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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 06:26 PM
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Default True Dual owners get in here.

Ok guys recently I had LT's and TSP TD's installed. I'm having some ground clearance issues mainly with the bullets. I believe it's because the hangers are too long which are ultimately pushing them downwards because if you look at my car from the side the LT's and piping close to it sits up high then the closer you get to the bullets the further the exhaust hits.

Anyone had this problem or a solution? I was thinking about having my hangers cut/shortened and re-welded because I figured with shorter hangers the mufflers would sit up higher.

Any pro's/cons? HELP please.

Joe
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 07:19 PM
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I had this same problem with my TSP duals. Mainly because I didn't let the exhaust "settle" properly. I just drilled two holes in the floor board (measuring of course), but after I drove my car for a day, the bullets dropped a little more, so I had to do what you're planning to do (cut and re-weld the hangers).
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 07:31 PM
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Well I just took a look at it and just like the guy that installed them said I don't think I'll be able to go any higher due to the flooboard (where the Y Pipe sat under the driverside). This sucks. I love the system and the guy that installed it did a great job, but it's not his fault that it's hanging low.

AHHHH this sucks. I'd really like to buy a 2.5" set-up Wickid Z has and sell this set-up just because I think it's a little too big.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 07:54 PM
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Can you measure the lowest point? It should be close to 4" if it's tucked up as well as it could be. For reference a 12 oz aluminum can stood upright is maybe 4.5" tall. The lowest points on my 3" LS1 speed duals are just below the angled portion on the top of hte can.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 08:02 PM
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I have a lanes mail ordered kit and if it fit any tighter it would hit my floor. I did spread the bullets apart a little to get a tighter fit. I used my tie down straps on each side and spread it apart. That might help
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 09:26 PM
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not calling you stupid or nothing but is the X upside down? I've seen people having the X upside down and it causing the exhaust to hang. IMO, a little more adjusting should do the trick.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 09:36 PM
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Can you post some pics up?
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Hardtop00SS
not calling you stupid or nothing but is the X upside down? I've seen people having the X upside down and it causing the exhaust to hang. IMO, a little more adjusting should do the trick.
Honestly man I don't know. I had a local guy do the install and everything looks on point. Everything from the X is hanging fairly well (the beginning of the TD's hang the best), but as soon as you get around to where the end of the X is the pipes start hanging low.

Originally Posted by ILLWS6
Can you post some pics up?
I'll post a few up I have. It's actually gonna make the ground clearance look worse because it's on dirty not pavement. Hold on.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 09:42 PM
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Ok here's the only pic I have right now. You can't really tell how bad the ground clearance is. To give you guys an idea I went over a speedbump that was probably 4.5-5" tall at it's highest point and I scraped like a ************. It also doesn't help that those flanges are there because I'm losing some ground clearance with those as well.

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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 10:56 PM
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I'd say that whoever installed it probably didn't take the time to position everything correctly to get them tucked up nice. That's the thing about the TSP TD's- if you just throw them on and bolt them up, you're going to have clearance problems, especially if you get the x-pipe on upsidedown. This is not because it's a badly designed kit, but because as opposed to an ordinary cat-back, which has plently of room to spare, these duals are in a very space critical area, and need the extra effort to get everything just right.

When I first put mine one, the bullets hung low as ****, and the first speedbump I went over ripped the exhaust off my headers. So, instead of just throwing it on like any other cat-back, the second time I spent a couple hours under the car getting everything positioned just perfect, and it made a world of difference. The bullets need to be high and tight into the driveshaft tunnel. If they're not so high up that you have to move the brakelines out of the way, they're not high enough The lowest point on my duals is no longer the bullets, but actually the lowest part of the x-pipe. My clearance is great (for having dumped duals) and I don't scrape over anything anymore. I have no clearance issues with the exhaust hitting the underside of the car, driveshaft, or torque arm.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 10:59 PM
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Thanks for your input. I have no qualms about the install because the guy that did it helped me out tremendously with my money situation, he bought plugs and put them in when I didn't even ask him, he gave me his O2 sims. I'm really not sure what went wrong.

I really appreciate your input though. I'm gonna take it to a local guy at a muffler shop here that's known amongst many as "an artist for exhaust" and have him take a gander at it.

Thanks again.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 11:08 PM
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Wow you know what. Now that I think about it I think he may have put my X pipe on upside down. I know he said he was having problems with it and if my memory serves me correctly I only remember seeing 2 band clamps on the driverside (1 for the LT and 1 for part of the exhaust) when there should be 3 (1 for the LT and 2 for the exhaust) and only 2 on the passenger side.

Will it really make that much of a difference. My problem is not only are my bullets hanging low, but my driverside pipe is about an inch from my flooboard, so the bullets can't be brought up but so much before that would bang.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 11:52 PM
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Yeah, it can make a big difference. The x-pipe is not "straight"- the output pipes are offset higher than the input pipes to get the bullets to tuck up higher. If it's upside down, the output pipes end up being offset lower than the input pipes, making the bullets hang much lower then they should. If you could post some good pics of the exhaust from under the car I could tell you whether or not the x-pipe is installed correctly.
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Old Jul 4, 2005 | 11:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Silverhawk_02TA
Yeah, it can make a big difference. The x-pipe is not "straight"- the output pipes are offset higher than the input pipes to get the bullets to tuck up higher. If it's upside down, the output pipes end up being offset lower than the input pipes, making the bullets hang much lower then they should. If you could post some good pics of the exhaust from under the car I could tell you whether or not the x-pipe is installed correctly.
Ok I'll do that tomorrow because it's 1AM where I live right now.
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Old Jul 5, 2005 | 12:29 AM
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dont kid yourself, clearance will never be what it is with a traditional catback. despite ******* with my TSP duals for hours, trying the xpipe both "upsidedown" and "rightside up" clearance wont be that great. i've got a about a 1/4 tq arm clearance, bullets hang about an inch lower then a coke can.
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Old Jul 5, 2005 | 12:42 AM
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Bigger pipes = less clearance, but it shouldn't be horrible especially if you aren't slammed (I'm down 3/4" in the front, 1/2" in rear and have no problems yet, I did when I had the Pro Kit on the car though and the car was down 2+" all around).

The driver's side pipe will pivot in the slip fit connections, so you can raise your bullets and swing that pipe down to maintain clearance. Best way to get clearance IMO is to flip the fuel lines, then take a big hammer and beat in your undercarriage where the rear seat bottoms are so you can tuck the mufflers up higher there. Clearance on my setup is great with the only really noticably low part being the driver's side where the factory y-pipe is crushed (for a reason). I spent over five hours wrestling with it to make it fit like this though.
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Old Jul 5, 2005 | 09:20 AM
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Thanks for the input guys. I didn't expect to have a 3" TD system clear like a stock system would, but I expect it to have more clearance than it does because I've seen numerous people that have more clearance than I do. Oh well I'm just gonna try to tinker with it a litle bit.
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Old Jul 5, 2005 | 02:43 PM
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Ok well I managed to snap a few pics. The guy everyone suggest in my area to go to can't touch it because the Big Al's he works at has become corporate, so he said if they weren't he'd messed with it, but no cats = no for him.

Looks like I'm on my own guys. I've turned to you all for help before, so I'm gonna do it again.

It appears my bullets were welded in wrong too. And for those that wanna know the previous owner put those flanges there for pipes out the back which I plan to do if I can get the damn thing to fit good enough.

Here's where the LT's and TD's meet. Clearance is great here.


Ok now we're moving towards the X pipe. See how clearance is become minimal.


A shot from the driverside towards the bullets. This sucks.


Yeah and finally a rear shot. You can see the where the hangers were welded. I wonder where that flat spot came from on the flange...maybe one of those speedbumps I went over this weekend.
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Old Jul 5, 2005 | 03:54 PM
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how much did the whole TD setup cost you?
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Old Jul 5, 2005 | 04:00 PM
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I bought the system from a local guy for $350. I've been thinking about maybe selling it and going with a 2.5" Flowtech X-pipe and Sweet thunders. The car sounds so mean, but it honestly draws a little too much unwanted attention if you know what I mean.
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