My oem exhaust has been slowly getting louder (not in a good way) from rust corrosion in several places in the pipe just before the muffler. I did my research on several several of the 'performance' replacement systems, but didn't want the 'ricer' blaat or drone that some others have complained about. So I went with a Bosal replacement system from RockAuto. I have used Bosal systems on other Japanese vehicles (Hondas) in the past and have been very satisfied with the fit, durability, and cost each time. I ordered the system from RockAuto online on Wednesday and received it on Friday morning. I inspected the parts when I got home Friday afternoon. The center muffler and pipe looked fine, with well made strong support brackets, a substantial muffler and end flanges. I wasn't as pleased with the resonator/tail pipe assy. It looked well made (or so I thought), but I wasn't a fan of its appearance. The oem resonator/tailpipe is somewhat visable from the side, so Toyota made the resonator look like an intergral part of the tailpipe, and painted it black so it would blend in. The Bosal piece had a plain jane 'can' type resonator welded in the pipe. The 'can' was about an inch larger in diameter, with a support bracked welded to the top end of the 'can'. Since I was more concerned about function over form, I figured I could live with the appearance.
I started the system install this morning (Saturday). When I ordered the system, I also got the necessary gaskets and an installation kit for the muffler to cat flange connection. The installation kit consists of two metric bolts, two springs, two beveled washers, and two bolt sleeves (which were not necessary), and I'll explain that later. I did the work in my driveway, on ramps and stands, and I don't have access to cutting torches, so I used manual tools. Since I knew (from past experience) that trying to remove the original, nine year old system bolts wouldn't be easy without a torch, I decided to cut the old system out, using a portable sawsall. A Milwaukee 18 volt compact sawsall with a fresh blade made the first pipe cut in less than 30seconds. I removed the tail pipe/resonator section first, cutting the pipe just in front of the flange on the muffler side of the joint. (this choice of a cut point became very important later on). It took a bit of finess to get the tail pipe out from over the axle, but it did finally come out. (on a lift, this would have been much easier) Then I cut the front pipe, about a foot from the cat flange, and removed the muffler. A word of advice, use some type of spray lubricant to make pulling the support brackets out of the supporting rubber mounts much easier.
Then, again using the sawsall, I cut both of the remaining flange bolts off the flexible joint, cutting through the slots in the springs, to remove the muffler side of the flange joint. Since the oem nuts that are tac welded to the cat side of the flange were almost gone from rust, it was fairly easy, using a set of vise grip pliers, to break the tac welds and remove the old bolt stubs. I used a cold chisel to remove the small tips of the weld spots, and the remaining parts of the old donut flange gasket (important). I installed a new donut gasket on the cat side of the flange, and hung the mufler/pipe assy in place from the supports. Using the installation kit, minus the supplied sleeves because they weren't needed, and some metric nuts and flat washers (to replace the oem tac welded ones) I bolted the flex flange together. I tightened the bolts down until the threads bottomed out, which left the springs to maintain the proper pressure tension on the joint. The springs allow the joint to be tight, but still flex as designed.
Now that the muffler was in place, I moved to the rear tail pipe/resonator. This is where it got 'interesting'. I got the tail pipe over the axle and in place on the rear flange, but when I tried to get the support bracket into the supporting rubber sling, it wouldn't line up easily. I finally had to separate the flange connection, so I could move the entire tail pipe assy enough to force the support bracket into the rubber sling (it took a while). Once the bracket was in place, I again bolted the flange connection together, and thought I was done (boy was I wrong). As I slid out from under rear end, I grabbed the tail pipe to give it a shake, to check for clearance issues. Sadly, I noted that the resonator can was firmly pulled right up against the right side frame, hitting it in two places. Not good. I again checked all my flange connections and support hangers to see if I had gotten something out of place, but they all looked good. Now I was starting to get pissed. I looked it over, and at first thought I might be able to bend the tail pipe support bar, to allow the resonator to hang a bit lower, but I soon realized that even if I removed the rear support sling, the tension from the muffler supports were forcing the tail pipe to ride too high anyway. The only way to make the new tail pipe assy fit would be to change the bends over the rear axle to bring the resonator lower, and bend the support pipe so it would still be able to reach the support rubber sling. Now I was really getting pissed.
I decided to take a break, and calm down. I called the RockAuto support line for info. The girl I spoke to was very nice, but not a mechanic, so she listened to my problem, and took notes on it all, but her only answer was that, if I wasn't able to solve the fit issue I could return the tail pipe, (at their shipping expense), and I would get a full refund for the part. While I was talking to her, I came up with another possible solution, so I told her I wanted to try one more thing before I decided to ship the part back. She said OK, she had all the info necessary, and if I still needed to return the part, just give them a call back and it would be arranged. I felt better.
When I originally pulled the system apart, I noted that the original tail pipe/resonator assy wasn't in too bad a shape. I felt that, if I could separate the flange joint, (which I had saved by the place I made the first pipe cut), I might be able to re-use it. I was able to remove the muffler side of the flange joint by grinding what remained of the bolt heads down, and using a pin punch, popped the bolts out and the flange separated. The remaining flange was pretty badly rusted, but just enough remained to mate to the new side to the muffler flange. I removed the Bosal pipe, and reinstalled the original tail pipe. It fit perfectly, and easily cleared the rear frame, as before. There is, IMHO, a design/fabrication problem with the over the axle pipe bends on the tail pipe assy from Bosal. I started the vehicle, and all sounds good. No unusual noise, and no unexpected contact between the system and vehicle. I am again Happy.
I will call RockAuto on Monday, and let them make the arrangements to pick up the part that doesn't fit properly. I am quite happy with the way RockAuto has handled this, so far. I don't blame them for the fit issue, since they didn't manufacture the system. Maybe I will send a note to Bosal about the issue, and possibly they will look into it.
Anyway, thats my story for today. The truck is again quiet, and the beer is cold. Life is good.
Linear Mode
