GIBSON cat back. Can someone provide a picture for me

I have an 04 extended cab. I ordered the 18800 Gibbson kit and i am fitting it. Reviewing the parts list it appears my head and tail pipe have the correct part numbers. The muffler itself has no part number on it.

My problem is it hits the cab seam. The head pipe isnt long enough to allow the muffler to clear the cab / seam by ~2-3 inches.

The tail pipe is too long as well it seems. The hanger and the rubber are about ~2-3 inches apart.

I am wondering if the wrong muffler was in the box? It appears to be the same as in the picture but no part number on it.

1. should it clear the cab?
2. how far back in the tail pipe from the mud flap?

I have checked and rechecked that everything is fully seated and have not clamped anything down yet.

 

You want a picture of the OEM exhaust? Or pics of this Gibson exhaust installed?

 

Gibson installed.

 

just tightened everything down aligned as best i could and fully seated.

It appears a bit long. tail pipe rear hanger is barely on but it is on and the exhaust tip points down a bit. This might be normal as it does look like some pictures i have seen online. It looks weird. THe muffler itself is about 2 microns away from the cab seam just in front of the bed. Any rattling at all and it is going to hit and drive me crazy. Why they didnt make the rear pipe a bit shorter as well as the muffler so it would clear the cab is beyond me.

Sounds better than the hole i had in my stock unit but it is louder than the stock unit with no hole. That was expected. The fit drove me crazy all day. Took me 30 minutes to get my old one out and it was a permanent fixture (had to grind of the rusty bolts)......and fitting the new took me 4 hours of dicking around trying to get it to line up and fit properly. I think this is how it is supposed to be. Id say if the dual rear muffler hanger was modified a bit it would allow for a better fit. The rear tip would be more horizontal and it would allow the unit be a bit lower to allow the muffler to clear the seam of the cab with a bit more of a gap.


I was convinced i had the wrong parts. Called them.....nope they are right. They suggested i hit it with a hammer (rubber mallet) as they figured there was some welding slag on the interior pipes that were not allowing them to slide together without a gentle tap. This helped a bit. For $350+ you would think it would have a bit better fit all around.

The stock inlet pipe is ~32 inches
The gibbson appears to be ~28 or so. Had they made this at 32 the muffler would have been back a bit farther and would clear the cab no problem. There is a ton of space there for that to be done.
The muffler measures 24 inches and 30 inches inlet to inlet. They could have shortened the muffler by a few inches too....and again problem solved.
The tail pipe should be about 3-4 inches shorter to allow for the tail pipe hanger to fit a bit better.

I guess its installed and done but its the strangest install i have done. I put a full H pipe and Cat back on my mustang with half the confusion. Lets hope it holds up and outlasts the truck at this point. Its got to be way better than a rotted out stock exaust and that is what i would looking for. Others have suggested rather than getting a cat back system.....just get a good muffler replacement, cut out the stock and put that in. I probably should have just done that in the end.

It sounds like i am complaining a bit here. To be fair i havent even given it a chance yet. IT was just a strange fit. WE have computers now days....i would just think it would be possible to replicate the stock bends and fit a bit better is all.

I will report back after a bit of use.

 

Lol, excellent review. Hopefully those crazy clearances work out alright.

 

nope. Just took it on the maiden voyage......instant loud rattle against the cab seam 100x worst than my old stock exaust with a hole in it. I know what you guys are thinking. How the hell hard can it be to put 3 pieces of pipe on a truck. Me too. This makes no sense. I cant see how this thing is designed to fit. IM starting to think maybe i got the wrong rear hanger that holds the unit up too high allowing the muffler to hit the cab....or one or both of the pipes (head or tail) are wrong. This thing can only go on the truck one way so im pretty sure that is correct. WHat a disaster. For $379 you would think it would just fit. I am thinking its time to pull this off and put the old stock one with the hole in it back on.

Can someone post some pictures please?

 

Here are some photos showing the issue. Ill post some of the rear as well so you can see it is in the 9-10 oclock outet position as stated per the instructions.......and before you you claim i installed it upside down

This shows from the front where it hits the cab:


Again.....same, different angle

 

Here are a bit more showing the full thing.
From the rear:


Rear Tip and moun:t


Rear dual hanger"




Where it is hitting:

Again.....where it is hitting"

 

If the rear hanger was a bit longer it would allow it to lower just a bit and it would likely be ok. This might put stress in the joints further up where it isnt wanted though. I dont know. Its pretty firm meaning it doesnt move around much. But it doesnt move that few millimeters to hit the cab seam over every singe crack in the road. It bounces just enough to have a loud bang....or multiple. Their tech support says there should be at least an inch there. I cant see how that is possible. I have moved this thing into ever position possible and this gives the lowest.

I havent torqued everything down super tight yet in hopes of still getting it back apart. It is snug enough to keep things in place very firmly.

I am out of ideas other than seeing someone elses and how they did it. Perhaps im an idiot and missed something?

 

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but is it possible to rotate the muffler 180 degrees? Or is it already welded? The fact that the inlet and outlet stickers are upside down makes me think the whole muffler is upside down.

 

Thats what i thought too....but the instructions say that the exit/outlet should be at about 9 / 10 o-clock which it is. IF it was 180 off the rear would be at ~3 o-clock. I thought it was strange the inlet sticker was upside down as well but i dont think that is it.

You can see a small moon shapped cut out on that cab seam by toyota so that has to be for muffler clearance. There just needs to be a bit more of it.

If it warms up today im going to rip the whole thing out again and give it another shot at fitting it. I was hopping to not have to do that but i cant leave it on the truck as is.

 

well it is back apart again.......and no dice.

The muffler slides into the inlet pipe up to 2.5 inches (shown by the intermost line). This is where i had it bolted up. The over hand of the muffler across the cab seam hits no matter how you situation the muffler. If i slide it on further by force the problem remains obviously.

IF i pull it back i can get the muffler to clear the cab. (The line show towards the end of the inlet pipe). This only gives me about 1.25 inches of bite and that seems too damn close. WTF they didnt make the inlet pipe just a bit longer is beyond me. IF i do bolt it up while only having it slid on to the inlet pipe 1.25 inches, that solves the problem if it hitting the cab seam. It is completely cleared. The problem then is there is no way in hell the rear tail pipe fits into the rear hanger near the tip. It is a mile away. I have tried to jam the tail pipe futher into the outlet but its all they way in according to my tape measure. I am out of ideas. Anyone have this thing installed on their truck that can provide pictures?

Here is what i have showing this nightmare.

Inlet pipe showing 1.25 inches. When mounted right here the whole muffler clears the cab I am not sure this is enough to clamp onto:



The muffler clearing the cab seam



Again a bit clearer



And if that is how it is to be mounted here is the rear not fitting at all:


Finally here is a pic of the inlet tube and cab seam for reference with things removed.

 

Anyone?

No amount of messing with this thing is going to allow me to get the rear tail pipe hanger to fit Id have to cut about 2 inches off. the outlet side of the pipe for it to slide forward far enough. Thats with the inlet side on only about 1.25 inches so that the muffler clears that cab seam. That is the only way it wont hit and rattle like hell. Id rather not do that if i dont have to.

I know i cant return this damn thing. It was HUGE and box was destroyed in shipping.

 

I would just rotate it if you can to clear it, I understand what you said above about the instructions saying otherwise but if it works I'd give it a go

 

Rotating it wont clear it as this doesnt allow the rear hanger to fit or the tail pipe to align properly.

 

Oh I see, I looked at the pictures, the inlet and the outlet are not in the same alignment, sorry about this, hope you can figure it out

 

A couple things, you could grind the cab seam down so it clears, or heat the hanger up till it's red hot and pull/bend it until it will extend out to where you need it

 

im a bit leary of grinding the cab seam off my truck......especially after blasting this much money on exaust. It should fit. I have thought about it though. I am going to email the companies support and link here. Perhaps they can review the pictures and figure it out. There just does not seem to be a way to fit this no matter what. It is just too bloody long / not sized correctly.

Now the issue is taking this thing back off again....for the 5 or 6th time now and fitting my old rotted exaust just so i can get to work on monday because the company only provides support M-F.

I guess i could have just bought an OEM exaust for the time and energy i have wasted here and likely been done by now.

 

Measurement of my old OEM exhaust from inlet flange to hanger is 90 inches. The Gibbson is 96 when fitted so it doesnt hit the rear cab seam. 6 inches of difference that needs to be removed or accounted for.

 

"........we wound up cutting 2 inches off the tailpipe and sliding the muffler back on the head pipe as far as we could to allow the muffler to tuck up tight to the underside of the truck. The muffler bracket worked by flipping it backwards and everything looked good and straight."

Source: http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/e...haust-system-installed-in-2001-toyota-tacoma/

This was on a 2001, same part number.

I think that answers the question. It didnt fit for these ppl either. What a nightmare. WTF dont they say that in the instructions or anywhere on the site? OR better yet in the description of product before you blast almost $400? I will likely have to do the same. Sounds like the answer. It just seems really odd to spend that kind of money only have to finish the fabrication job yourself. I suppose if i cut it, the warranty is over.....but i cant imagine getting any kind of warranty on a muffler anyway....and shipping it back would never happen given the size.

I will report back. If all is good after the fact, perhaps this post will keep someone else form wasting their weekend.