dual exhaust...ed

on my 06, ive gotta single inlet, dual outlet flowmaster, with the tips run strait out the back. I CANNOT keep the hangers from breaking. ive welded them back a couple of different times and no luck. this is the second truck ive had this problem on, also on my 98 with true duals i had the same problem. i dont care abt leaks anymore like i once did, but the rattling drives me nuts! has anyone else had this problem? this truck is used on 98% on paved roads, and i take care of it. does anybody have a solution other than jus cutting the stupid things off? thanks guys. oh yea, both trucks were done by different shops.

Now, my exhaust is set up different (mine comes out the sides behind the rear tires rather then straight out the back), but I drive mine on gravel roads all the time and haven't had a break yet. My exhaust guy used the existing stock hanger on the passenger side and a crazy weird looking hanger for the drivers side that I can ask him about if you think it might work on your truck. I took a picture of it so you can see. All he did was weld it on the top of the pipe, then run a bolt through a preexisting hole in my frame and then fasten it with a bolt.

The one he put on:


Stock one:


And I know this is off topic, but I saw in another thread you had last year that a set of wheels you had were making your truck drive like crap. Were they 17's or 16's? I tried a set of 16's on my truck once, and it drove like crap also, but as soon as I stuck 17's back on, it drove fine. A buddy of mine told me to never put 16's on an 05 or 06.

Oh yeah, one last question for ya that is also off topic.

For some reason, when my truck is not running my steering wheel does not lock. I almost remember it used to, but it may have been my other truck. Does your steering wheel lock, or is it just super hard to turn when the truck is stopped and turned off? I know it's kind of a lesser issue, but I hate having little quirks like this that I don't know about, lol.

its probley the type of hangers used and the fact that there might not be a flew pipe on the stock setup upfront.. my buddies dodge use to do the same thing on the driverside only.. after several times of breaking the hangers we added a flex pipe infront of the muffler and it hasnt done it since.

I had that problem with my 98 Dakota
My right side tail pipe hanger use to always brake. So I took it to another exhaust shop to get it fixed.
The other exhaust shop said the guy that did my dual exhaust DIDN'T mock the system up before he welded it. That's why by the time he got to the back of the truck, that right side tail pipe was under TOO much of a load.

Jimmeh- my hangers are a bit different, i think they put a new one on both sides and didnt use the existing passenger side one. they are welded to the pipe the same way your passenger side hanger is, a round metal piece welded to the side of the pipe. thats where my problems come in, the weld seems to tear out of the pipe. or maybe the welds are whats breaking. it has happened on both sides, but the driver side is giving me the most trouble. same way with my 98, driver side kept breaking. and i dont mind off topic posts if you need help lol, but the rims i tried were 16's that had a wider track than my factory 17's. i wonder why an inch throws stuff so far outta whack? and my steering wheel locks, im 99% sure of it, tho ive never really paid attention. i thought all auto tranny vehicles had that lock? anyway, this ticks me off because i paid $300 for this system installed, and i told the guy specifically i had this problem. he said i wouldnt have it again. on a side note, my dads 03 also has true duals, and the same hanger on the driver side broke last year. i just dont get it. i also have true duals on my 78, but i havent had this problem with that truck. cant yall tell we believe in true duals? lol

do you have a flex pipe in there somewhere?

when they bend the round stock around your pipe they are probley heating it up to much and making the metal weak and brittle.. tell him to double up the round stock and weld them together to see if it helps..

My steering wheel in my 06 doesnt lock, never has

So this is an old thread, but I got a new question. I've recently read some stuff on the internet abt ppl losin power, or low end torque, with flowmaster mufflers. Has anyone heard of this? I'm curious because my 06 has always been a dog when pullin a trailer. my truck has 285-70-17 tires, 5.3 motor rated at 285 HP, 4L60 E tranny, and 3.42 gears. This thing is a dog when pullin any kinda trailer. My 98 had 285-75-16 tires, 5.7 motor rated at 250 HP, same trans and axle gears. But it pulled a lot better than my 06. It also had true duals with 2 flowmasters. Could the lack of torque be related to my exhaust? The truck jus seems doggy, even jus drivin around town. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get all the detaild in lol. Thanks.

yes you loose power with newer motors in your low end torque. you gain power in your higher rpm HP but when it comes to towing that doesnt matter.. if you had your 06 tuned for towing and low end torque you would be alot happier with its road manners. it will have that snap your head back punch off the line even with a trailer in tow.

well that sucks..... my avg mileage has also slowly dropped from 18.4 to 15.8, according to the internal computer. this truck would roast the tires when i first bought it, and got 18 mpg. i want that back. ive read good things abt magnaflow mufflers improving torque and mpg's, does anybody have experience with those mufflers? i dont really want to, but i could put my stock muffler back on and keep my tailpipes. i want my power back.

GET IT TUNED... start calling around.. i bet youll find one within an hours drive. its not a bazillian bucks. usually 150 an hour and it takes about 2.

I literally just got back from pulling a 10X6 trailer from here to washington and back loaded with a boat on top and a riding mower in the back of the truck. I have the smaller 4.8 liter with a flowmaster muffler, and I didn't feel really any sort of decrease in power, just noticed the trailer back there, lol. I usually get about 20 MPG's with 33's, but this trip the truck got anywhere from 12.04 to 13.18. That's actually quite a bit better then I was expecting, and it really seemed like it pulled the trailer fine with no power issues. Then again, I also have a CAI and my truck has a tune for both the CAI and the exhaust.

Well, 300 is kinda steep man. I really jus wanna get back to stock believe it or not lol. I think that's gunna be my best option. I know what shell do stock, and I think I'm ready for a simple, quiet system.

When i put the flowmaster on my 4.2 i noticed it didnt get off the line as fast, but once she got wound up around 3grand she really takes off.....

Yea that's kinda my situation. But its killed my toming power. And a V8 that can't tow is worthless.

hmmm I've never had this lack of power problem...

You could always try to get a cheap handheld tuner for your truck

http://cgi.ebay.ca/HYPERTECH-POWER-PROGRAMMER-TUNER-COMPUTER-GM-GMC-CHEVY-/290581059684?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43a7fb1864

as much as i hate to admit it that would be the next best option if you couldnt afford letting someone else do it.

Yea but do they give any real results? I still think my most cost effective option is gunna be return to stock. I figure the factory probly did pretty good when they spent millions designing everything to work together. Besides, I've never had a stock anything. I think ill give it a shot. It must be my practical, old man side comin out lol.

That's what my buddy used on his Tahoe after he did a CAI and Flowmaster 50 exhaust. Worked great! Made me jealous since I paid $250 for a professional tune that would cost me extra to have removed or altered while he spend like $150 for a tune that he can change to do anything he wants. That's actually probably going to be my next purchase.

Well, I've decided. Goin back to stock friday mornin. But I'm goin with an Avalnche muffler, they have 2 outlets so I can keep my dual tailpipes. But that glorious SEL came on last nite, and it seems I gotta converter goin bad . $175. But I gotta have it, I'm pullin the boat abt 2 hrs one way this wknd and I'm not abt to get stranded on a three day wknd. So that's what's goin on with my exhaust situation. darn.

Dammit. I can't do it. I can't bring myself to chop my flowmaster off. Do yall have any suggestions on the power programmers? Or how would I go abt findin a shop that would do a custom tune? This is kinda new territory for me, so I'd appreciate any help. My SEL went out this mornin so I guess I'm good there. I jus can't put my quiet muffler back on. I'm addicted to the growl.

if you wanna go with a programmer then hypertech is the way to go.. for a tuner you just gotta hit the yellowpages or google.

Well, since I was up at 6AM this mornin, I went ahead and kept my appointment at the shop. I had them put the Avalanche muffler on, single in dual out OEM. I also had them clean my O2 sensors. I'm glad I did it. The truck def seems to have more torque, and easily maintains 70 on the highway. I can stay in OD even on hills. My mileage seems to be creepin back up, too. That's based on the fatory comp. Right now I'm at 17.5, down from 18.4 when I bought bthe truck. But I do expct some loss because of the wider and taller tires. I'm ready to pull the boat abd see if there's any diff. I did some more research last night and found more cases of flowmaster power loss. Jus google "power loss caused by flowmaster" or somethin similar. I kno u can't believe everything you read on the internet, but I do believe I loss some torque with that muffler. For the record, its a 40 series american thunder, I believe. 3 inch single in, I think 2.25 dual out. I'm not bad mouthing flowmaster, as I run 2 on my 78, and I had 2 on my 98. But I wouldn't put one on the 5.3, especially if your gunna tow anything.

Well we pulled the boat for 2 hours last night, and the truck did much better. I could still tell it was there, but I expected that with 33's and 3.42 gears. But def an improvement.