409SS vs. Aluminized Steel

[soccerman002]

I'm looking at picking up a Flowmaster catback for my '08 Dodge Ram, and it's about $100 or so difference between their aluminized steel system and their 409 stainless system. Being that both will eventually start to show some light surface rust over time, should I just save my money and pick up the cheaper system, or is the extra coin worth it? They are exactly the same in terms of design, only difference is the pipe material.

I don't live in a harsh climate, might see a dusting of snow in the winter, and the truck isn't driven off-road.

Just looking for thoughts/opinions, thanks.

 

[prostkr]

If your with in 50 miles of the coast spend the extra 100$ If they ever spread salt on the roads spent the extra 100$. It will pay you back in resale in the end.

 

[roy_1031]

I'm a fan of the SS.

 

[Mr. Mach-ete]

Stainless all the way.

 

[4a7191a]

stainless FTW !

 

[offroadkarter]

It doesn't always have to be salt. One of my friends put a walker OEM type aluminized exhaust on his silverado, he lives in a really humid swampy part of southern maryland. The damn exhaust rusted off the truck in 2 years.

Its definitely worth it to spend the extra 100 for 409. I believe 409 is what most OEM exhausts are, right?

 

[soccerman002]

Yeah, I believe most OEM systems are the 409 grade SS. I've only had aftermarket stainless systems in the past so I don't have the firsthand experience with the aluminized pipe. If they don't last any longer than what most of ya'll have experienced, then stainless it is.

 

[Kiohtee]

409ss ftw!

 

[4a7191a]

It doesn't always have to be salt. One of my friends put a walker OEM type aluminized exhaust on his silverado, he lives in a really humid swampy part of southern maryland. The damn exhaust rusted off the truck in 2 years.

Its definitely worth it to spend the extra 100 for 409. I believe 409 is what most OEM exhausts are, right?

+1

my bassani is almost 7 years old and still looks great. the last time i was under the car i rubbed the mufflers with a wet towel and they still have a mirror like shine

 

[mr.speaker]

+1

my bassani is almost 7 years old and still looks great. the last time i was under the car i rubbed the mufflers with a wet towel and they still have a mirror like shine

That's irrelevant.

Bassani and Borla use 304 stainless steel(correct me if I'm wrong). If you had the 409 stainless steel like the op's asking about it would have surface rust and oxidation on it pretty soon.

This is how 409SS will look in the elements (Salt,humid air,etc.)

 

[jenkins_1120]

which flowmaster kit are you going with? i had the dual rear exit on mine and I had to remove the spare tire to get it to fit.

 

[kevinatfms]

if you can find it, grab a system made in 304SS. you will pay much more but you wont have to worry about it rusting through.

409SS is just corrosion resistant, it will show heavy signs of rust if used in the salt belt. may want to see if you can coat it in something to prevent that?

 

[CobraBob]

Go stainless steel for sure. The better the material used, the longer it's going to last. And the longer it will continue to look good. My Magnaflow catted X-pipe and Steeda catback looked darn near new for the the two years I owned the Cobra. I occasionally drove it during the winter months, but never when the roads were messy.

 

[Smacked_in_ATL]

Just keep the stainless steel cleaned once a week with Never Dull and it should shine for a long time. Any metal exposed to elements will look like shit over time if you don't tend to it.

 

[soccerman002]

I live about 30 miles give or take from the Va. Beach oceanfront, but am not really down that way a whole lot (when you live close to the beach, the novelty of it wears off quickly, especially during tourist season). Whichever one I get I'll probably coat the pipes first with some silver header paint. Either that or I'll wipe the pipes down at least once or month or so when it gets washed, I can get under it without needing to jack it up.

My truck has the 4.7L engine in it that was revised for the '08 model year - not having a Hemi means my options for bolt-on cat-backs is limited. I know Flowmaster makes a kit and I did a little more searching and Gibson does as well, but it appears their kits use the same 409 material as Flowmaster.

I've had the truck for over 4 years now and the underside still looks good - we get a decent bit of rain year round, but the truck has only seen snow maybe 2-3 times.

 

[kevinatfms]

i installed the gibson catback on my fiance's 05 explorer and after about 2 years its still shiny and looking good. it went through 2 years of winter, summer, beach trips....etc. maybe check out the gibson over the flowmaster.

if you like, i can take a picture and send it to you of her exhaust system? shoot me a pm with a number and ill grab a few photos....

 

[soccerman002]

I appreciate it man, but after finding the Flowmaster stainless kit on Amazon.com for $380 w/free shipping, I think I'm gonna go with that. The Gibson looks like an identical kit, but the cheapest stainless system I found was $500 on eBay.

Nice part about the Flowmaster kit is that they provide tail pipe that will allow you to either go dual straight out the back or angled behind the tires.

Thanks for the input fellas.

 

[NyteByte]

I have a Flowmaster Aluminized Steel exhaust system on my GT and it's been through one harsh Chicago winter so far. It still looks fine and there is no rust.

Not sure how it will fare long term though.

 

[VerySneaky]

It doesn't always have to be salt. One of my friends put a walker OEM type aluminized exhaust on his silverado, he lives in a really humid swampy part of southern maryland. The damn exhaust rusted off the truck in 2 years.

Its definitely worth it to spend the extra 100 for 409. I believe 409 is what most OEM exhausts are, right?

I live in SOMD. All I got to say is Chevy... :nonono:
Also, he probably went mudding and put those pipes through worse conditions than they were designed for, and/or didn't rinse them off if he used the truck to put a boat over in brackish water.

 

[offroadkarter]

I live in SOMD. All I got to say is Chevy... :nonono:
Also, he probably went mudding and put those pipes through worse conditions than they were designed for, and/or didn't rinse them off if he used the truck to put a boat over in brackish water.

Not a mudding truck, it was just a casual driver and used to haul stuff. It wasn't some old beater either, he did a 350TPI swap into it.



Walker is just crap, One of my friends up here in jersey had a walker OEM dual exhaust on his 06 crown vic, after about 3 years of being on the car it started leaving the car in pieces. I took a sawzall to it and had to cut it off at the H pipe til he got a magnaflow catback