I am going to put a free-flowing exhaust on my truck. I am planning on doing the entire exhaust from the header to the tailpipe. Should I go with a new stock catalytic converter or a free flowing? Will a shorter length converter cause any problems assuming I get it to fit?

 

all you must make sure of is that the new convertor can handle all the emissions your truck puts out... like a cat for a 4 cyl truck isnt going to cut as much junk out of the air installed on a suoped up mustang

other then that, they are pretty universal... i wouldnt get a stock one, they are seriously like $500, and thats at the minimum... also, what is wrong with yours? as a rule, i forget what the whole rule is though, you cannot take the original one off or replace it unless there is a certain amount of mileage on it or it has failed.. you are legally not allowed to jsut take it off to replace it with a better one, and a shop will not do this

 

I do not think there is anything wrong with mine, but I figured I would install a new one while I am doing the exhaust since it has 164,000 miles on it. I did not know about that catalytic converter law.

 

there are all sorts of laws... last i rember it if the car has over 50k miles its ok to change it... but jsut watch out for it... most likely you will take it to a muffler shop, talk to them about it... there are very picky laws about the cat

 

Thanks for the information. I will most likely do the work myself, so I will call somewhere first to make sure.

 

are yuo going to weld up the ehuast yourself or use clamps?

clamps allow it to be reversible, but they leak.... welding is more durable in the long run

 

I am going to have a muffler shop bend a larger tail pipe for me and then I plan on buying two 45* bends, a pipe, and a flange to build the piece between the catalytic converter and the muffler. I will weld the entire thing except for the cat where I will use flanges. I found some information on that law at www.catalyticconverter.org and it looks like there has to be a documented reason for a new cat, so I will probably just keep my stock one unless it is clogged. By the way, congrats on your new baby!

 

two 45* bends in between the cat and muffler? normally, they are mounted pretty close to each other in a straight shot.. no bends...

 

I will see when get all my parts and start working. It looks like there are two bends going from the cat to the muffler. I think it is different on a 2wd. I would like to use a straight pipe if it will fit.

 

Ebay's a good place to check out.
I picked up one for my 1st gen not long ago for a pretty good price.

 

You could (turning my head away now) destroy the cat if you wanted to. Just run the motor rich as hell and the cat will melt away because it will not be able to handle the raw gasoline (hint, hint).

This is only if you are installing a new cat or going hi-flo. I would never recommned punching out the cat or running straight pipe.

-Wrench