Gaining exhaust clearance through exhaust work

[TurboBird]

I know this has been gone over many times and i have searched many many threads. Still havent found the answers i have been wanting. So one last shot before i go do it all myself.

What tricks do you have to get max clearance?

1. I need a new exhaust
2. I live on the other side of the world, cheaper to have someone build one then ship
3. My exhaust needs to go over the axle
4. I have to have cats.
5. My car is not slammed (normal 1.5 drop) but i am not raising it up.

Most importantly, the roads here are crap. Nothing much i can do about it. Potholes, speed bumps and speed humps all right in the middle of a perfectly good street. Slamming into 2 inch 90 degree walls of new roading because of construction. Its not really the dips and potholes (though they make the 335's rub sometimes) its the random raised sections in the middle of the road. They haven't done much since the earthquake they just fix the drainage not the roads.


So, how extreme can i go with my exhaust? Oval tubing?, flex connectors and putting the exhaust up against the trans mount with 1/4 inch clearance. Building a custom h/x pipe to hug the body? Moving my current x-pipe forward so the split around the driveshaft is better when suspension is hung. Am i going to go as far as notching the floorpan so things fit? Can i get a custom trans mount with more clearance so i can snug it all up. The last two exhaust shops said it was as good as they could.. they had a whole inch of room? I understand you have to leave some room for heat dissipation but all that is useless when your scraping everywhere.

Who has gone the extra mile?

if i missed any threads with photos please let me know.

Thanks

Ray

 

[xblitzkriegx]

http://www.spintechmufflers.com/tubing-oval-round-transitions/cat_97.html

 

[Murder Snake]

I would think the mid pipe would be the biggest challenge. I know some of them hang lower than others. maybe some can pipe in on the tightest fit on those.

however, you say you don't want to ship, so if you are going to have yours custom made, then pick the best, most experienced shop and let them build what you want. pipe size is also going to affect the outcome so if you are going to 2.5" pipes from stock, you will lose some. slimmest mufflers you can find locally, again, since you aren't going to ship any parts,to add to the mix.

 

[TurboBird]

I would think the mid pipe would be the biggest challenge. I know some of them hang lower than others. maybe some can pipe in on the tightest fit on those.

however, you say you don't want to ship, so if you are going to have yours custom made, then pick the best, most experienced shop and let them build what you want. pipe size is also going to affect the outcome so if you are going to 2.5" pipes from stock, you will lose some. slimmest mufflers you can find locally, again, since you aren't going to ship any parts,to add to the mix.

Yeah, im on the other side of the world so shipping would be absurde

The midpipe is the issue. I have 2.5 inch exhaust, bbk high flow cats, bbk xpipe, flowmaster 3 chamber cat back (i think) its been hacked up a few times. The last "Custom" exhaust place said they couldnt get it any closer to the body, it had an inch before hitting the humps on the trans mounts. I took the old car back that came with the car in for some massaging. An inch is ALOT. I'm not an exhaust guy. Is there a good reason for it? Can i not jam the thing up pretty hard against it and add a few more mounts so it has little movement. I also heard about the exhaust needing some give as the motor rocks back and forth. Im happy to put a flex in there somewhere. Maybe i was speaking with a lazy shop?

 

[Murder Snake]

you don't want to heat things up by jamming it up against anything. and the system will move a bit with engine movement so if you don't want something knocking all the time, you need some space. I think your only other choice is to raise it back to stock height. I know you said you don't want to do that, but that is the easiest solution. maybe you can raise it and depending on the wheel tire combo you have, fill some of the gap from raising it with the tires. taller tire will help fill the gap and give you even more space under the car. or, you can do that by itself, i.e, different tires to raise the car some if you have room in the fenders.