What Did I Do Wrong Installing My Catback?

[Jklaz]

I bought an MBRP Race exhaust to have something to do during this 'quarantine'. Me and my pops (neither of us done this before) installed it in his driveway this past weekend on some ramps and jackstands.

The tips seemed aligned fine, but once we tightened everything up, they both seemed low and one touched the bumper. The tailpipes kind of looked low too.

We tried multiple times to unclamp and twist the tailpipes, but each time one of the tips touched a bumper, and they still looked low. Everything is a little difficult laying on your back under the car.

Is there something I'm missing here? Or at this point should I just take it to a shop and have them fix our attempt? I've been driving around without the tips on, but took some pictures with the tips on so y'all can see.

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 15, 2020

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[BlueThunder]

Your images are screwed up. You'll need to fix them.

You can't align the tips by twisting the pipes or playing with the tips. You have to adjust the hangers underneath. Since I'm assuming you're still in the 17 with single tips, you should just be able to adjust the hanger by the mufflers and leave the middle ones alone.

Best way I found to do it was measure how far you need to adjust the tips accurately. Then you have to take the exhaust off, and using a long pipe or something, slowly bend the exhaust hanger in the proper direction to adjust the tip. So if you need tip down, you move it up. Tip up, move it down that distance. And try to measure how far you're adjusting the hanger by where it hangs in the grommet.

I did my dual-tipped '18 this way when I installed my H-Pipe and when I again removed the exhaust to paint the mufflers.

 

[Jklaz]

Your images are screwed up. You'll need to fix them.

You can't align the tips by twisting the pipes or playing with the tips. You have to adjust the hangers underneath. Since I'm assuming you're still in the 17 with single tips, you should just be able to adjust the hanger by the mufflers and leave the middle ones alone.

Best way I found to do it was measure how far you need to adjust the tips accurately. Then you have to take the exhaust off, and using a long pipe or something, slowly bend the exhaust hanger in the proper direction to adjust the tip. So if you need tip down, you move it up. Tip up, move it down that distance. And try to measure how far you're adjusting the hanger by where it hangs in the grommet.

I did my dual-tipped '18 this way when I installed my H-Pipe and when I again removed the exhaust to paint the mufflers.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize I set the album to private, so the pictures should now be visible.

I am in the 2017 with the single tips. Now that you can see the pictures, would you still recommend bending the hangers? I just wanted to double check that my entire exhaust isn't sagging before I start attempting to bend the hangers, fixing the tailpipe sag but not full exhaust sag. Although I'm pretty sure its just the tailpipes, but you never can be too sure lol.

 

[BlueThunder]

I see clamps there before the mid-way hangers like an axle-back. I'm guessing it came in pieces and you had to assemble it as you went. Before bending anything, remember the hangers sit in grommets so if there is pressure pushing the tips in a certain direction, you'll want to correct that first. You will likely want to start at those clamps visible in the last 2 pictures. I'd start by getting those loose so the muffler portion will move.

You should be able to take care of any east-west orientation issues by tapping pipe behind the muffler with a mallet in the direction you want to go. Once the east-west is taken care of, that shouldn't be an issue once it's clamped down. As far as north/south, try moving the tips up/down with the clamp loose and see how it goes. You can use pieces of wood or something to support both the tip and try putting a piece under the mid-pipe portion just after the clamp. You want to be able to adjust the muffler portion without moving the whole shebang.

Then retighten firmly enough to hold it and check how things look. It's probably best if the tips look a touch high as they'll settle in over time. Hopefully this works and if you get things looking good, make sure everything gets snugged down really well to keep things in place.

 

[Chef jpd]

My suggestion:
Bring it to an exhaust shop. They will put it on a lift, put some pole jacks under the muff!ers and line them up perfectly.
Then have them remove the clamps and weld the pipes in place.
I had it done after a resonator de!ete. Perfect alignment, and cost me $40.

 

[RubyRed15]

I would guess you've got something upside down or swapped L-R.

 

[Jklaz]

I see clamps there before the mid-way hangers like an axle-back. I'm guessing it came in pieces and you had to assemble it as you went. Before bending anything, remember the hangers sit in grommets so if there is pressure pushing the tips in a certain direction, you'll want to correct that first. You will likely want to start at those clamps visible in the last 2 pictures. I'd start by getting those loose so the muffler portion will move.

You should be able to take care of any east-west orientation issues by tapping pipe behind the muffler with a mallet in the direction you want to go. Once the east-west is taken care of, that shouldn't be an issue once it's clamped down. As far as north/south, try moving the tips up/down with the clamp loose and see how it goes. You can use pieces of wood or something to support both the tip and try putting a piece under the mid-pipe portion just after the clamp. You want to be able to adjust the muffler portion without moving the whole shebang.

Then retighten firmly enough to hold it and check how things look. It's probably best if the tips look a touch high as they'll settle in over time. Hopefully this works and if you get things looking good, make sure everything gets snugged down really well to keep things in place.

Well our first attempt at fixing it did involve removing those 2 clamps. Problem is, the pipe is a pita to move/twist after its been clamped. Maybe it wouldnt be so hard if we weren't under the car, but we couldnt get it off lol. But we did prop the tips up with some cinderblocks and wood to get them where I wanted, retightened, and they immediately drooped back. If I don't take it to a shop sometime in the next two days, I will take another crack at this weekend. Plan on taking the parts off the car totally, disassembling them, and trying to realign like you said.

My suggestion:
Bring it to an exhaust shop. They will put it on a lift, put some pole jacks under the muff!ers and line them up perfectly.
Then have them remove the clamps and weld the pipes in place.
I had it done after a resonator de!ete. Perfect alignment, and cost me $40.

I did call a guy. Said they were busy but first come first serve. Just depends if I can get out of work the next few days.

I would guess you've got something upside down or swapped L-R.

I have the Y pipes little circle hole thingy pointed down and the other 4 pipes all sit fine in their hangers so I dont think thats it. There are some decent videos on youtube on this particular exhaust, but somehow they all just magically align it properly when they tighten.

 

[Rapid Red]

As mentioned above you might have some thing installed backasswords'

I did an X pipe, when I began fitting it up. I discovered there was a top and bottom side. That only became visible when installing.

One point I'd like make about the clamps. If over tighten and it sounds like you did. Will stretch and or deform the pipe too pipe connections,. That happens you will never get things to stay in place, torque is about 20ftlbs for clamps.

This sounds like what you did with the little thingy . Take it to a shop have it welded. That's how you fix a thingy (sound like a girl talking) ..

 

[77Highboy77]

It looks like you have the pipes coming off the y-pipe turned down a little low in the back. I just installed the Street exhaust the other day and everything lined up almost perfectly for me. Here are some pictures of how mine is adjusted.

 

[Jklaz]

As mentioned above you might have some thing installed backasswords'

I did an X pipe, when I began fitting it up. I discovered there was a top and bottom side. That only became visible when installing.

One point I'd like make about the clamps. If over tighten and it sounds like you did. Will stretch and or deform the pipe too pipe connections,. That happens you will never get things to stay in place, torque is about 20ftlbs for clamps.

This sounds like what you did with the little thingy . Take it to a shop have it welded. That's how you fix a thingy (sound like a girl talking) ..

Pretty sure its all on the right way. Just not fit in together correctly. Probably taking it to someone tomorrow

It looks like you have the pipes coming off the y-pipe turned down a little low in the back. I just installed the Street exhaust the other day and everything lined up almost perfectly for me. Here are some pictures of how mine is adjusted.

Even though I think im taking it to a shop, I tried to get a similar picture to yours (using an iphone 11 main camera) and I can't seem to 100% line it up properly but its close lol. I'm just not 100% sure which part is wrong. Sometimes when I look at the pictures it looks fine, other times low, etc

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• Jklaz
• Apr 16, 2020

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• Jklaz
• Apr 16, 2020

 

[FreePenguin]

it is a pain, took me awhile to get both my axle backs lined up, would have to loosen clamps, rotate the axle back pipe, then adjust the tip, any combination of things. but I eventually got my desired result. adding more pipe, I added a resonator delete/y pipe, had to readjust again. It will work eventually

 

[Chef jpd]

I'll agree with the comments on those clamps. They tend to crush the larger pipe and leave a loose exhaust leak.
Welding is your friend.
Even if you have a tight fit, one pothole and the tips will droop

 

[RubyRed15]

You definitely have your Y-pipe upside down or your muffler pipes switched L-R (or both).

 

[Jklaz]

For anyone on wondering, I just took it to a local shop. Readjusted everything and he put a small weld on the tip to the tailpipe, but he said the other connections most likely would be fine and come back if i need anything. Only charged 25 bucks and was a nice dude so I figured whatever I'll go back if I have problems.

Thanks for all the input!

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