Getting off Factory Exhaust

Hey, i ordered a super turbo cat-back system from Dynomax last week, and i have heard many horror stories of getting off the old factory exhaust, so everyday since i ordered it i've been spraying a crap load of rust-eater and wd-40 on all the u-bolts and hangers holding on the exhaust hoping that by the time my exhaust got here i would be able to take it off easier. HAHAH, wishful thinking. It is scheduled to be here on wednesday and i just went outside to try and see if i was making any progress and i tried to loosen some of the bolts, none of them wanted to budge and i even rounded one out. Does anybody have any tips or ideas on how to get this sucker off? i would rather not have to pay for the labor of having a muffler shop take it off, so something I could do myself would be the best, thanks.

First off, what year is your XJ? I have a 00 and found that the exhaust is stainless. Anyhow, the best thing I can say is wait for you exhaust system to come in, see how it is supposed to mount to the existing system, then look into getting a 3" grinding/cutting grinder to cut off allthat rusted stuff, Torches work great , but beware of the fuel tank. All of your hangers that you would have to replace should come in your kit, if not spend a little $$ and get new ones. Would recommend after you install it, take it to a shop and have all the joints tacked with a welder.

Thanks gtmud, the year is 1990 and ya it looks pretty dang rusted so i figured i would have to cut it. About how much is a cutter/grinder going to cost me?

I have having the same problem with my 89 exhaust. I am trying to remove the cats and the mufflers. The flange that connects the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converter has 4 bolts, all of which are rusted and binded together. Can't budge them. I started grinding them off, but still have to go in there and get the upper two. Not sure if I can get in there with the grinder though. What a PITA.

BTW, not sure if this is what the other guy is talking about, but I have a similiar one to this.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=31309

Here is the one I got. The Chicago Electric one I mentioned above is a good low priced brand. This one works good for me though. Just another option.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=3150

Well i just found out today that my girlfriend's dad has a sawzall, so thats what i'll be using. Any tips as to what to watch out for while using it to cut off thhe u-bolts?

Sawzall is even better. You can cut the whole pipe off if you want to instead of dealing with the rusting clamps. Plus when you remove the clamps, you likely won't budge the muffler because the pipes were pressed together from the clamps and add in corrosion and rust to that. Just cut farther away from you catalytic converter giving you more pipe to work with. Better to have more pipe than not enough.

Ya but if i do cut right after the bolt in front of the CAT instead just trying to get the bolts off then wouldn't i have less pipe to work with? It just seems like if i cut the clamps off and tried to slide it off thhen i would have more pipe then just cutting through the entire pipe after the clamp, if i'm wrong then correct me please,lol

Getting the bolts off sounds good , but like bill99hawk said, the heat and corrosion all but cement them together. If you cut JUST AFTER the clamp you should have enough metal to work with. If you want remove the clamp first then cut just after the crimp mark. Again, I would set your new kit under your jeep and compare everything before you cut, then there is no guess work.

We ended up just cutting through the pipes after the muffler, still couldn't get a part of the muffler pipe off of the cat pipe though, so we just used the adapter that came with the kit. So far so good, sounds great.

Nice going. Thanks for the followup.

Good job!I would go to an exhaust shop now and have all your joints welded, that will give you a completley sealed system, and reliable performance.

gtmud, i was thinking about doing that.... About how much do u think they would charge for somethin like that?

NOt sure on the price, just give a couple in your area a call to see what they would charge. Better yet, if you know some one that can do it for you.
So how does it sound? Do they make a set-up for an 00' XJ?

I will call some places later tonight, as for the sound, it is perfect IMO. I didn't want something that souded like a ricer, very loud and IMO annoying. If you want that then get a flowmaster, but the dynomax was quite quiet at first, but after a week or so it is getting louder and right about now i love the way it sounds, quiet at idle but when u really punch the gas at the higher rpm's it has a deep growl and sounds very aggressive. Mine only cost me 90 bucks plus shipping for my 1990 Cherokee and they do make a model for the 00', but it is 124.95. Not too much more and it is worth the price IMO.

atfrith,

Thanks for the info, I have a Magna flow muffler on my XJ now, its ok but doesn't have that deep growl I'm looking for. I'll give dynomax a try. Have you done anything else to your toy? I have some good suggestions if your interested. MORE POWER!!!!!

I'm deffinitely interested gtmud..bring on the suggestions. So far i havn't done anything else but i have a Rusty's air tube and K&N filter in the mail which should be here tomorrow. Speaking of that, does anybody know what i do with the two smaller vacum hoses when i install the new intake? I know the two larger breather hoses go right onto the new tube but i don't know what to do with the two much smaller hoses that are in the back of my airbox right now.. By the way, what kinda sound does that Magna flow muffler give u? i was lookking at those too.

MAgna Flow sounds alright, it has a low rumble to it at idle, but sounds somewhat like the mufflers you see on the RICE BURNERS! Besides that I have installed the K&N FLPK, awesome sound, and performance, bosch platnum plugs. I am saving for the Banks Header kit, and am looking into upgrading the injectors too.
As far as what to do withyour 2 vacuum lines, not sure. My 00' XJ doesn't have those. Oh, almost forgot, look at the JET Chips. they run on average 235-250, and I have heard good things. As soon as I get one I'll let you know just how well they work.

I figured out the two vacuum hoses, one was no longer there because it came out when the air box came out, and the other one i just plugged up with a bolt. The next mod i'm doin is a lift kit, but i'm still debating between the 2" bb from Rusty's or just savin up for a 3" kit with new back springs. not sure yet

I would go with the 3" or really try for the 4.5". With the 3" you can probably clear 31's, and on the stock rims they will work well. Look into Rubicon Express at their lift kits, they are the most complete kits I've seen.

Also, if you don't have any yet, look into getting some protection for your underside. I have the T-case skid and the gas tank( A MUST)skid. I have numerious times scraped my butt end over rocks and trees. Just for fun check out bulletproofmanufacturing.com. Tell me what you think of those bumpers!!

hmm, thats a good idea with the skids, i think the guy before me might have put a gas tank skid on mine, either that or there is a factory skid plate on there, but i'll have to go double check but i'm pretty sure i saw somethin down there that resembled a skid plate. And as far as Rubicon Express goes, i was looking into those and i really liked the 3 1/2 inch kit the had and it was for a pretty good price, but then i realized that it didn't come with shocks. If it came with shocks then i would deffintiely go with the RE, but i am pretty limited on my budget right now and Rusty's kit comes with 4 new shocks along with the stuff to lift it.

I would recommend the Pro Comp series ES3000 shocks. They come with a life-time warrenty and only cost me 125.00 for the 4. I originally had the RE shocks on, but after a year or so of playing in the mud they were toast. The PC'c have held up just fine . You've got to look at bulletproofmanufacturing.com, I told the wife that I want that bumper for X-mas, she just looked at me like I was nuts!

Oops! The correct address is bulletproofmfg.com

damn those things are awesome, and holy SH** are they expensive, don't think i'll be getting one of those any time soon. If only i had all the money in the world.......my jeep would be.....how do you say......perfect..

Yup, I'm in the sme boat, but maybe I have an edge. Were I live in NC, I drive about 50 miles to work with the wife, and numerious times have had near misses with deer. So maybe I can use that as an excuse to warrent the purchase. One thing, I wonder if I would have to get heavier springs?