Advice on Exhaust Manifold/System/Brake

[Timburrr]

I'd like to hear some thoughts on parts i'm going to be ordering soon. My exhaust manifold is cracked and my muffler has a good rattle and I'd like an exhaust brake for towing and to a lesser extent service brake life. Truck is a 1999 24v 5speed longbox.

 

1) I would prefer the the turbo mount exhaust brake but I may do a small turbo upgrade in the future which from my reading means I'll need to have the remote mount brake. So i'm thinking the BD remote brake. 

 

2) I'm leaning towards this exhaust manifold. Price seems good and I've heard good things. DAP T3 with EGT probe bung and comes with gaskets and hardware. https://dieselautopower.com/diesel-auto-power-assembled-3-piece-t3-exhaust-manifold-pyro-tapped-with-gaskets-24vt3m/

I don't understand the turbo gasket, whether I need divided or undivided?

 

3) I want to do a 4" turbo back exhaust with muffler to kill the loud drone when towing a load. I figure long trips with the wife and kids will be better with less noise in the cab. I'm thinking of this one from DAP:

https://dieselautopower.com/1994-2002-dodge-5-9l-cummins-turbo-back-stainless-steel-kit-single-4/

I like the idea of stainless and with the remote exhaust brake being welded to the exhaust I would like to do a stainless for longer life. Thoughts on this? Would it be worth it to pay the [a lot] extra for an MBRB? Sounds like better steel but its a lot more money.

 

Any thoughts on this would be very appreciated. I plan on, down the road, doing a small turbo upgrade and maybe 50hp injectors. I have a 53 block with 200,000+ miles on it so don't want to go crazy with modifications but wouldn't mind a bit more power.

 

Thanks so much!

[TFaoro]

1 - If you know you're planning on a turbo upgrade, go with the "in line" exhaust brake. It'd suck to buy a turbo mounted brake and have to buy another in the near future. 

2 - I prefer the stainless, but you should be fine with that 3 piece. It shouldn't crack like the stock one. Go with the divided gasket because the manifold is divided. 

3 - I don't see the need for stainless. It depends on the quality of stainless too - low grade stainless will rust too. I personally painted my exhaust with 2000* paint and it's been holding up well, although I doubt it would rust quickly without paint. 

I've yet to hear of any of the aftermarket exhaust companies using a muffler that keeps the 4" drone down very well. Especially with an aftermarket turbo. 

[notlimah]

As far as exhaust materials go, this next time I get one it'll be stainless. I went with a standard aluminum diamond eye with my 99 and although it's not rusting, it does have some surface rust I wasn't really expecting. Nothing against diamond eye and the quality. I bought it knowing it was a possibility just didn't think I'd see this within the first few years.

 

I'm also going to go with an mbrp 5in with muffler next time mainly because of the exhaust exit. Diamond eye can exit in a similar fashion but from what I've seen it's not quite the same and I want it exit as close to the bumper corner as possible and looks like mbrp will do that.

 

As far as quiet goes, I think the supplied mufflers will do a little in 'muffling' but not as much as say a Donaldson. A resonator might help as well but it'll need to be as close to the downpipe as possible to be really effective. 

 

Sorry that's a lot, hope it helps.

[jlbayes]

I would plan your exhaust brake around the turbocharger you plan on using. Hate to buy something and it not work later. I am not a fan of 3 piece manifolds. Stainless steel one piece are all I recommend. As far as the rest of the exhaust, if you are planning on keeping it forever - stainless. I do not have a favorite brand as pipe is pipe. Though the hangers in proflos exhaust systems are hollow. Keep that in mind.

[Mopar1973Man]

Kind of like myself like in the first year of ownership of my truck at 15k miles I had the exhaust brake installed. Now I'm trying to base my build around the limits of turbos that I can use with my exhaust brake. You can still have quite a bit of power but the turbo and exhaust brake will always limit what you can do.

[Timburrr]

Thanks for all the input, it is very appreciated.  I think I am going to go with the remote mount.  I prefer the turbo mount because you can do a compressed air driven and its a cleaner install, but just in case I plan on doing a turbo upgrade I think I will do the remote mount.  I would also like to do a stainless exhaust manifold but the price jump really is hard to justify to me from the DAP 3 piece.

 

Right now its between the Diamond Eye and the Magnaflow.  Both are priced similarly and made of 409 stainless with a high flow muffler.  Any insights on either of these?  The Magnaflow is on sale through the local parts store and the Diamond Eye would probably be a similar price from DAP after shipping and customs from the US.

 

My understanding is I would be able to weld the exhaust with my mig welder and mild steel wire and gas because it is low grade stainless but since it will be pressurized upstream of the brake I think I will take it into a professional welder and have every upstream joint welded instead of clamps too.  I'd just feel a lot better about it that way and I would still have the clamp at the exhaust brake itself and one downstream of the muffler for removal.  I'd like to get everything else welded.

 

[SilverMoose]

You could always get some ss wire and a bottle of the correct gas to weld it.  It's not much different than welding steel. 

 

L8tr

D

[notlimah]

I'd go diamond eye over magnaflow

[dripley]

I ran a Magna Flow on the wife's 2000 Dakota. Great sound but it only lasted about 6 years. Came on the truck so I am assuming it was not a SS exhaust system. No experience on a diesel however.

[Timburrr]

Thanks for all the help. I think I'm going to go with the Diamond Eye.  Looked up shipping weights and its 10lbs heavier, which to me likely means more metal.  73 lbs vs 83 lbs.

I thought about getting a bottle of gas for the stainless and some wire, but I think this would be a one-off job.  409 is ferritic stainless steel and uses different gas and wire than austenitic stainless and if i was to do anything in stainless down the road it would almost certainly be austenitic.  I usually do the "why buy something for $50 when I can build it for $100!" but money is tight with another kid on the way so I think it would be cheaper to have a shop do it and just be done with it.  If I remember right it would be about $250 Canadian Pesos for a small bottle of gas and most of the shops here only sell Mig or straight argon in the small bottles and anything else is usually big bottles.

 

All the help is appreciated greatly!

 

 

[Timburrr]

Well the exhaust brake has arrived and I'm going to get started on the stuff I can install before the manifold and exhaust system arrive.

 

I'm looking for the wire the hooks up to the APPS sensor of the brake control.  It's a Light Blue w/ Black Tracer.  Any help on which bundle to look for?  I'm going splice into the wires (with butt connectors, not those cheesy tap n' splices) and want to get as much done before the other parts show up as possible.

 

I'm surprised that the main vacuum line that runs to the control valve is 3/8" and the main line coming from the vacuum pump is maybe 1/8"...I called tech support and they said the vacuum pump is adequate to run it.  Any thoughts on this?  In hindsight I'm starting to think the Pacbrake might be a better option for the remote mount because it comes as a compressed air actuated model that is smaller, faster to engage/disengage, and gives you the compressor that you can use for other upgrades.

 

I'm also a bit disappointed that the exhaust pressure gauge kit doesn't seem to be mountable at all unless I mickey-mouse it with zap straps or something...which will make me lose sleep.  I can get a different gauge in the future for a clean mount but I was hoping to have everything done right the first time.

 

Any thoughts on blipping the throttle to double clutch on downshifts?  My understanding is the exhaust valve should activate fast enough to not damage anything (the same as you can leave the brake on and it disengages whenever you have throttle applied).

[Mopar1973Man]

Exhaust brake typically has a 2 to 3 second delay At least my Jacobs brake does. No tapping of wires it uses the signal directly from the ECM. I normally rev match on downshift to lessen the load on the clutch.

[Timburrr]

For the BD I have to tap into a few wires. Two I can find (the BK/LB and RD/LG that come down from the steering column) but I'm having trouble finding the Light Blue/Black that goes to the APPS sensor on the control switch. Should be on my side of the firewall somewhere. Any idea which cluster to fight through?

[Timburrr]

Arg. Looks like it's behind VP and not easy to splice into!

[Dieselfuture]

Took 3 pictures but only one uploaded 

Took 3 pictures but only one uploaded 

There I resized them, hopefully you can see, and helps

Edited April 19, 2017 by Dieselfuture

[Timburrr]

Cool! Thanks man! Is that remote or turbo mount?

 

[Dieselfuture]

Turbo mount, I think in future I'll just do hybrid. Or something similar. You'll like it BD make good stuff. At least mine been working awesome. 

[Timburrr]

So i'm about to get started and something funny is going on. Everything in manuals and that I have found online shows the turbo to manifold studs threading into the manifold and the nuts threading on the turbo side. On mine the bottom studs are in this orientation and the top are reversed (studs thread into turbo flange and nuts on manifold side). What the heck is going on here? The exhaust manifold is threaded on all four holes so i'm obviously going to have a problem when I go to mount this.... should I drill out the threads on the turbo???

[dripley]

IIRC mine is set up like yours, two studs in the turbo and 2 in the manifold. Been a long time since I have had mine off. 

[notlimah]

Looks normal too me. There should be four bolts holding the stock turbo.