2.5ton Deuce muffler question.

[bonedoc]

Hey guys,

Have a question. My deuce had a muffler installed already when I bought it. I believe the previous owner said it was a Donaldson but I'm not definitely sure. My issue is the my exhaust seems to lean back toward the rear of the truck instead of standing straight vertically. I want to install a snorkel kit and want both straight and not crooked.
I was looking it over today and removed the D-clamp that secures the exhaust to the support bracket mounted on the windshield mount and found I could easily straighten the exhaust and if I put in a smaller D-clamp, one about 3/4" thinner and then mount it back to the support bracket it stands straight.
Has anyone ever run into this? Is my support bracket just bent and should I remove that, bend it forward more and reinstall it? I was considering just getting a new D-clamp, putting that on and fabbing up some spacers to secure it to the support bracket. This way it would get pulled forward and vertical.

In the pics you will see that the top pipe is also leaning back. I'm assuming that it was cut and welded and is leaning because of that. I figured once the muffler was straight I could add just one solid piece of straight 3.5" pipe to finish it and put the flapper back on top of that.

Am I on the right track with my thought process or am I missing something?

 

[212sparky]

That is a custom mod since the government did not put mufflers on them. I would just change the clamp.to make it work like you want. Good looking truck by the way.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Either way will straighten it. Take the easiest route to accomplish your goal.

 

[bonedoc]

Thanks for the input guys. Think the easiest way to go will be the smaller D-clamp to pull it forward more, then a new piece of 3.5" pipe about 40-41" long will give me the same height and it will eliminate the rearward lean of the top pipe as well.

 

[tcruwithme]

Donaldson M070028 stack stands straight up

That looks like a Donaldson M070028 muffler. I put the same one on my truck. My stack stands straight up with the original brackets (TM 9-2320-361-20P, Fig. 34, item #8, 11677118, "Support, Exhaust PIP" and Fig. 34, item #9, 11677120, "Hanger, Engine Exhau") and a new muffler clamp that attaches the exhaust pipe to that outer #8 bracket. The trick was to unbolt the two brackets from the windshield frame, and just start the bolts a couple turns in to hold them in place. That gives the brackets some play. Then put the muffler clamp on the exhaust pipe after it comes out of the top of the Donaldson muffler. Then bolt that clamp to the outer #8 bracket. Once the clamp is secured to the bracket, you can drive the bracket bolts all the way in until tight. Doing it this way, my stack stands straight up with no real modifications.

 

[bonedoc]

That looks like a Donaldson M070028 muffler. I put the same one on my truck. My stack stands straight up with the original brackets (TM 9-2320-361-20P, Fig. 34, item #8, 11677118, "Support, Exhaust PIP" and Fig. 34, item #9, 11677120, "Hanger, Engine Exhau") and a new muffler clamp that attaches the exhaust pipe to that outer #8 bracket. The trick was to unbolt the two brackets from the windshield frame, and just start the bolts a couple turns in to hold them in place. That gives the brackets some play. Then put the muffler clamp on the exhaust pipe after it comes out of the top of the Donaldson muffler. Then bolt that clamp to the outer #8 bracket. Once the clamp is secured to the bracket, you can drive the bracket bolts all the way in until tight. Doing it this way, my stack stands straight up with no real modifications.

I installed the bracket, tightened it into place and then put the muffler clamp on. I didn't think it would make much of a difference but will reverse it and see if it does. I figured maybe my brackets were bent a little as the truck exhaust had the same lean when I got it, and when I reinstalled the brackets it sat in the same place.
Thanks for your input, if reversing the order doesn't adjust then I'll probably put a smaller D-clamp on which will bring it a bit closer to the bracket. I'm talking....only needs to be a 1/2-3/4" smaller to make exhaust stand perfectly vertical. I think that may be easier than trying to bend the brackets a bit.
I'm going to replace the 2 pieces of pipe that are clamped together above the muffler with one 3.5" piece and put a flapper back on top. That should eliminate that lean. Do I need any special type of exhaust pipe or will any 3.5" exhaust pipe work?

 

[tcruwithme]

I'm not really an expert on what kind of pipe to use (or anything else for that matter). As such, I got a section from the dealer that sold me the Donaldson muffler and the Donaldson Stepped SealClamps. I did the same as you plan to do - I got one 36" section to come out of the top of the muffler, and I put a flapper on the top. I roughed up the muffler and all pipe with sand paper, primed them with Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer, and then finished it with a top coat of RAPCO 383 green. It turned out pretty good.

 

[clinto]

I've done a couple of these and I think the non-original clamp on top is what's pushing it out. I did one of these on a customers truck and liked it so much I duplicated it on my personal truck.

I reused the factory upper clamp for where the factory stack goes into the muffler on top. I added an aftermarket clamp on the bottom for where the muffler slides over the j-pipe.

Customer (with shortened stack so it's closer to factory height):

EDIT-- AAARRGGGGHHHHHHH in 2015 how can getting pictures to display right side up be so difficult. I've had less trouble with women who............. never mind.



Below, my personal truck. Same muffler. I left the stack uncut so it would be higher, I was looking to see if raising the exit further would make it quieter. Strangely, even with the taller stack, my truck still seems louder than the other one. Both trucks are whistlers.



Also weird that on the customer truck, it seemed like there was more clearance around the west coast mirror arms that attach to the cowl. On my truck, I had to rotate the muffler around so the heat shield was facing towards the rear so I could re-attach the mirror arms.

Whoever did your muffler did the same thing I did to mine. They took the heat shield and cut it down to try and keep it looking as factory as possible.

I painted both of these with Gillespie 383. The customer truck is spray can, my truck had VHT high temp ceramic paint which was preceded my sanding the entire muffler, then after the ceramic paint cured I shot it with Gillespie out of a spray gun. Both of them burned the center of the muffler paint within 5 miles.

 

[bonedoc]

Thanks again for the info guys.

tcruwithme- I tried loosening my upper support bracket and tightening it the way you suggested and it didn't help on mine. Thanks for the suggestion.

Clinto- I'm a bit confused on what you mean by non-original clamp up top. The clamp that mine has holding it to the support bracket looks exactly like yours, are there different sizes available? What I found by removing my clamp is that I can easily pushing the pipe into the vertical position when the clamp is off. When held in that position and then holding the clamp into place it looks as though if my clamp was approx. 1/2"-3/4" smaller it would hold it right in place. What I was thinking was seeing if I could get a 3.5" clamp that was a bit smaller, use that and add metal spacers to get the correct distance off the support bracket.

I'll get some better pics later today or tomorrow am. I'm going to call a large truck shop and see what they have in 3.5" clamps

 

[clinto]

When I looked at your pictures, it seemed like the upper clamp was thicker. I may be wrong.

It's also possible that the installer bent the bracket that's bolted to the windshield hinge in order to move the stack back. The Donaldson muffler is extremely close to the 2 mirror arms that bolt to the L-bracket on the cowl and on some trucks the arms have to be bent in order to fit. So the original installer may have been trying to get it to fit without having an issue with the mirror arms.

I can get some better pics of both of mine today if it helps you.

 

[bonedoc]

I was wondering if my brackets may of been bent...wasn't sure if I should try bending them forward a bit. The mounting holes for the 2 brackets line up nicely.

Quick question...where are you guys finding 3.5" pipe. I'm having a hard time finding it short of ordering it online. I found 3.5" clamps with 3/8"-16 saddle bolt so I can use the stock saddle bolt with the smaller saddle and appropriate length spacer to securely hold the pipe to the support bracket and vertical. I don't want to hack up or cut my stock saddle.

 

[Woodsplinter]

I was wondering if my brackets may of been bent...wasn't sure if I should try bending them forward a bit. The mounting holes for the 2 brackets line up nicely.

Quick question...where are you guys finding 3.5" pipe. I'm having a hard time finding it short of ordering it online. I found 3.5" clamps with 3/8"-16 saddle bolt so I can use the stock saddle bolt with the smaller saddle and appropriate length spacer to securely hold the pipe to the support bracket and vertical. I don't want to hack up or cut my stock saddle.

I got mine at NAPA- don't know if you have one nearby. You could probably get it at a muffler repair shop.

 

[tcruwithme]

I took a 2nd look at your photos, and it does look like the bracket is bent a bit. That's a thick bracket, from what I remember. I think if you can bend it back a bit, your problem is solved. The reason I originally suggested to loosen the bolts holding that bracket was that on my system, I could not connect that bracket to the exhaust clamp unless the bolts were loosened. Then, when I tightened up the bolts, it pulled the stack to a vertical position.

I got my 3.5" pipe from a place called Diesel Components. It's a place that specializes in truck parts. My guess is you can get it at similar places, or a place that specializes in exhaust for trucks.

I hope you got it to work out like you want it to.

I was wondering if my brackets may of been bent...wasn't sure if I should try bending them forward a bit. The mounting holes for the 2 brackets line up nicely.

Quick question...where are you guys finding 3.5" pipe. I'm having a hard time finding it short of ordering it online. I found 3.5" clamps with 3/8"-16 saddle bolt so I can use the stock saddle bolt with the smaller saddle and appropriate length spacer to securely hold the pipe to the support bracket and vertical. I don't want to hack up or cut my stock saddle.

 

[TsgtB]

I bought a 48" pipe from Jeggs, for $20. and step clamps for $10 each.
With a straight pipe and flapper cap, I hope its not TOO tall, i can always cut it down.