Do you think I needed the Exhaust Reroute?

So I recently had my exhaust pipe rerouted under my 2020 TRD OR DCLB. I wish I had done it years ago.

As background, I off-road a couple of dozen times a year, a few times on roads I definitely should have not gone down (once I high-centered my self, and the second time I trashed my passenger side front wheel and tire on a big rock). I put an engine and a transmission skid plate under my truck along with a lift and rock sliders.
My transmission skid plate had the bump underneath to accommodate the low-hanging exhaust pipe. I have come to regret that decision. The high centering was definitely due to the skid plate bump and also I broke a bolt that held the skid plate on to the frame since I have smacked that low point on rocks so often.

Soooooo. To make a long story short I took off my skid plate and got the exhaust re-route done.

Got a local muffler shop here in Scottsdale, AZ to do it for about $130. The shop is called "Scottsdale Muffler". (Who woulda thunk. LOL) The owner has a Taco himself and knows what needs to be done.

For those of you who aren't in the know the re-route moves the exhaust pipe rearward about 8 to 10" where it crosses from driver side to passenger side. This puts it to the rear of the gear box and (plastic actuator) and this allows the exhaust to be raised 2 to 3" so it isn't the lowest hanging piece on your Tacoma in that area. I have bought a new skid plate without the bump. and will put it on as soon as I figure out how to get the broken bolt out.

Here are the pics.

This is the damage on my old skid plate. You can see the bump that went over the low-hanging exhaust really got bashed.



Overall view of the plate.



This bashing caused me to break (a rather small) bolt where the plate was attached to the frame. By design, this same bolt attaches a portion of the break lines to the frame. Not really a good design for the skid plate.


This is a pic of the re-route.




The shiny metal things you see are not gaps, but are the stainless steel zip ties I used to attach the heat wrap to the exhaust because there is only about 3" between the exhaust and the plastic high/low actuator. I put the heat wrap on also because I noticed everywhere else under the truck where the exhaust pipe was this close to the bed of the truck there were heat shields. You can see one in the background of this pic (shiny silver thing).

 

Welcome to the flat bottom club! I also put a metal skid plate on my plastic gas tank for the exact reason you should- I was on a remote trail down in San Ignacio and punctured my Bronco’s gas tank even though it was higher than the Tacoma’s and made of steel none the less! Luckily an old fart once told me about whittling a bar of ivory soap to form a plug in case I ever did that and I happened to follow his advice. It worked very well as soap does not dissolve in gasoline.

Anyway, that plastic gas tank underneath our trucks worries me. One other thing you might consider doing (and I’ll post some pictures) is encasing the plastic actuator box with aluminum flashing. I formed a box out of it and used metal zip ties to hold it on. Also added some heat shields I made with the same aluminum flashing material above the new exhaust pipe

 

I've always wondered why this pipe (and the cross member for that matter) hang so low. I'm not sure you needed the heat wrap, but probably won't hurt anything. Nicely done!

 

Just got mine done today so ready to join the flat bottom and order the transmission and transfer case skid plates.
Pics (yeah did I learn my lesson)
Before

After - I wanted it up high enough to clear the skid plate with room to spare, away from the plastic actuator and to clear the drive shaft.
So I really wanted two pipes as I wanted the Y pipe moved back a bit not just the one

 

I wanna be flat bottom gang too Gonna attempt DIY, just need to figure what thickness to get. Can you tell your muffler shop what thickness/diameter tubing did they use. Thanks!

 

My muffler shop charged $95. Worth the cost to avoid DIY errors.

 

Yep I think mine was going to be about $100 - the shop I went to has done the Tacoma reroute a bunch of times. Except look at my pic - I decided how I wanted mine done i.e. move it back some (which meant a new Y pipe) and tuck up the driver side so mine ended up being $130 - he still did it in about an hour. I did apologize for being a PITA tho and he was like, whatever.

 

@majpooper Looks like the shop did a really nice job. I'm in NC looking to get this same mod, any chance you can share the name and location of the shop?

 

Post the question here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/south-east.37/

 

start out with a good center punched indent in the actual center....
good drill bits, start out small 1/8"....
drill slow, if youre not pulling metal, youre drill is spinning to fast....
use an easy-out / extractor to remove carefully....
dont force as if you break the extractor in the bolt, you just complicated matters...
if it doesnt budge, drill a bigger hole....
Gets to the point of done right, go bigger & bigger without damaging the threads & the walls of the bolt will just blow apart & it will come right out.
assuming there isnt any lock-tite on the bolt...
Never apply heat with the extractor in place, or install the extractor into a hot bolt, it will weaken the tool...

If all else fails, weld a nut onto the bolt...

I was a bolt extracting professional as part of my skill set as a car mechanic, I was very good at it after having to deal with 1000's of broken bolts over the lifespan of my career...

 

Perfection Exhaust in Kernersville NC - Show them the pics and they will probably say oh that PIA. No really they quoted $100 (almost 2 years ago) and then I wanted it done done "my way" (moving it back more than the normal Tacoma re-route) which meant replacing the Y pipe so it ended up being $130 which to me was well worth it. I did apologize for being a PIA but the Tech was really cool about it. They are so good with exhaust it's amazing how fast he did it - easily no more than 1 hour.

If you notice looking at the other re-route pics the pipe on mine on the passenger side is tucked up a little higher as well. I go off road and tend to maybe do some things I would be advised not to do so a little more clearance here and there is worth it to me.

 

Kernersville ... much more pleasant place to live than Winston-Salem which always made me feel ... well ... ugh.

 

I have a WS address but live in neighboring Davidson county in an unincorporated part of the county. Yeah Kernersville has a small town vibe - WS is OK kind of. We do some shopping there and our doc is there so I am more meh than ugh but I get where you are coming from.

 

True, not completely bad. But I had to go downtown to the sheriff headquarters for a gun permit which meant driving through a dismal concrete canyon of spires. East end with shopping and open spaces for shopping on west side are OK.

 

I have been to the Mass General Store . . . . kind of fake but OK to visit once - my daughter works at the Science Museum (Kilidium - funny name) - that's interesting. Never been to East End or West End for shopping - I thought that was where the rich people live. I would like to go to a minor league baseball game, the stadium looks nice. Restaurants ? ? ? ? I'll just stick with Lexington the BBQ capital of the World (no offense to Texas - whatever their BBQ is).

 

Has anybody went the route to do custom exhaust on their tacoma

 

Excellent, right up the road a bit.Thanks so much for the recommendation, most appreciated.