Replacement exhaust quality?

[jdemaris]

My 2002 Impreza Outback needs an intermediate pipe, i.e. "resonator assembly."

 

I'm wondering if the OEM pipe from Subaru is better quality than aftermarket, even though it's twice the price.

 

I don't mind paying twice for something that will last four times as long.

 

My 95 Impreza still has it's original exhaust and it's driven in very salty roads all winter, every winter. So I know it's got some stainless-steel in it.

 

On the other hand, all my older Loyales had poor quality exhaust systems and seems the OEM stuff isn't much better then aftermarket.

 

Far as I can tell, there is only one standard-performance aftermarket pipe available. That is from Borla. Seems Walker also sells the Borla pipe with a new part # and $20 added to the price. So, I can get for around $96.

 

I can buy OEM from Subaru for $180. If I know it's better quality, I'm fine with the extra cost. In the long run , if better quality - it's cheaper.

 

I just don't want to order it then get an "el-cheapo" surprise. Since the first OEM only lasted 10 years, I'm not real impressed thus far.

 

For my GM trucks I used to always to the dealer and buy OEM pipes. They were double-wall and MUCH better quality then anything NAPA ever sold. But last time I ordered in some pipes - the came across the Chevy counter and they were Walkers! Same junk NAPA sells.

[bheinen74]

OEM exhaust lasts and fits, comes with flanges etc, much better steel.

 

aftermarket exhaust has a designed 2 year lifespan and is junk, doesn't fit, and is not direct bolt on, usually no flanges etc for the most part.

[Rooster2]

For what it is worth.......I have 2 OBWs, both had the resonators rust out in the past two years. Both times, I have gone to my local family owned torch, bend, weld muffler shop. The chain muffler shop is Ralph's Muffler here in Indy, but I am betting you have a similar shop in your area.

 

I had the resonators replaced with a piece of pipe on both cars. The sound is still perfectly stock. I could hear no difference with the new pipe in place. Cost was about $45 out the door. We get a fair amount of salt on the roads here in Indy, and the pipes have held up well. I recently looked at both, and both have no rust forming on them. For my money, the family owned torch, bend, weld approach is the way to go.

[idosubaru]

+1 if you have an honest shop that can properly fix it - that's a cost effective and long term solution.

 

i haven't found one yet here though! i sent a friend to an unknown shop and they did it for $40 but it only lasted a year before it broke again. i didn't inspect what he did. that was on an audi so it was like a $2,500 exhaust. LMAO

 

another option is to weld the existing piece back together, i've done that twice. they typically break an inch or so from the flange, see it all the time. my daily driver O3 Outback sedan wasn't rusted at all and easily welded back together in a matter of minutes. my 96 was rusted poorly but it was only the flange of the resonator so I just welded up a new flange onto the resonator.

 

there are options if you can weld yourself or have a good shop do it. but that's often hard to come by.

 

the aftermarkets can be cheap, i've definitely seen some cheap ones. i've seen threads suggesting some exhausts use the better metals like OEM, but i don't know how to delineate that.

 

the OEM ones are a good fit - if you can find a known good used one, that's an option as well.

 

if the resonator is only $180 that sounds like a good deal, the cat converters though - those things are really expensive and harder to pull the trigger on.

[ShawnW]

I have some aftermarket suppliers that provide factory type flanges and shapes. They aren't identical and sometimes the gaskets and bolt holes arent exactly perfect but they work fine once the mild struggle of installing is overcome. Often its no struggle at all. Just depends on the pipe and car.

 

For that pipe I can get one for $200 plus shipping.

 

Email me the VIN and I can also price a factory pipe from Subaru with my wholesale account.

[jdemaris]

 

I had the resonators replaced with a piece of pipe on both cars. The sound is still perfectly stock.

 

If there was a shop anywhere near me with a pipe-bending machine, I'd opt for a solid pipe, bent to fit. Some of the pipe used in those benders is thick wall and pretty good quality.

 

No good for me though. I'm in rural area and there are no shops within a 100 mile drive with a bender. I looked at the Walker-Borla replacement pipe at NAPA and it is junk. I know it will rust and fall off within two years.

 

Thus me wondering what an OEM Subaru pipe is made like for my 2002. If it was the same quality as my 1995, I'd buy it in a flash. But since my 2002 pipe is bad, and my original 95 pipe is still good - I suspect the 95 had much better steel in it.

 

I'd love to get a piece of stainless-steel bent up to fit - but it's not going to happen around here.

 

By the way, I'm not crazy. I just hate paying money for parts that I know are junk. When it comes to afermarket exhaust systems - most are poor quality.

[Rooster2]

If there was a shop anywhere near me with a pipe-bending machine, I'd opt for a solid pipe, bent to fit. Some of the pipe used in those benders is thick wall and pretty good quality.

 

No good for me though. I'm in rural area and there are no shops within a 100 mile drive with a bender. I looked at the Walker-Borla replacement pipe at NAPA and it is junk. I know it will rust and fall off within two years.

 

Thus me wondering what an OEM Subaru pipe is made like for my 2002. If it was the same quality as my 1995, I'd buy it in a flash. But since my 2002 pipe is bad, and my original 95 pipe is still good - I suspect the 95 had much better steel in it.

 

I'd love to get a piece of stainless-steel bent up to fit - but it's not going to happen around here.

 

By the way, I'm not crazy. I just hate paying money for parts that I know are junk. When it comes to afermarket exhaust systems - most are poor quality.

 

 

Agree, most after market exhaust is junk or near junk. After market prices are low, but quality is lower.

 

Maybe you can find exhaust parts at a u-pull wrecking yard. My experience is that they have the cars safely suspended, so that you can safely get underneath to unbolt the exhaust.

[Red92]

Maybe you can find exhaust parts at a u-pull wrecking yard. My experience is that they have the cars safely suspended, so that you can safely get underneath to unbolt the exhaust.

 

Haha. My experience at the u-pull yards is that the cars are stacked directly on top of each other, crushing the roofs, with the bottom car forcefully planted down into the mud. Not a chance of pulling an exhaust on any of them!

 

A lot of yards are really sloppy when they pull the cats too... chopping the exhaust off wherever it looks easiest, even if it is on a different part (header, etc).

 

Your yards must be better...

[jdemaris]

 

another option is to weld the existing piece back together, i've done that twice.

 

I already did that. Besides being cracked in two places, it also had several pin-holes in it. I stick welded some thicker areas and mig welded some thinner areas. It sounds pretty good now but I know it's not going to last.

 

At this point I'm thinking about buying a piece of 2" OD T-304 stainless-steel pipe and trying to bend it to fit. I can weld new flanges on to it, no problem. Main issue is IF it will bend without collapsing. Dynomax sells it in 16 gauge which seems pretty thin to me. They advertise it as being bendable. They want $90 for a 5 foot length. I can also buy direct from my steel supplier with T-304 and 12 gauge which I much prefer. And it only costs $45 for 5 feet. But, will I be able to bend it? The 12 gauge stuff is 1.9" OD instead of 2" which is exactly what the OEM Subaru pipe is (1.9" OD).

[jdemaris]

Maybe you can find exhaust parts at a u-pull wrecking yard. .

 

Not worth the bother where I live. I'm in the rural "rust belt" near the Adirondack Mountains of NY. Any Subaru in the junkyard will have the same problems I have, if not worse. Besides that issue - most junkyards in my area now crush anything once 8-10 years old. Most times when I go to one, they want to sell me new aftermarket parts instead of used. The last of the "old fashioned" junkyards near me closed down two years ago. He had cars back to the 1950s. All gone now - and the steel coming back as Daewoos and Kias.

 

I buy just about all my junkyard parts from down south. There is a great on-line used parts database at: http://www.car-part.com/

 

Just so happens they don't have the pipe I want. Not exactly the sort of thing a seller is motivated to sell on-line.