Dynomax catback kit installation

[rxctrs]

I have a 2000 2.5L Extended Cab Ranger, and the original exhaust finally gave up the ghost this year (tail pipe fell off of muffler). I have a complicated situation, because I am in France, and parts for this truck are not available here, so I ordered a catback kit from Rockauto and brought it back here. I have a good Ford dealer who is very accommodating, and he was willing to try to install it for me ($200). He was mostly successful, but I discovered that he did not quite tighten up the band clamps enough, and he installed the muffler itself upside down(!). I think that he did this because the kit does not really fit well on the truck. As a result, there were some leaks that I was able to reduce by re-positioning the muffler and tightening up the clamps, but they are still there.

It looks like the intermediate pipe is about 1/4" smaller than the muffler inlet, and the tailpipe does not really want to align well with the muffler, so it is slightly cocked and not well inserted into the muffler. I loosened all the bolts, and tried to shift everything to make it fit better, but it seems like there may be a geometry problem with the kit.

Does anyone have any experience with this kit, or have any suggestions to help? I am willing to order new clamps, because it looks like they deform quite a bit, and may be good for only one clamping event. But before I do this, I want to make sure I have the right pipes and good geometry. The part numbers on the pipes and muffler are correct, according to the installation sheet that came with the kit, so I think I have the right stuff.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Rose2300]

think you could post some pics so we can see what you're dealing with? if the gaps aren't that big you could probably weld it up.