2007 Ford Truck – Exhaust Install STACKS

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Below is the process I went through to install the stacks on my truck (2007 Ford, 4X4, Extended Cab, Short bed) The process should be pretty much the same for any truck. There will be some differences between makes  and body lengths (Crew cab, long bed Etc) The last photo on this page is a diagram of the exhaust system that you may find helpful. There will  be some differences between the “Kit” I got and the “Kit” you get as I added some additional items to what comes with the basic “Kit”. Those would include the fixed length extension pipe, the internal mufflers, the long length of flex I purchased from the Beam Mack dealer, and the box to cover the “Y” tube in the bed . I had two goals: one was looks and the second was to keep if quiet. The first was (in my opinion) a huge success. The second still needs some work. More on that later. The first thing I did was lay out all the parts, identify what each of the parts were and how they went together 

	I purchased my “Kit” form Parleys Diesel Performance.Com. I dealt with Daniel who was very helpful and put up with all my questions. Their phone number is 1 801 938 4891 and their web site address is http://www.parleysdieselperformance.com  The “Kit” is drop shipped from the vendors, the exhaust came from Grand Rock http://www.grpipes.com , and the “Y” tube cover box came from  MBRP.
	Some of the boxes unpacked.
	All the boxes unpacked. There was no damage to any parts, all parts were well packed.
	Additional parts I ordered. The “Y” tube cover plate for the bed, the internal mufflers for the stacks and the extension tube to make up the difference in the length of the truck as I have the extended cab.
	I also purchased from the local Beam Mack dealer a 36 inch length of flex pipe. My reasoning for this was to eliminate an additional connection between the extension pipe and the supplied flex pipe (in the “Kit”). Turns out I made use of the extension pipe, more on that later.
	Mandatory picture of the stacks
1) “The first step is to remove the exhaust from the back of the cab all the way to the back of the truck. “This was quite easy and the whole thing can come down in one piece. I did jack the back of the truck up so the tail pipe extension would come over the top of the rear axle. If you do not have a 4X4, this may be more of a problem. The hardest part is getting the hangers out of the rubber shock blocks, First spray the end of the hanger stinking out of the rubber block with silicone lubricant (don’t use oil as it will attach the rubber).Then, I found that if you take a large pair of channel locks, put one jaw on the back side of the rubber block and the other jaw right on the metal hanger you can squeeze the hanger almost all the way out of the rubber block
	Support the back of your catalytic converter so it does not hang off the down tube from the engine.
2) The supplied instructions tell you to remove the heat shield from under the bottom of the truck (if equipped). I did have a heat shield but it was not in the way of anything so I left it inplace.
	3) This is the start of the most traumatic part of the it install. “Put the long elbow into the “Y” pipe. Place them together into the bed to determine where the hole will go (yes, you have to drill a large hole in your bed).  A small piece of the long elbow may have to be trimmed to fit your bed depending on the make of your truck.” Mine could have been an inch longer and needed no trimming. MEASURE TWICE AND CUT ONCE! Take your time here!!!!!!
4) “Figure where you want the kit located. I wanted my stacks to be located right in the corners of the bed of the truck. This meant I had to locate the “Y” pipe as far forward as possible in the bed, although you have to allow for the top lip of the bed so it will not be right up against the front of the bed. CONFIRM your hole location from the underside and topside BEFORE DRILLING”. In my case that meant that I had to cut part of the front cross member of the bed. I believe this is ok for several reasons. The part that had to be cut is the upright part of the “U” channel of the cross member. The whole front of the bed is also part of the structure of the bed and is in the same plane as the upright of the “U” channel of the cross member. 6 to 8 inches on either side of this hole the cross member sits on the frame of the truck. In addition you will no longer be able to put weight in this section of the bed as the space is taken up by the exhaust system. It is my opinion that this will not cause a problem.
	5) “After the hole is drilled through the bed floor (there is no going back now!), place the “Y” pipe through the hole, place the stacks into the ends of the elbows.”The hole can be created in a number of ways. I when to Home Depot and purchased a Hole saw. If you do this keep the speed of the saw down or you will ruin the saw. A cut off wheel will work if you make pie cuts and then cut the ends.If you look closely you can see the cross member I had to cut in the hole.
	Note, the left pipe can fall down as the elbow can turn in the “Y” pipe, the right stack will stay upright by itself.”KEEP THE PLASTIC OVER THE CHROME, as you do not want to scratch the Chrome while you finish the install.”
6) The supplied instructions go like this: “Hold the PUB-L and R  up to the stack to determine hole locations through the inside lip of the truck bed. The left and right can be swapped for better and easier mounting. These mount to the sides of the front of the bed. “First off, I found these instructions a little confusing. What they are talking about is the “L” shaped brackets that support the bottoms of the stacks. I do not have a good picture of this. I got a little ahead of myself here. I also found that I could not mount the brackets to the side of my bed as the stake pockets are doubled walled on my truck and I would not have been able to get to the back side of the bolt to hold the nut in place to tighten it. I had to mount the brackets to the front lip of the bed.7) “Drill the holes through the bed lip and loosely bolt the brackets to the bed. “See the pictures below. I will update these later with better pictures.8) “Slide the bright Accuseal Clamps over the stack and capture the brackets with them. You can flip the clamp either way to hide the bolt area.”
9) “Slip the short 90 Degree elbow into the opening of the “Y” (underneath). Put the flex assembly over the elbow about 2 to 2 1/2 inches.”
I deviated a little from the directions here. I purchased a long length of flex from the Mack Dealer and used that rather then the short length provided in the kit. I did this so that I would not have a second connection in this pipe as I needed the extension pipe also, as I have the extended cab truck.NOTE: The ends of the flex pipe are very sharp.  Be careful!
10) Instruction number 10 did not apply to me as I have an extended cab truck. It went as follows. “Measure the length from 2 1/2 inches into the flex forward, to go over your existing pipe that will probably need to be cut. If you have a 3 or 3 1/2 inch diameter exhaust pipe, reducers are available.” I did not order the reducer, and should have.  It took me a 1/2 hour to make this, if you need one buy it. I made my own by cutting three 4 inch lengths of the extension tube, splitting them down the middle, inserting them inside themselves, until I had the right dimensions. Each split down the middle was progressively smaller so that I had a tight fit.
	Not in the instructions. I elected to support the back side of the catalytic converter. I purchased a standard universal pipe hanger and attached it to a cross member that was just in the right spot. it worked out for me. I think it makes a stronger system and did not take much time. I would recommend it if you are keep the catalytic converter.
11) This was another instruction that I found confusing. It went like this. “At this point you can measure and figure where the center clamp should go through the floor of the bed. This clamp should bolt the “Y” pipe to the long left side elbow AND to the floor of the bed.”What they are saying is to now use the band clamp to clamp the “Y” pipe and left side elbow together. I would leave them a little loose. The clamps that go to the bed of the truck I found needed to be spaced up from the floor of the bed of the truck. I found that 2 X 3 square steel tube worked perfect.  I bolted the clamp, pipe, and tube together, located the assembly in the bed of the truck. Drilled some holes from underneath the truck and through-bolted the tube to the truck
I had ordered the internal mufflers as I wanted a quiet system. They are supposed to be installed by placing them into the upright of the “Y” tube and tapping into place by placing a block of wood over the top and using a mallet tapping into place. The stack then fits over the top to hold them in place. I found that they still rattled a little so I then tack welded the internal muffler to the end of the stack and then ground the weld smooth. As this end sits down into the “Y” tube you can not see it and makes for a stronger connection.
12) “Snug up all clamps. etc. Make sure nothing is bound, rubbing, or touching anything that it shouldn’t” Now is the time to take time to get everything straight. There is nothing worse then a stack that is not straight up and down, and not parallel to the other stack. I found by tacking a piece of wood and putting over the mouths of the stacks I could line everything up and get them straight. A couple of guys on either side and one in the back while you make these adjustment really helps.
NOW DO YOU HAVE EVERYTHING STRAIGHT? 13) “Tighten everything”.  14) “BEFORE starting the engine, make sure the chrome is CLEAN; grease and oil free. A hand fingerprint will “BAKE” into the finish if not clean. Start the engine and check for leaks, etc. Retighten accordingly. Take for a test drive and recheck.”I purchased a “Y” pipe cover and I think it really cleans up the install
15 ) ENJOY! It was cold this morning so I took a couple of shots of the vapor trails.
Ok, at this point the installation is complete per the instructions. The pipes were louder then what I wanted as I use the truck to haul an enclosed car carrier. I wanted a quite exhaust system. So…. what I did was to cut the “Y” pipe and move it over six inches so that the inlet was between the driveshaft and the stock muffler. I then purchased through Hearththorb Exhaust http://www.heartthrobexhaustinc.com/ two 180 degree Mandrel bent four inch  exhaust bends (1/2 in larger then the stock 3 1/2 inch system). Those bends were cut up and welded back together to route the exhaust from the exit of the stock muffler to the stacks. Important, you must have a piece of flex pipe between this set up and the stacks as the muffler want to be able to move when the engine moves. It is also very important that you have no “Kinks” in you bends, they need to be smooth. The result was the sound level was the same as the stock system which is what I was after.