For those of you with Stillen Cat-Back.....

[2brian0]

Are your tips aligned or off....Want to give them some solid numbers when I talk to them on the phone about my car.

[2brian0]

For the four others so far with uneven tips, I would encourage you to contact Alex at Stillen and send him pictures. He is currently looking at the pictures I posted plus more from underneath the car to see if he can come up with anything. I really think they should know this isn't an isolated case.

[kyle@stillen]

We are looking into this and this is a concern.

It is very unusual that the tips would not be properly aligned as the jigs that they are made on are very rigid and do not allow any room for adjustment. Every single exhaust should be the same.

Now one thing that we have come across in the past is that the factory exhaust is not always perfectly straight. If the factory exhaust is not perfectly straight then the likelihood of our exhaust being perfect is pretty small. For instance on a 350Z that we had in our shop, the stock exhaust tips were off by a full inch.

[shift_mikey]

I dunno Kyle i agree that all the exhausts should be the same, but i think if one really takes there time there are like 6 to 8 different points of adjustment. I don't care what "import shop" may have done it, it doesn't mean that they know what the frick they are doing.

It took me 15 minutes to like the alignment of my left muffler. kept loosening, shifting, retighten, shake my head and do it over again.

[kyle@stillen]

Sorry for the confusion mikey...

I was referring to STILLEN'S jigs and fixture. Not the Nissan mounting points.

The jigs and fixtures that we use during production do not allow for any adjustment. Everything gets locked into place during the assembly process.

[2brian0]

Kyle - You bring up very good points and I'm working with Alex on this to see if it's those of us doing the install or something else. I'm really hoping I'm wrong and it's completely me who is messing things up. I'm even going to take it to a shop this week if I can find the time to see if they can do any better. I've just installed a few exhaust before and have never had this issue but every car is different. Your customer support is awesome and I'm sure a solution will be found. Thanks again for being right on top of things...

[shift_mikey]

Kyle i worded that incorrectly. I was agreeing with you and the production of the Stillen exhaust. However, i would assume that the robotic arms welding things together at the nissan factory would get the hangers in pretty much the perfect place everytime. if it didn't, wouldn't there be issues with the stock exhaust doing strange things?

[kyle@stillen]

You would be surprised Mikey...You'd think and hope that they'd be the same but we have seen some variances.

Like I mentioned previously the 350Z exhaust is well known for having misaligned tips from the factory. If the factory exhaust is not properly aligned then our exhaust won't line up perfectly either.

[shift_mikey]

Your right, i probably would be surprised! LOL anything is possible. My suggestions are just that between rubber hangers, and LOTS of adjustability with all the slip joints and slotted holes on the flange and the ability to change the flange angle a few degrees at a time because of the style of the 'z' pipe... i really think that a lot of inconsistant production can be solved in some adjusting. IF NOT, it wouldn't be the end of the world to have to bend the hangers a little, well maybe it would be, stainless steel is some HARD SHTUFF!

[shift_mikey]

So my stillen developed a little bit of a squeak due to it slightly rubbing on the rear black molded piece on the rear bumper, so i decided i'd make my final adjustments (which i hadn't done yet)

I just pulled into the shop at work, loosened all the clamps, and went to work. I tapped on the Y pipe (hitting towards the engine) and drove all the pipes a little bit further together. That gave me the clearance i needed on the rear bumper.

I then twisted and moved the long rear section and the y pipe along with the mufflers to position the rear flange a little better. I realized that the left muffler would not sit straight in the bumper cut out unless i moved it in a fashion that made it crooked. The pipe was a little too long. I removed the Y pipe, i cut 1/2" off of it, and reassembled.

With my new adjustments, and lining everything back up, i achieved a PERFECT setting. My pipes are even (from the back, both cans are tilted ever so slightly to the outsides of the car), my tips are even, and are centered in the bumper outlets.

Perfecto!!!!
Modified by shift_mikey at 2:50 PM 2/9/2008

[SHIFT_COUPE]

I'm having the same issue with the driver side muffler rubbing up against the bumper. Its driving me up a wall. Guess I'll have to drop it down and check the alignment.

[shift_mikey]

Tyler i'm tellin you. Loosen up all the u-bolt clamps from the front to the back, and just take a good rubber mallet (or dead blow hammer) and smack the flange driving it forward. I gained almost a full inch by doing that.

Also, That flange for the Y pipe has such largely slotted holes, its VERY easy to cut off exhaust flow! when i first put these mufflers on, I didn't notice any performance gain. I made sure i lined those flanges up (so the exhaust openings would be as aligned as possible) and the exhaust system SOUNDS different, and NOW the car feels like it pulls harder.

GENTLEMEN WITH STILLEN CAT BACK!! Take a second look at your install job and make sure that those flanges are lined up! you can usually tell because the bolts will be in the middle of the slotted bolt holes on the flanges.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Thanks Mike. I got myself ready to do it yesterday but the wind and the cold ran be back inside the house. Wish I had a heated garage