so my cat-back disconnected itself...(kinda long)

[frosho]

it happened when i was home for winter break in december. it was a cold and rainy night, i was pulling out onto a main road, and took off about as fast as was possible with the amount of traction i had, which wasn't very fast at all. all of the sudden, BOOM my exhaust gets like 25X louder. like i said, it was rainy and pretty cold and it was also about 2am so i didnt try to look at anything until after i got it home.

when i took a look the next day, i was pretty shocked to find that the flared end of the catback that connects to the y-pipe had somehow pulled through the bracket piece held on by the spring bolts . both bolts were still there and as tight as they were when i put them on (i had a pretty hard time taking them off again to examine the bracket). the bracket looked to be in great shape and the gasket was also still there and in good shape.

as a result of driving it home in that condition, the flare on the pipe got a little messed up from bouncing off the road, but obviously it was already messed up somehow because this shouldn't have happened in the first place. i'd also like to mention i didn't have much of a choice other than to drive it home since i had no tools with me and i'm a poor college student so a tow was pretty much out of the question. plus i thought the hole in one of my muffs had just gotten bigger or something.

now for the questions:
1. how the **** did this happen?
2. how can this be prevented from happening again?
3. the system is 3 or 4 years old now with a lot of rust at the point where the resonator pipe meets the rear y-pipe, and the dynomax mufflers are toast as well. before this happened i was hoping to get some magnaflows put on, but now i think just replacing the whole system with another dynomax might be the best idea. your input?

ps- incase it matters to anyone, the car will most likely be living in GA for the majority of the next 4 years (end of summer through end of spring) instead of salty MA.

pps- please keep in mind that money is an issue here, though i'll probably get a little help from my parents.

thanks,
matt

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

Since you are going to be on a "salt-free" diet for the next 4 years and the cat back you have is toast anyway, either buy a cheap aluminized cat back set up, or find a good used stock "take off" from someone to replace it on the cheap.

As to why it came off, I can only speculate, Hit something in the road that caught the system? All the hangers hung, brackets and clamps tight? I have seen the flared end of the cat back rust apart or rust thin on the aluminized systems.

 

[frosho]

i suppose i'll look around see if i can get a used dynomax system so maybe i could still get those magnaflows... i'd rather not go back to a stock catback though.

 

[isusho]

My SHO did the same thing to the previous owner. He just had a new flang welded on but if I were you I would find the right sized flex pipe and just replace that section. I don't know how much they are but flex pipe would fix any leak problems you might have there. God knows mine leaks often and I have to replace that gasket too often.

EDIT: Being a poor college student myself this would probably be one of the cheaper options. (Unless flex pipes are expensive)

 

[frosho]

i'm not very familiar with flex pipes... how exactly are they installed?

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

i'm not very familiar with flex pipes... how exactly are they installed?

A "flex pipe" is used on the ATX. You would need to modify the Y-pipe end as well as the cat back end.

 

[frosho]

well after reading the post about mustang mufflers in the performance upgrades section, i think i'm going to go that route instead of the magnaflows. as for the rest of the system, i'll a) look into a cheap used system, b) get the resonator pipe that's messed up repaired somehow, or c) maybe put a flex pipe on there. what kind of modifications would be needed to put a flex pipe on?

 

[RStalveyARFF]

I did this also, at Lebanon Valley Dragway in NY. Launched like a bat out of ****, dropped the catback, and dragged it down the entire 1/4 mile. Cut off that section and drove the 150 miles+ home. I should've bought ear plugs, that's all I have to say.

 

[frosho]

haha, yeah that sound was pretty err... unique lol. i started her up a couple times when i was home for spring break to warm her up and keep the battery charged, and the ground was vibrating within like a 10ft radius of the car. that bark at startup was a shock to the surrounding environment too haha. scared quite a few birds out of the trees, and my cat.

 

[0V3RC10CK3D]

my gasket ate itself somehow a few days ago and i had a exhaust leak in the same place, threw a new gasket on there and all is well. Still not sure what happened but it was the result of riding it hard. Might just get it welded.

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

Might just get it welded.

Don't do that!

 

[Bringetto]

Mine did that as well, you might want to check your motor mounts, thats what caused mine to pull out the flare.

 

[frosho]

front was replaced a little over a year ago. i took out and checked the rear when i replaced my transmission last summer and it seemed fine to me but i'll check that out when i get home. the tranny mount was also replaced with the new tranny.