't know if you'd be able to weld it, and not sure you could clamp it real tight. If you are going to hold on to the truck I'd say go ahead and get a good aftermarket exhaust if it's in the budget right now. I had an oldder truck I kept having to patch the exhaust, in the end it would have been cheaper just to change the entire exhaust.

 

solid wire still uses gas. 75% argon 25% co2. t1 flux core uses the same gas. t-11 uses no gas. just make sure when running that wire you are direct current electrode negative.

 

Not sure how long my dad wants to keep the truck. Exhaust is pretty much rusted and right now I'm broke so we can't just go with a aftermarket exhaust kit. Passenger side exhaust manifold has a hole in it (been there for a good number of years). I'm looking at buying my own truck here within the next year and doing that up my way. May end up just clamping it if possible.

 

i would just clamp it. exhaust clamps are cheap and they work.

 

Probably your best bet. If it's rusted as you say, I don't think you could turn down a welding macine enough to patch it, to get enough penetration, you probably burn more holes than you fixed.

 

I took a good hard look at it and it looks like if I took a wire wheel too it, I could maybe weld it. All I have is a 10lb spool of E71T-11 (Hobart) Flux Core gasless and a 140i Northern Industrial welder. Could buy dual shielded gas, but I have no gas cylinders and don't have the cash for them or gas.

At this rate I will just clamp it. Hoping to have it replaced with a F250 Fummins by this Fall/Winter.

 

Buy a piece of pipe , a couple of clamps , and some pipe sealer ( if they still sell it ? ) use to be standard fare ... Clamp it and get by . Best of luck !

 

Probably the best way to go, I haven't seen the "exhaust paste" or whatever you call it, I'm sure you can still find it though. Works really well, or used to.

 

Clear RTV has been used by Harley-Davidson to seal crossover pipes, but copper or "red" high-temp is even better where cosmetics don't matter. It doesn't do large gaps but it does help.