best way to chop exhaust?

learned the lesson many times, "do it right or don't do it at all"
"measure twice, cut once"

Currently running OEM TRD catback w/

$112 Vibrant 1141 2.5' Ultra Quiet Resonator, Silver

Vibrant 1141 resonator and it's perfect
wanted MRBP for the turndown and new stainless steel, but I hear they sound horrible

Tired of fighting to fit the spare 33" near heat-wrapped exhaust, and the tip hanging a mile below HC rear bumper
wanting to chop it off
Gonna order some exhaust cutters because it's a good tool to have in general



That being said, what's the best way to do it?

I'm seeing a few options:
-turndown by the tire
seems pointless, you still have a hot exhaust by the tire


2. chop it higher upstream
seems risky like it could fail to evacuate hazardous exhaust gas



#3, chop it farther and put a turn-down tip, which may evacuate gas better
However, I'm worried that by losing the upward bend in the back of the exhaust, that may have a critical function to keep the engine running in any water, by holding an airpocket to keep water out

But, that is basically how a whole MBRP unit is anyway.
which ties into option 4:
-a whole MBRP catback, with horrible sound. No idea if there's room enough upstream to weld in a Vibrant 1141 and if that would even fix the sound

looks slightly better like a complete uniform package, but likely uses a much louder muffler than what comes with the TRD catback



in a nutshell, real tired of this ugly crap:
plus, anytime I gotta work on the back of the truck (axle, leafsprings, etc.) spare removal is required. A task that is traditionally supposed to be easy. Dig out tool kit under backseat, turn the rod to lower spare. Not so much with a 33 stuffed in there, brackets bent up, and still fighting to push it up against the exhaust hangers etc (will eventually relocate it)

 

Hacksaw works more than fine. No need for a dedicated exhaust cutter, just another one time tool that will clutter up the tool drawer.

Also consider long term goals. If you plan on running some sort of shackle hanger with a crossbar for increased rigidity, you'd need to relocate your spare wheel so no need to stress about exhaust heat next to the wheel. Start relocating now if that's the case.

And I'd go with option #2. Short enough to leave room for the spare, long enough to cut more in the future if you change your mind

 

yes planning to go Archive Hammer Hangers eventually

regardless of anything else, one thing is for certain.
The stock exhaust tip looks real ugly with a high clearance bumper. It raises the clearance so much, that the exhaust tip sticks out like a sore thumb and is just dangling way down low by itself.
It makes sense with a stock factory bumper where it's right next to it, but no an HC so high that you have to cut the bedsides to fit it

so regardless it's gonna need to get cut, just trying to figure out exactly where
Those cutters do warn not to use on stainless; I'm not sure if the TRD catback is or not.
I do already have a nice Milwaukee hacksaw with bi-metal blade though!

I'll get underneath to see if anything looks like a good idea/spot to cut
spare might stay under the bed for a while.
Unless I can figure out a good way to put it in the bed. I'm scared of those bedside mount bracket kits not only because they're expensive for what they are ($300) but the weakness of the stock composite bed in a light duty pickup truck - people have reported those types of mounts causing damage and ripping metal.
Maybe I can put it vertical behind the cab with ratchet straps and hooks; first I gotta relocate my Xbull traction boards that are held onto that same bedrail/in the way

I guess for at least the first step of removing the ugly tip, something like this (pic from a Tundra) might work, keeping the exhaust heat wrap still on
leaves plenty of meat left for future cutting, yes is hot by the tire but not as much with exhaust wrap, and still escapes exhaust gas out underneath
and retains factory air pocket bend
Might even be able to keep it that way after hangers/crosstube/spare relocate

 

I have option 2 and not once thought about whether exhaust gasses were building up under the bed of the truck.

 

I'd definitely skip the special exhaust cutter purchase unless you think you'll need it a lot down the road. Hacksaw, reciprocating saw or a die grinder with a cut off wheel all work great.

I recently just did option #2 on my truck but I was also adding the TRD Pro muffler to my stock exhaust system so I had the opportunity to do a little more customizing.






My 3rd gen exhaust was stainless steel, not sure about the 2nd gen TRD Pro's. I'm also surprised that you wanted to add a resonator to yours. I just swapped out my stock muffler for the TRD Pro muffler and so far I can't tell a difference in sound at all.

***EDIT 3/20/23***
I've since learned that my setup is not so great. I didn't realize how much heat was directed at the leaf spring and it easily melted the plastic pads between leafs. This is just a 3 leaf AAL which I'll be replacing with a full leaf pack so I'm not worried about it but I will be changing it before installing the new leafs.

 

Turndown exhaust cut off right before the bumper usually does the trick!

 

you might want to start thinking about it, theres a vent in the back of the cab so the windows dont explode under pressire when you close a door

 

lol really not worried about it. 70k miles later after it chopped, I think I'm good. (along w/ everyone else who's done it)

 

chain cutter... does no one own a saw-z-all and metal blades? grabbed my M18 Milwaukee thew a blade in it and chopped away. then grabbed an angle grinder and just worked around the mouth of the exhaust tip jsut because I'm sure I'll be under that all again and don't want to get cut just in case.

as for build up under the bed, my F350 diesel had a dump under the bed. my Torino back in the day dumped at the rear axle, as did my 77 F150. haven't died yet.

 

Where in socal are you? I have a stock exhaust that I already chopped off my dcsb you can have. I only cut it off because I smashed the tip. Maybe you can use it for parts at least if you want to sell your complete trd exhaust.

 

I’d first ask you the reason you have for wanting to cut your tailpipe. It’s not really necessary and you can smell exhaust more. You have to think, engineers made it that way for a reason…

If you’re still dead set on cutting it, a sawzall will do the trick.

 

There are tons of engineers who have cut their exhaust too. You cannot smell the exhaust more under normal driving conditions. And there is good reason to cut it, for offroading to increase clearance around the rear of the bed so you don't hit the end of the exhaust and smash it up into the rear bed panel.

 

Air pocket huh, that’s a new theory. That bend is there so the rear axle can move up without crushing the exhaust pipe, had little to do with creating an air pocket in case the vehicle is submerged.

 

You most certainly can….mine is cut. I cut it before I knew.
Most people do not wheel hard enough to justify doing that.

 

That's on you then.

Most people do not wheel hard enough to justify any of the mods they do to their trucks.

 

I’m just stating facts and trying to be helpful. No need to be a keyboard warrior.

 

lol okay sure bud. It was definitely worth coming back to this a month and half later to add that comment.

 

I know this is an oldish thread but, for those who have chopped their tail pipe as seen in pic #2. Does your spare tire get to hot down there with the exhaust hitting it while driving?

 

Hasn't been an issue for me. I have a 265/75/16 under the truck and my exhaust has been cut at the axle since 2018. A 255/85 or 285/75 might be an issue but you could easily redirect the exhaust by running a tip to direct the exhaust away from the tire more.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking about redirecting the exhaust away from the tire. I am about to chop mine off due to it being crushed after driving over some rocks. And don't want to buy another exhaust. I'm on my second after the first met the same fate.

Thank you for the response and idea of directing it away.