The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop exhaust outlet placement

When I get my new exhaust made what are the pros and cons of bringing the tubes out the rear vs the sides? In front of the wheels or behind. Thanks for any input.

Here are a few thoughts/facts ideas/speculation/guesses

Most 47-55 trucks had the tail pipe end at the rear of the truck.
The tail pipe bent downwards approximately under the rear bumper
That resulted in fumes and noise being directed out of sight/sound/smell of the driver.
Presumably, most people turned their trucks off when loading unloading the bed/back?
Nonetheless, with a tailgate down, the end of the tailpipe was a few feet away from a person standing at thear.

Panel body trucks had the tail pipe end on the driver's side, behind the rear wheel.
The tail pipe bent downwards.
That resulted in fumes being directed away the rear doors area.
This kept noise and fumes away from the rear while driving with a suburban end-gate open while driving or standing.
This also allowed panel "delivery" trucks to stay running while opening/shutting rear doors for stop-and-go deliveries.
Rear door "stops" on panels allowed backing up right againt a loading/unloading dock.

These are just guesses - I cannot recall seeing documentation.
I'll check a shop manual.

Behind the car unless you want to breath it.

We ran our 1980 C20 pickup for over 25 years with the pipes (dual exhaust) exiting just in front of the rear tires; worked just fine. The truck did not have AC so the windows were open in the summer; didn't find fumes an issue. Wheels were painted white and didn't seem to get extra dirty.

However, exhaust in front of tires may not be legal where you live. Your local muffler shop would know.

They are going to be polished stainless, might look nice coming out under my stainless bumper. Let the guy behind me listen to it.

when running dual exhaust best to run a cross over pipe between the two pipes to equalize back pressure . 18to 24 inches back from header when running a split manifold. you will see this set up called an x pipe on your race cars, same principle . running your pipes out the back will give you a bit more back pressure being that the pipes are longer. that is my 50 cents take it as you will

I think i'm going to take the whole truck to GP headers when they make the headers for my blown 292 and have them make the whole exhaust. They are only about 11 hours from me. Hopefully they can tune the whole exhaust system.