Since my last post I have been working away at several different tasks. The truck has been on and off jackstands several times as I work my way through my checklist. I have it taped to the window to remind me whats left, yet I feel like I never have anything completed enough to actually check it off the list!
The most significant progress I've made is on the exhaust system. I had several requirements for this system that I wanted which were 2.5" mandrel bent duals, fully tucked in the frame, and an x-pipe. I knew this was going to be tricky to accomplish but I came up with this vision in my head that I was able to make a reality. I started off with some Summit Racing exhaust manifolds. These were actually very nice quality for the price, and they had the 2.5" collector unlike many of the cheap manifolds on ebay which are only 2 1/4". From there I worked with a 2.5" universal exhaust kit I got from Amazon. I took a chance with it and it turned out to be very good builder quality tubing.
In order to stay above the bottom of the frame rails and make it over the trans crossmember, I had to come directly out of the collector flange with a bend. These manifolds are 26 degrees from vertical, so my first bend is 64 degrees to get me horizontal straight back along the frame rails. This is where integrating the x-pipe gets tricky.
I knew I didn't really have enough room to snake the exhaust down under the driveshaft behind the trans, and then back up with enough room to get through the cutouts I made in the trailing arm crossmember. Others more skilled than I have tried and it's just not very feasible. This is where my lightbulb went off. Why not utilize all that extra space I created for myself when I raised the bed floor and retained the stock truck arms? So, just behind the cab I turned the exhaust up with a 90 and then towards the middle with another 90. This got the two sides pointed at eachother and gave me the opportunity to squeeze in an x. Since I needed to get my mufflers in there and pointed at the rear axle, I had to do my x at a custom angle. This gave me the ability to go straight back from the x, through the mufflers, over the axle and sneak past the corner of where my fuel tank will be mounted.
At this point, the whole exhaust has been finalized except for the tail pipes. I will have to wait on these until the bed is on so I can position them perfectly. I plan to have them just barely sticking out behind the wheels with turn downs at the end. I also do need to remove the exhaust and final weld everything and clean it up.
That's it for now, but first, back on the ground again for some motivation!
