SuaveGato

Hello,
I have recently acquired a new (to me) Toyota truck and am going to be doing some mods. to it. Before I do however, I am going to be making numerous posts looking for some help, information, opinions, advice etc. Any and all input is greatly appreciated, thank you! Vitals: 1996 Tacoma, 4x4, X-cab, 3.4L V6, 5 spd.)


I want to replace the stock exhaust system with something like a flow master. Will I need to do anything to the injection or air flow to compensate like when you have to re-jet a motorcycle when you change the exhaust? Also, is it pretty easy to buy the parts and do it yourself? I can weld and cut etc. but don’t have any way to bend the pipe. Just wondering if I could save some dough by doing it myself or if it’s too complicated am I better off just paying a shop to do it?

Thanks,

CoedNaked

You don't have to do anything if you want to do an exhaust, don't worry about that.

If you buy a cat-back exhaust system everything should be included to do it yourself. Basically unbolt the stock system (most people say this is the part that takes the longest time due to rusty bolts) and bolt on/hang the new catback system. Everything should be included to do it all yourself. It's really just a question of how much money do you have and what system you want to get? Not all manufacturers may make a full catback exhaust system for your truck, so if you want a specific brand (e.g. Borla as an example) you may have to get an exhaust shop to weld up or bend all the piping for you to work with your preferred brands generic muffler that suits your trucks displacement. Keep in mind though I'd lean more towards a catback exhaust system if you could find one from a reputable or popular brand that has mandrel bent pipes instead of getting a local shop to do crush bent piping. Personal opinion anyways. If you want to know why just ask, otherwise hopefully some others have input.

Best of luck.

SuaveGato

THANK YOU! Sounds like I will have to do a little shopping and comparing... see what I can get in a "cat back" system Vs. what a local shop would charge me to do it. thanks! So, just for a mostly stock wheeler, what brand would you recommend for a better exhaust system? Just wanting it to sound better and maybe pick up a H.P. or two and maybe a little MPG? But mainly, cuz it needs new exhaust and my friends Flow master sounds great!
thanks,

CoedNaked

Well it really depends on your budget. For example Flowmaster & Magnaflow and some others are fairly popular on this discussion board amongst most for their price vs sound (I'm VERY partial to Borla - but Borla is a bit more pricey, but very high quality). Most guys on here are younger guys and they aren't neccessarily concerned about mileage or HP from an exhaust as much as sound neccessarily. The sound is the big one, sounds like it interests you as well. IF you check out "corey's" exhaust page (there's a link to it - search past exhaust threads, you'll find the link) where he has sound clips of various exhausts with the 3.4 L V6.

If you're just looking for sound then you could probably get a replacement muffler like a Flowmaster 50 series (quietier side) or 40 series (a little louder) or the Super 40 or whatever it's called (someone will chime in here) and you could have an exhaust shop replace your stock muffler with it and make up any pipe due to the differences in the size/length of muffler for a reasonably cheap price. If you're looking more for the performance edge of it then you might want to consider getting a full cat-back system.

The problem with having an exhaust shop do up your piping and making you a custom catback with the muffler of your choice, if performance is your goal for the most part (although you won't pick up much, but say 2-5 HP perhaps?) is most exhaust shops do pressure bends. Pressure (also called "crush" bending) bending causes restriction in the bends of the pipe which almost defeats the purpose of upping pipe size (in your case your stock catback is 2 1/4", some go to 2 1/2" with a 2 1/2" muffler obviously).
Mandrel bending is where it's at.

There are 2 ways you can do mandrel bending. 1) Have the exahust shop use pre-fabed manrel bends that you buy sort of like plumbing fittings, and they weld it all together, or in the rare event you find an exhaust shop with a mandrel bender on site (VERY RARE - mandrel benders are extremely expensive) they can bend all the piping for you which will prevent flow restriction at the bends. The only downside to either welding bends togehter, or getting a shop that does mandrel bends to do it, is it's about double the price on average to have a shop do pressure bends.

You also have to consider things like pipe & muffler quality. If you up pipe size, will you go to 304 Marine grade S/S (the Rolls Royce of exhaust pipe - will not rust, you can polish it chrome when it gets dirty, quite pricey) or 409 S/S (A cheap grade of stainless steel that will rust but it wont' perforate) or Aluminized steel (will rust and will perforate overtime although not bad). Generally I'd think if I was going to pay the money to buy 304 S/S I'd want it mandrel bent. Might as well go hard or go home.

So in your shopping around (and do a search on this forum and in the 96-04 Tacoma forum) consider your values, and how much money you're willing to spend, etc.

SuaveGato

Thanks Co-ed! Appreciate your taking the time to share your knowledge. I don’t want to spend a ton, I will put maybe 2,500 miles per year on this rig. I am not too young, 38 but do like the sound factor… I have added aftermarket exhausts to all of my toys… Triple piped my Polaris XLT RMK Snow Mobile, Laser pro duro on my Kawi KLR-650, and various super traps on my trikes & quad. Not a ton of H.P. gain or MPG in any of these cases but they do sound better. Much deeper and throaty, without so much pop and “swoosh”. I need a new muffler anyway, so I figured a “cooler” sounding upgrade was in order.

I am a fairly handy welder, do you think that I could get the muffler and find the right mandrel bent fittings and tack it up myself? Or is that just more hassle than it’s worth? Like I said, don’t want to spend a ton on it just for a better sound… But I do like to “do-it-my-self” and tinker a bit… I guess I’ll just have to call around and get some quotes for “them” to do it and then price out the bits and pieces to do-it-myself, add in my time & labor and see where I end up? No need for anything real fancy, hardcore or extreme, just an upgraded nicer sounding exhaust.
Thanks again,

CoedNaked

If you have a little $$$ to burn then yeah why not try to fab up something yourself. But if it's an offroad rig you better make sure your welds are sturdy and she's hung well.

SuaveGato

that just sounds wrong... LOL