seanpistol
Explorer
The hood stack is not legal in most places for street use...
Project "Autonomous" F-350
- Thread starter pappawheely
- Start date
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
I have a muffler I can use, see photo. Right now my exhaust dumps out ahead of the back tire with no muffler. It's loud but not too bad.
I have a muffler. It will be quieter than it is now. I will have to check the sight lines so I can tell if it's an obstruction. It can't be worse than looking out of an FJ.
underdrive
jackwagon
Yeah you're right, with the box tight against the cab you won't have enough space for stacks between it and the rear doors.
New idea, how about side pipes like an older Vette Stingray? Don't have to be that shiny and stuff, just as long as the exits are behind any and all possible points of entry into the passenger compartment (aka windows rolled down). Actually if you wanna be the cool kid on the block build yourself sliders that double as side pipes - seen folks do that with headache racks on diesels with the outer posts serving as stacks, it's a pretty neat setup when thought out and executed well.
underdrive
jackwagon
Well if you wanna actually step on them you gotta shield the basterds, obviously. Just like a stack. Except they're not hanging way out where anyone can accidentally brush against them like a front-mounted stack is. But you don't have to actually step on the hot pipes, you can run them as an inboard reinforcements framework for the actual slider tube - say run one piece of tubing right to the inside of the cab edge with another piece of tubing a few inches outboard from it, you step on the outboard tube and use the inboard one as an exhaust pipe.
Really any way he does it the main idea is to keep the exhaust exits behind the doors of the truck. Cause, windows. And wind, and sitting in traffic. Check the local vehicle code, in some states it is required the exhaust exits behind the passenger compartment. Even if he doesn't have annual safety inspections, the vehicle code is still being enforced - for example mufflers that are too loud get ticketed every day.
Really any way he does it the main idea is to keep the exhaust exits behind the doors of the truck. Cause, windows. And wind, and sitting in traffic. Check the local vehicle code, in some states it is required the exhaust exits behind the passenger compartment. Even if he doesn't have annual safety inspections, the vehicle code is still being enforced - for example mufflers that are too loud get ticketed every day.
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
The reason for running the exhaust up front is to free up space under the box for my gray water tank. The tank will be mounted under the shower/ toilet and will take up the space just behind the cab. It will use every bit of space from the truck frame to the outside of the box and from behind the cab to just in front of the rear tire. It will be mounted so the shower pan drains directly into the tank. (It's a tank for a baja bug that I picked up for $40 at the Curt Leduc swap meet last weekend). It is 15 gallons and will mount higher than the bottom of the truck's frame. Underneath the cab, I want to use the space to carry tools and spares. The weight on the passenger side of the truck will counter the fuel tank on the other side.
rayra
Expedition Leader
I'd suggest rethinking your design so it all fits under there. You're getting into a place where one design choice is driving another and another and another, like dominoes. Back up and take another look at it.
Are you running or wanting to run dual exhaust? Do you have a single 3" or 4" pipe? can that pipe go down the mid-line close to the driveshaft, in the area between the storage compartment and water tank? Can either of those be shaved down to accommodate the exhaust pipe? You've got ~6' side to side between the vehicle skin, there's got to be some room in there somewhere. Outside the frame, if nothing else. A short side pipe exiting right in front of the rear tire. And NOT under the front doors.
Are you running or wanting to run dual exhaust? Do you have a single 3" or 4" pipe? can that pipe go down the mid-line close to the driveshaft, in the area between the storage compartment and water tank? Can either of those be shaved down to accommodate the exhaust pipe? You've got ~6' side to side between the vehicle skin, there's got to be some room in there somewhere. Outside the frame, if nothing else. A short side pipe exiting right in front of the rear tire. And NOT under the front doors.
underdrive
jackwagon
Yeah I figured outboard of the frame rails under the box is space allocated for water and other RV purposes. So with grey water tank on the passenger side of the box, what's going in on the driver side, again outboard of the frame rail - clean water tank, or storage compartments? Just curious is all... like the proverbial cat, lol.
And you probably mentioned it already and I missed it, but what would you use the space between driveshaft and passenger-side frame rail for? You only got about a foot's width to work with there, and it's really not easily accessible, so not very suitable for storage purposes...
Under cab storage for tools, this is an interesting idea. I'd love to see how you implement it, mostly cause there's no easy way to get to whatever is stored there - just like the space where the factory ran the exhaust this one is also covered on 5 sides, are you thinking of some swing-down drawers or something?
And you probably mentioned it already and I missed it, but what would you use the space between driveshaft and passenger-side frame rail for? You only got about a foot's width to work with there, and it's really not easily accessible, so not very suitable for storage purposes...
Under cab storage for tools, this is an interesting idea. I'd love to see how you implement it, mostly cause there's no easy way to get to whatever is stored there - just like the space where the factory ran the exhaust this one is also covered on 5 sides, are you thinking of some swing-down drawers or something?
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
My propane tank will go on the driver's side under the box. In the space between the drive shaft and frame on the passenger side, I was thinking of storing my spare drive shaft. Under the cab I want to store more of those type of spare parts. The kind of stuff that you hope you will never need and have to crawl under the truck to change anyways. I am very conscious of keeping the weight low, between the axles, and balanced from side to side. The stock fuel tank is on the driver's side; so is my fridge and hot water heater. I need to balance that weight out by adding equal weight on the passenger side of the truck. My freshwater tank will be cheated over to the passenger side of the truck to help counter the weight. I mounted my house batteries on top of a cab cross member and centered between the frame rails. The box will add two feet of overhang to the rear but the only weight back there will be my dual spares that will be mounted parallel to the frame and down low. My goal is to keep the center of gravity low and make the truck as balanced as possible.
My first 4 wheeling experiences were in the Santa Cruz mountains. We did some very steep and challenging terrain; nobody in our group had a too tall truck. I bought one of those inclinometers for my dash but learned quickly that when you get on a sidehill, the last thing you do is check the gauge. I won't be rock crawling in my truck but you never know what may lie around the next corner when you are in remote areas. It's better to have extra capabilities and not use them than to end up on your lid in the middle of nowhere.
underdrive
jackwagon
Your driveshaft is 3" diameter, yokes bump it up to like 4" or so. Doesn't need much space to store it, certainly not enough to warrant dedicating such big chunk of real estate just to it. You can keep your exhaust system in its factory location and just modify it to achieve both better performance and more free space around it.
Start by modifying your cat so that its exit becomes 3" and not the puny 2.5" Ford gave you. Run 3" pipes after the cat. Somewhere in there stick the smallest 3" muffler you can find - it can go right behind the cat, or in the factory location, or wherever it leaves you with most usable space around it Then stick a tailpipe for a turbo diesel behind that, it's a single 3" again. And here you have a choice - you can either run the diesel tail as is, or you can chop it right before it starts to bend to the right and add to it another short muffler with a turn-down right in front of the bumper. Why a turn-down? Cause it directs the sound at the road mostly, which makes it more manageable for other drivers - any side exiting exhaust by default dumps all the noises in the direction of whoever you may be trying to pass, as someone who gets passed a lot (running the speed limit apparently tends to have that side effect) I can tell you that getting blasted with what some folks consider cool sound is not only not cool, but obnoxious and really paints the offending party as just grade-a d-bags. Our loudest truck therefore has stacks shooting the noise straight up in the air where no one can get hit with the sound waves...
Start by modifying your cat so that its exit becomes 3" and not the puny 2.5" Ford gave you. Run 3" pipes after the cat. Somewhere in there stick the smallest 3" muffler you can find - it can go right behind the cat, or in the factory location, or wherever it leaves you with most usable space around it Then stick a tailpipe for a turbo diesel behind that, it's a single 3" again. And here you have a choice - you can either run the diesel tail as is, or you can chop it right before it starts to bend to the right and add to it another short muffler with a turn-down right in front of the bumper. Why a turn-down? Cause it directs the sound at the road mostly, which makes it more manageable for other drivers - any side exiting exhaust by default dumps all the noises in the direction of whoever you may be trying to pass, as someone who gets passed a lot (running the speed limit apparently tends to have that side effect) I can tell you that getting blasted with what some folks consider cool sound is not only not cool, but obnoxious and really paints the offending party as just grade-a d-bags. Our loudest truck therefore has stacks shooting the noise straight up in the air where no one can get hit with the sound waves...
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
I think I would prefer to go full zombie killing, deep water fording, **********. :yikes: Snorkel on one side, exhaust on the other.
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
All new front and rear drive shafts from JE Reel! I watched and took photos of the whole process for an article I am doing. It takes more than knowledge, there is skill involved when building these; I was really impressed. At 2400 rpm's the rear shaft was balanced at zero! :Wow1:
The article I wrote about building driveshafts is now published. If you ever wondered how they do it, check it out. article here
Just joined, dig the site so far, digging your build even more. I own a few crew 7th and 8th gen F350s what can I say I'm a Ford guy. One is my expedition rig I guess you guys would call it. Based on an 89 F350 4wd, 7.3, 5 speed, 37s, etc. Came across the site looking for ideas, info, and inspiration on my trailer build to match my truck. It's the back half of a F350 retaining many of the stock F350 parts, axle, fuel tanks, etc. including the ABS. I've extended it to a 10' bed with a tailgate on the front as well.
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Anyway got a good idea on pulling this \/ off better.
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Mount a same side muffler under the passenger side foot well, then run the exhaust from a Y-pipe under the frame just behind the spring. Pull the fender and install a pipe inside the back of the fender and exiting the top of the fender close to the base of the windshield. Finally a pipe next to, mounted to, and matching the angle of the A-pillar. Later when you install your wind deflector you can extend that pipe to the top of it.
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FWIW because of the year and that it's a manual a diesel conversion on that rig isn't that hard at all. The 7.3IDI was a stock option that year, that diesel only needs a few wires to run, and will with slight modification bolt up to your tranny. You'd need of course the engine, the diesel core support and radiator(bigger from a 92-97), diesel fuel tanks(the opening is different 87-94 works), a gauge cluster from a diesel(need diesel tach), and the early/diesel style fuel tank selector valve(the EFI one won't work). The transmission just needs a couple holes drilled. A little more to it, but really not that bad, nor is the cost, a 7.3 IDI donor truck most of all if 2wd can be had surprisingly cheap. The IDI isn't commonly known for it's power, there has historically been a fuel supply limitation. However that has been solved, a company called R&D IDI performance is now making all that is needed to bump an IDI up to the 500HP/1000TQ area with no loss or even an increase in MPG, that on the other hand isn't cheap though.
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EDIT, I read about a rear axle issue as well. The reply I read that said the axle in the U-Haul truck won't work is right. I do think however that it would be very worth while for you to track down a pickup dually axle. Don't run dually tires with it though, run what you got. The pickup dually axles are IIRC 6" wider then what you have and have bigger brakes, both good things. But the springs, shocks, driveline etc. are all the same so it's a direct bolt in. But more importantly the amount the hubs protrude and the wheel mounting is the same. So putting on the wheels you got will function and look no different except being 6" wider and thus matching the width of the box likely perfectly. The bigger brakes are a bonus as well, they aren't that much different, just a wider shoe. If you do look for one try and find a 93-97 version, pre-93 has a pinion weakness that was solved in 93, this includes the SRW axle you have now, and yes your cool cover will transfer.
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EDIT2, I think you're going to end up having wheelbase and wheel well alignment issues. If I'm remembering correctly one trick to know that might help when the time comes is that there is an easy way to move the rear axle back 3". The centering pin in the rear leaf springs isn't centered in the spring, it's a little forward. Turning the springs around will move the axle back about 3'.
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Anyway got a good idea on pulling this \/ off better.
.
.
Mount a same side muffler under the passenger side foot well, then run the exhaust from a Y-pipe under the frame just behind the spring. Pull the fender and install a pipe inside the back of the fender and exiting the top of the fender close to the base of the windshield. Finally a pipe next to, mounted to, and matching the angle of the A-pillar. Later when you install your wind deflector you can extend that pipe to the top of it.
.
FWIW because of the year and that it's a manual a diesel conversion on that rig isn't that hard at all. The 7.3IDI was a stock option that year, that diesel only needs a few wires to run, and will with slight modification bolt up to your tranny. You'd need of course the engine, the diesel core support and radiator(bigger from a 92-97), diesel fuel tanks(the opening is different 87-94 works), a gauge cluster from a diesel(need diesel tach), and the early/diesel style fuel tank selector valve(the EFI one won't work). The transmission just needs a couple holes drilled. A little more to it, but really not that bad, nor is the cost, a 7.3 IDI donor truck most of all if 2wd can be had surprisingly cheap. The IDI isn't commonly known for it's power, there has historically been a fuel supply limitation. However that has been solved, a company called R&D IDI performance is now making all that is needed to bump an IDI up to the 500HP/1000TQ area with no loss or even an increase in MPG, that on the other hand isn't cheap though.
.
EDIT, I read about a rear axle issue as well. The reply I read that said the axle in the U-Haul truck won't work is right. I do think however that it would be very worth while for you to track down a pickup dually axle. Don't run dually tires with it though, run what you got. The pickup dually axles are IIRC 6" wider then what you have and have bigger brakes, both good things. But the springs, shocks, driveline etc. are all the same so it's a direct bolt in. But more importantly the amount the hubs protrude and the wheel mounting is the same. So putting on the wheels you got will function and look no different except being 6" wider and thus matching the width of the box likely perfectly. The bigger brakes are a bonus as well, they aren't that much different, just a wider shoe. If you do look for one try and find a 93-97 version, pre-93 has a pinion weakness that was solved in 93, this includes the SRW axle you have now, and yes your cool cover will transfer.
.
EDIT2, I think you're going to end up having wheelbase and wheel well alignment issues. If I'm remembering correctly one trick to know that might help when the time comes is that there is an easy way to move the rear axle back 3". The centering pin in the rear leaf springs isn't centered in the spring, it's a little forward. Turning the springs around will move the axle back about 3'.
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