Any tips or tricks for aligning exhaust tips?

[tomnelsonii]

Hi Guys,

I just installed a cat back exhaust on my car and I'm having trouble getting one of the exhaust tips centered. I think the biggest issue is that I don't have a lift and I can only get the car a little over a foot in the air. It really makes adjusting parts of the exhaust a pain. Is there any tricks to getting things aligned? I'm half tempted to bend the rod that goes to the exhaust hanger. Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advance!

--Tom

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[BmacIL]

Which catback?

 

[tomnelsonii]

Okay, after this advice now I feel slightly embarrassed. I probably had things too tight in the front. I'll be honest, I'm leaning toward just letting the shop do it, but I'll see how motivated I am in the morning. Thank you!


Anyone else have any tips or advice?

 

[tomnelsonii]

Which catback?

Exceladyne, It's produced by a local guy. Long story short, I bought the system used... and I have to give a bit shout out to the owner Tim! He was super helpful as the seller was missing a couple bits I needed and he hooked me up, and on a Saturday afternoon no less! I'm all about customer service and this guy has it!

 

[tomnelsonii]

I'm super happy with the fit and finish of the exhaust. I'm sure if I had a lift I could get this thing aligned spot on. It just sucks when a guy doesn't have access to a lift! I need to figure that out if I'm going to continue working on cars.

 

[tom_sprecher]

Add some jacking rails. Buy a set of 4 jack stands and a decent jack that you will use for decades to come. Loosen the hangers, but not too much, and doing one side at a time use the jack to push the muffler up. Tighten the hangers for that side. Check the alignment. If it is not right you will have to bend the rod. An OA torch and a vise makes it easy.

I just did a set of Borla AB's two weeks ago. Only one side was out of alignment, but it was way more (1") than it should have been. It was obvious the rod wasn't in the welding jig correctly when it was manufactured. I wasn't going to bother with sending it back and decided to fix it. Both side are perfectly aligned now.

 

[VinnAY]

When I did my cat back it was crooked at the front and throws off everything to the rear, once I quit jacking with trying to straighten it in the rear and noticed it was crooked up front, make sure it's level and not canted, everything lined up fine.

 

[tomnelsonii]

Thanks to everyone who responded! I already have jacking rails, but my problem is my jacks only go up 12" high. I agree, I should just buy a better jack so I can get the car up higher in the air. In the end, as someone commented, it shouldn't cost that much to have a shop do it (at least I hope not). I just don't feel like crawling around on my back under the car anymore! I gave it all I had on Saturday. I have an appointment for 8am tomorrow to get it aligned/fixed. Thanks again everyone!

 

[GTP]

I guess my reply is too late to help you, but here it is anyway.

You can adjust up/down alignment somewhat with rotating the axleback on the midpipe. Make sure that the midpipes are level to the ground, where they go laterally to the car's sides. You can actually check with a torpedo level. This is done by rotating the midpipe at the front muffler. Next, loosen the clamp from the midpipe to the axleback, and as you adjust the rotational angle of that joint, the tip will move up and down in the cutout a little. For a large change you may have to bend the hanger rod.

For side to side alignment, there is a very small amount of adjustment with the play of the hangers. Ultimately you may have to bend the hanger rod:

1. To get a predictable amount of adjustment, locate and mark the location of the bracket on the hanger.
2. Measure the amount of side to side change that you want at the cutout.
3. Measure the distance from the rod to the tip, at the marked location from step 1.
4. Next get a pipe for leverage and bend the rod closer (or farther) to the tip, and re-measure the distance.
5. Continue bending until the distance changes by the desired amount determined in step 2.

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