Fords4Ever

Well I finally pulled the trigger and got the Stingers and installed them today. I am really having a tough time with the passenger side, it's loose and I can't get it snug on the mid-pipe. I torqued it to specs but it is really loose. I slid it all the way up to the notch on the mid-pipe but it seems like the mid-pipe might be smaller at the end or the Stinger end is bigger than it needs to be.

Anyone else have this problem? I am afraid to over tighten the clamp and to tell you the truth It doesn't look like there is much farther the clamp can go.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

howarmat

yeah many of us have ran into this problem...i used a u bolt that i got for a couple bucks from autozone....works like a charm and no leaks.

TacoBill

My suggestion is to loosen the over-axle clamp, then loosen the mid-pipe clamp. Align, tighten the over-axle, then mid-pipe last.

Most fit and alignment issues are caused by a preload condition within the pipe run.

06GT4RAD

Also on top of what Bill said. Check the nub that is on the over axle pipe where the muffler bottoms out on, and make sure it is not sticking up past the deck height of the muffler if that makes sens. If it does you may have to grind it down a little. You also want to make sure the clamps are at the very end of the muffler.

Richard

Fords4Ever

Hey Matt...did you use the U clamp in addition to or in place of the supplied clamp?

Thanks

Bill... it seems like the no matter how I adjust the muffler on the mid-pipe, the Stinger ends seems much larger than it should be. Of course it's not like it's a half inch too big but the clamp will only tighten so much and it runs out of thread.

Fords4Ever

Bill, I forgot to tell you that your video was a major reason why I went with Stingers - that comparison vid was awesome!

Now a question, when you loosen the mid-pipe bolts, exactly what are you trying to do with the mid-pipe? pull it back? Just one side? it didn't really wnat to move much or stay there.

Thanks again.

RobK

You twist the midpipe. Do one at a time. It'll allow you to get everything aligned without the preload that Bill mentioned. I used the supplied clamps on my stingers with zero issues. I had to adjust the midpipes on mine before I snugged everything up.

Fords4Ever

I wasn't getting any movement on the mid-pipes but I guess I needed to be a little mpre forcefull. It occurs to me after reading this that the H is not part of the mid-pipe right, or is it?

In other words is it axle-back, mid-pipe, then a seperate H pipe? I didn't get the car lifted that much so it was hard trying to adjust the mid-pipe. I'm going to take another run at it tomorrow.

RobK

We're referring to the pipes that come after the H and go over the axles. They're the ones with the stainless band clamps. They should twist around pretty freely once you've loosened the clamps.

Fords4Ever

It's funny because I thought the H was part of the mid (over the axle) pipe, from my under car view that is. I didn't get any movement but I was afraid to twist the H pipe. I must have been all turned around under there

Now that I've got it all straight in my head I'm sure I'll have better luck tomorrow.

Thanks everyone!

Fords4Ever

I'll tell you something I did notice while doing this install. The part where the mid-pipe goes over the axle has a big flat spot. I wonder how much benefit mandel bent mid-pipes would be?

howarmat

Replaced the stock clamps completely

sound wave

if i understand you correctly, i had the same problem. i tightened the nut as much as i could, and it was still loose. what i did was i moved the clamp to the very end of the axleback end of the pipe. it was able to clamp that way. it is on very tight now. the very end is a bit larger in diameter than closer to the muffler.

try doing that before buying a new clamp. good luck.

ShowGT

I had a similiar issue with my install this week, only problem I had was the x pipe was welded to to exhaust and no room for play/movement. I ended up notching out my RH axleback just a hair and all is done.

TacoBill

Here are the mid-pipe clamps (which connects the H-Pipe to the mid-pipe). Once you crack these 2 nuts loose off the clamp, the mid-pipe will become loose. It's at this point where you'll want to align your tip within the bumper cutout and tighten the over-axle clamp (supplied with the Stingers), then the mid-pipe clamp last.


Here's a pic of my passenger's side clamp.



Here's the 'flat spot' you're talking about. Although a constant mandrel bent tubing would look better, I doubt it'll provide you with any real gains in performance.

Fords4Ever

The only problem is I'd have to grind off that nub that goes in the notch. I'm right next to that just like in Bill's pic below.

Hey Bill I also noticed that my tips seem to extend farther beyond the cutout than yours even though I'm all the way up to nub/notch just like your pic above. Is there that mutch variation in manufacturing ?

TacoBill

I have seen some Stinger tips positioned like mine as well as some sticking out about an inch past the bumper cutout.

The mid-pipe clamping area will allow the mid-pipe to slide forward somewhat, but not that much.

I helped a friend with his Stingers and his tips stuck out a little further than mines no matter what adjustments we tried to make.

Fords4Ever

Yeah that's about where I am - an inch out from the cut-outs. I am hoping that when I do what you guys said about twisting (adjusting) the mid-pipe to solve the alignment issues it will also help my sealing/tightening issue although I am not sure how unless the very end of the midpipe is not round and getting it just right will alow me to tighten it all down. My concern is that I seem to be out of thread on the supplied clamp.

I found this while searching and I may do this too, not sure yet.
http://www.mustangforums.com/archive...2343043-1.html

I hope to get back on this tonight so I'll update later. And thanks again!

RobK

My pipes stick out about an inch past the bumper cover. I wouldn't rule out that they might have given you the wrong clamps. If you're out of threads and it's not insanely tight they might be too big.

Thomas S

I ended up putting my clamp right over the notch/nub. That did the trick.