Exhaust Reroute

Replaced the leaf springs on my 02 taco and now have the exhaust sitting on the leaf so you can probably imagine the noise I get from the contact.

This may be a dumb question but what have yall done in this situation that worked best? Cut? Reroute? Exhaust bracket? Bend the existing bracket?

I read somewhere that cutting may be bad for the truck but that could have been misinformation

 

Ehhhhh... That's not how that goes

 

Crap. I will note I didn’t do the install myself. Suggestion on what to do to correct?

 

Yes. Uninstall leaf spring, give your exhaust a shove so the rubber exhaust hanger mount lets the exhaust hang instead of it being pushed up (you can see this detail in 1st pic), then reinstall leaf spring making sure to not push the exhaust up but instead threading the leaf spring through/above the exhaust.

 

Damn I was hoping to not have to take out the leaf spring lol no alternative?

 

Those shackles are not OEM Toyota. They appear longer than stock, too.

 

This is my old Dakar setup with aftermarket HD shackles that are stock length, and also the ARB FK21extended exhaust hangar, for comparison.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/media/live0tlycf-jpg.483752/]

 

I did not know that. I haven’t touched them since I purchased the truck a couple of years ago so I’m guessing the original owner modified these.

 

You can remove the whole exhaust & probably the spare instead lol.

 

This is helpful to see. Did you have to remove the leaf in order to modify it this way? Or can you simply remove the old hanger and work the exhaust under the leaf?

 

Yeah sounds like cutting is the easiest route to go lol

 

That photo is the correct way. Your exhaust is routed wrong; it should never be between the leaf pack and the frame. You can see where the hanger bolts on, so that would be a simple unbolt and then bolt on the extended hanger, if necessary, but first step would be to move the exhaust back under the leaves.

It will definitely work, just keep it behind the rear axle so you don't get drone. Also if you cut it off, you can just remove that hanger all together.

 

You might be able to remove the spare, detach the rubber mount and shove the pipe back enough to get it under the spring. With the extended shackles, it will prolly still hit the leaves.
Another option, is just cut the pipe so it clears the spring, a lot of us including me have done that too.

 

Is there a specific place it should be cut at to ensure there’s no issues?

 

Appreciate the feedback!

 

Cut so it just clears the spring. Avoid having it point direct at the spare, or anything else that might melt or deform from the heat.
I would try to drop it below before cutting it, it may clear on it's own.
If your spare has never been removed, now is the time to see if the crank assembly actually works and drops the tire.

 

Cut it at the spring where it goes straight back and then just buy a 45 degree turn down.

 

There's plenty of room for your re-route, but some heating and bending and cutting is required to fully clear the spring. I thought i had a pic, but only this one (I'll take one tonight for you). I can't remember what i did, but i know i heated and bent the hanger, then cut the tip off the pipe to ensure it would never strike the body. Caution: I suspect tailpipes are required to exit 'beyond' the body to mitigate in-cabin carbon-monoxide risk, but i really don't see that as an issue with my truck, so your call.

 

Someone above mentioned that the exhaust pipe should never be between the leaf pack and the frame. I considered bending the hanger upwards so that the pipe wouldn't touch the leaf but that comment made me reconsider

 

You have such long (diy) shackles, that it's probably not an issue to route the exhaust tip above. Gotta keep in mind that these things aren't a one size fits all kinda deal.

Either cut it off and add a tip pointing down, or modify the hanger to pull the tip up a bit. Either way, don't overthink it.