New exhaust...

I re-routed my exhaust but I'm not sure if I like it. What do you guys think???

I had it set up like this with both tips exiting out the side. The only thing is I kept Mosi-ing both tips.


On Friday, I had them run stright out the back. I'm not sure if I like it like this. Opinions?

I think it looks better now, more clean looking. What size are those tires?

The tires are 35x12.50's...

Looks very nice.

One question: Can those tips be shortened a little?

I don't see the tow hitch on yours... When the departure angle is very steep, those tips are the ones get Mosi-ed first and very easily? :rolleyes:

Not bad, but you've got a long way to go...




Brent

i like the way you have it now!

Stormy,
Those Pipes look sweet coming out the rear like that! What kind and Where did you get those exhausts installed? I also Live in New Hampshire.

Any Increase in performance. Thanks
Again!
~Doug

6 more and I'm there!

I find that when I go up or down something, I don't hit it stright on. 99% of the time I hit it at an angle. I think the way they are now will be less prone to taking a hit.

50 series flowmaster from Lou's Custom Exhaust in North Reading, MA. They do great work. I highly recommend them.

As far as the performance increase goes, I went from a Gibson to the Flowmaster and notice no loss or gain in power.

Just be careful backing up with a steep incline behind you.
But being aware they are behind you, you can pick a different line. I am sure you are aware of this.
Just watching the GOX preview movie were the spare tire got knocked lose.

The truck looks great! Are you going to relocate the sliders?

I also like the pipes coming straight out the back. I think for right now, you have the best looking truck amongst us all.

What types of lift to you have on that thing to handle those tires?

Thanks!
3" sl, 3" bl, sawzall, and fiberglass. It wasn't easy to get them to fit and to look right. I still have some minor tweaks to do but nothing major.
In this photo you can see that I just barly rub in the rear just behind the rear doors.

I thought for sure that someone by now would comment on the plate. It is a little fuzzy

Stormy--I like it out the back better. My experience has been that I drag/rub more often on the back corners than straight on.

Also, I'm surprised you rub at the front of the rear wheelwell--I just put on 35x12.50 MTR's myself and I only rub at the *back* of the rear wheelwell. I used 15x7 wheels w/ 4.5" BS, maybe that has something to do with it. Anyway, your truck looks great!

Have you wheeled it with the new tires? The frist time I went out, I marked everywhere they rubbed and trimmed where need be. It's only a very light rub but enough to rub off the paint.

The rims are 15x8 with a 4.75 BS. I like the way they stick out.

Got any shots of your truck with the 35's?

I've only wheeled it once, at night, the night I got them, just to see how it felt.

I actually bought a single wheel and tire and worked with it to trim everything up before I bought the rest, and I was way overzealous in what I trimmed...the only place I have left that rubs is the back of the rear wheelwell.

And here's my requisite poser shot.


Also, about your exhaust--do you have room to add a trailer hitch? That could protect the tips...

Wow! Looks great man... Have you had any wheel weights fly off? With a 7" rim, I'd think that the weights would be hard to get on and stay on.

With the exhaust the way it is, no room for a hitch.

Any shots of the rear bumper? Looks like you have something replacing the side plastic bumpers/end caps?

There is some strange stuff on that site, some of it is sorta cool like the car with the skulls molded into the hood. But then there is... this.. thing... WTF is this?

Does it say "hang on" ?
hard to see

Yeah, HANG-ON... Guess I was the only one that thought it was funny

I laughed when I saw it the first time...
But I laughed harder when you told the story of how you got the plates.

hey hold on there a gosh darn minute. How about a writeup of how you guys trimmed your wheel wells. The black x looks awesome. Vikram's on the other hand looks good but is the wrong color.


As far as the exhaust have you considered busting out the hole saw and make some exit holes in your bumper. that might keep them from getting mosied if the hitch doesn't interfere with routing them that way.

Yeah, I posted about my new bumper a few weeks ago. Here are links to two pics. (It's a homebrew design.)

http://www.4x4lo.com/mods/rear_bumper_done_1.jpg
http://www.4x4lo.com/mods/rear_bumper_done_2.jpg

As to the wheelweights, no problems yet. I had them put the weights just on the inside of the rim so I won't tear them off again, and they only took a little bit of weight...I was impressed.

imacsae--as to the fender trimming, I can try and take some pics (stormy might have some on hand?) I still need to finish up the back of the rear wheelwell, I think the front is done though.

Cool... Is the tire carrier custom too? Who is helping you with the fab work. Looks good!

The whole thing is "custom," I built it...you think anyone would sell something looking like that?

I finally got a chance to take the X out (met up w/ OffroadX to give him my Swampers) and apart from trimming up the plastic fender liner, I'm almost done w/ trimming. Here are the pics of my X crossed up in the parking lot at the end of the day.



It's *really* close, but I'm not touching in the front of the rear wheelwell...I did cut the lip out already though...is that where you rub? I am touching in the back of the rear wheelwell, lightly...just need a bit more trimming and I should be set. I just got an air nibbler, which makes trimming up this sheetmetal a piece of cake...wish I'd had it for the front wheelwells.

hey did you consider just lopping off those pieces of sheet metal behind the tire below the bumper line. I am just starting to draw up my own rear bumper and am considering just cutting that excess metal off and making a bumper with a much improved departure angle. Is there a problem with cutting those off will I compromise the rigidity of my body. Also the vent thing on the right hand side does it have a purpose.

The vent allows presure to be released from the cabin when doors are shut and the windows are all rolled up. If there was no vent, nor a way for air to be released you could expect a window to let lose and pop out.

I did consider it, but when I saw the way the body panels are joined there, I quickly dismissed it. The seam where the body panels join is the at the bottom of those metal pieces, so if you wanted to really trim it all off you'd have to do quite a bit of body work to join them back up again. (And you *would* want to join them back up again, otherwise you'd have a huge hole.) Considering how much swearing I did just trying to weld shut a 6" seam in the rear wheelwell, there's no way I'd want to pursue that...maybe you'll have better luck though. This was my first experience trying to weld sheetmetal, and it SUCKED.

Hope this helps. Sorry to kidnap stormy's thread.

Damnit I knew it sounded too easy. Maybe I will look to a body shop to do something like that and start with just a center section bumper. How exactly did you build the tire carrier arm specifically the turning joint. did you do some interior bracing to assure it was strong enough to hold the weight of the arm. Oh and by the way what thickness steel should I look into using.

Stormy, gothamist,

Are you running bumpstop extensions?

Are you talking about the front or the rear? Right now I'm not running either.

No problem... It's much more interesting talking about the bumper than my exhaust.

stormy--right on.

imacsae--I used 3/16" wall box steel for the main part of the bumper, and 1/4" for the frame mounts and crossbrace. The carrier portion's base is 3/16", the rest is 1/8" to save weight. The hinge is from Rockstomper.
http://www.rockstomper.com/catalog/pieces/hinge.htm

I stuck it in a lathe and tapped the bottom of it, so that it's bolted into the bottom edge of the 2x4 and welded all the way around on the top edge of the 2x4. It's also welded in on the inside edge of the steel.

And I'm not running any bumpstop extensions either.

Rear bumpstop extensions. I was just curious if you were fully stuffing the rear tires, thanks.

Ok sounds interesting. what we really need to do is make up a step by step instructional on how to build a bumper. Beginning with exact measurements on marking the metal for cutting. Where to get the hinge etc. Later on I will probably ask you for some more details on the hinge design. I am going to build a center bumper to start with a tire carrier. Later something will need to be designed to replace the side plastic pieces. I figure the center portion will be easy it is the swing arm and sides that will need some work. How bout doing a writeup on your bumper on your site vikram with some measurements and specifics.

hey vikram what did you do with your KMA?

I still have it lying around in the garage. If anyone is interested in it I'll be happy to let it go really cheap. It needs about an hour's worth of work with a grinder and a drill to get back up to snuff.

imacsae--when I get the chance I can do a writeup on building a bumper. if you have any specific questions now I can certainly answer them. Also, just to let you know, the design I have won't work as well if you make the hinge come from the center section--on my design it's moved over about 4" from the end of where the center section used to be, which gives you the ability to make a longer swingaway (did this to ensure plenty of room for hi-lift + a spare 35" tire.) I think if you want to build out from the center section, a hinge that comes away from the face of the bumper, rather than the top, might work better--ala KMA and Calmini. You can adapt the Rockstomper hinge for this but it's a bit more tricky, especially to make it bombproof.

so how much do you want for the kma hee hee first to ask.

the silverado had to much over kill the X looked nice thou

I cut the bottom of my rear fenders off and had bumperets made in there place.I'm having the underside capped on Monday although I havn't noticed any flex in the body without them.Stormy posted some pics of it under custom bumpers in the pictures section.

ummmm were did you say those pics are?

why is this post here? It's 5 friggin months old?! (It was the first in the pics forum) date read 2-7-2003