Anyone Familar with custom vehicle exhaust work?

monster318 · Mar 20, 2015

Hey guys...I got a question that every other automotive forum I have been on just keeps blowing me off or dancing around an answer to...

I have a 2007 GMC Sierra 2500HD W/ 8.1L 496 CU motor in it...If I would have only known when I bought the truck back in 2010 how hard parts would be to find for this truck..I would have never bought it...

Anyways...The previous bone head owner of the truck cut into the factory stainless exhaust to put a "better flowing" muffler on the truck since the MPG of the is about 9 with that monster motor...Behind the muffler they ran an Aluminized tail pipe back out to factory exit location and that rotted off and broke apart halfway between my house in PA and my parents house in Maryland. So I took it to a local exhaust shop had a glasspack and aluminized duals put on it...now almost exactly two years later, its rotting off again..The truck doesnt even sit outside..it basically lives its life in the garage..

What I want to know is...how come when I walk into an exhaust shop, and ask about having an exhaust bent in stainless...they all look at me like I have four heads? It came from the factory with stainless...why cant anyone make a custom replacement exhaust?

As far as prebent stainless kits go....That truck of mine is such an odd ball...no one makes a kit for it...The fact that its a 2007 because they changed body styles that year also, 8.1 motor, 8ft Bed w/ an extended cab...all three of those combinations together make it a nightmare to try and get anything to fit the truck the right way...

aczlan · Mar 20, 2015

Call the dealer?
Old body style, or new body style?

Aaron Z

monster318 · Mar 20, 2015

Its the Classic body style...same as the 2006 Models

2458n · Mar 20, 2015

Anyone who carries the stainless pipe should be able to make you one. The shop I use buys truck loads of the standard stuff pre-bent. Only the guys in the shop know how to actually bend stuff because they worked for the kids father who looked at one off stuff as normal. Makes you wonder how Fords new Alum truck is going to hold up. Keep searching.

RedNeckRacin · Mar 21, 2015

Stay away From the National chains. They are less then worthless. Find a custom shop that deals with one off work. We have a shop that's tucked away in the next town over that will build to your exact specifications. It's run by a pair of brothers who do transmission work, build hot rods, and have a small speed shop Type deal.

RalphVa · Mar 21, 2015

A friend of mine and his father do this work in Charlottesville, Va (on your way to Maryland). It's Andy's Garage on the SE part of town.

Ralph

radioman · Mar 21, 2015

you stopped in a well known box chains repair shop didn't you? Well -- thats all they are good for - common cars with cheap stuff. Try online ordering from lmc like this one Truck Parts and Truck Accessories . its SS metal what you are looking for.

monster318 · Mar 21, 2015

radioman said:
you stopped in a well known box chains repair shop didn't you? Well -- thats all they are good for - common cars with cheap stuff. Try online ordering from lmc like this one Truck Parts and Truck Accessories . its SS metal what you are looking for.

No actually I refuse to go to any big chain national repair shops...I got fu*ked big time when I was 18 by Firestone on my first car and since then refuse to go to anything but local privately owned garages with a reputable past....Those and the dealerships I stay away from

seaneastok · Mar 21, 2015

I used to work for a shop where we bent and fabricated stock systems to 3 inch custom stainless systems on anything. It just depends on the shop, and the customer base that would pay for a stainless system as they are expensive.Of course it has been years since I have had any dealings with it so I have no idea of the current cost. I would look around your area that does hot rods or custom truck work.

westcliffe01 · Mar 21, 2015

Have you tried to buy a stock system either online or from the dealer ? The dealer for sure has the right service parts. I had a custom exhaust bent up for a Toyota motorhome and I provided a new catalytic converter and a stainless steel muffler from a Toyota Tundra (fancy laser welded muffler - made in TN). I believe I was charged $250 for bending the pipe and welding on brackets to go to existing body mounts,