Question for any foul weather folks here.

I am looking at a full exhaust job on my 99 F150 - 5.4L all the way from the manifolds and studs to the muffler. Here in Michigan, they dump the salt on the roads by the tons during the winter. My truck is not my daily driver and I hope to get 3-4 more years out of it. How long can I expect a non SS exhaust to last under very light duty in the sodium-chloride coated state of Michigan? Should I spend the extra bucks or save them considering my very limited driving pattern of this vehicle (low frequency - not necessarily short distances).

Thanks,
Mike G

 

I've owned cars for 40 years in Michigan and have been thru a LOT of exhaust systems. The road salt is really not the worst thing for an exhaust system if you wash the car fairly often (the wash I use does an undercarriage flush). What is worse is moisture and acids inside the exhaust system, and these can actually be worse if you leave a car sitting for long periods of time or do short trips where the exhaust system never heats up and cooks out the moisture.

For a 3-4 year lifespan, I'd say your odds are going to be pretty good with a non-stainless system--but not the cheapest, lowest-quality stuff which won't be galvanized or aluminized. Especially if you can buy non-stainless stuff with a lifetime warranty and keep the paperwork, that would cover you if something did rot out. It is usually the stuff further back in the exhaust system that rots out faster because it runs at cooler temps. (In the old days, the rear mufflers in dual exhaust systems had very limited lifetimes.)

George

 

It is true. Here in Salt Lake, we get a lot of road salt too, yet many non-stainless systems are seeing 5-7 years. The ones that fail the fastest are the ones that drive the shortest distances.

 

Thanks YoGeorge & KhanTyranitar. I hate to skimp on anything but I agree with you that a galvanized or aluminized system is probably the best thing for this truck. I'll probably to with a ss muffler though. I do a fair amount of 20+ mile trips and a fair amount of 3 mile trips with this truck. It's going in for a quote Wednesday. Hopefully, the cats are not too far gone but I don't hold out much hope. The heat shields fell off and I hose clamped them back on years ago.

 

Heat shields always fall off Ford (and many other brand) cats. I would not make any assumptions about needing your cats replaced if you are not getting any engine lights coming on. They're pretty darn expensive.

Good luck,
George

 

No errors but EVERYTHING is sooooooo rusty under this truck. It has held up great - orig exhaust is still on it at 11 years and 145K miles. If the shell is still good, they should be ok.