Originally posted by wontgrowup: musicnut, once the tips are lined up, you torque down from back to front so there isn't any leaks....worked for me.....
Sounds logical but won't work for me. My back bolts are as tight as they will go, ie: the flanges are flush together. My front bolts are loose enough that the flanges are spread apart enough that the flanges do not seal against the gasket resulting in blubbery exhaust leaks on both sides and the tips are still tight against the inside of the valence cutouts. In fact, they are still so tight against the valence that any movement of the exhast system causes a squeak from the chrome tip rubbing against the plastic. On top of this, the passenger tip barely clears the valence. The driver tip protrudes a good 1.5" further than the passenger tip. Also, when viewed slightly from the side, you can see that the driver tip angles slightly down while the passenger tip angles slightly up.
I tried Alessondro's tip regarding hammering the flanges flat. First, the flanges weren't really that warped when checked with a straight edge. Second, about all I accomplished with a mini-sledge was to round the edges of the flanges and make myself deaf. Third, upon examination, I noticed that none of the four flanges were flush with the pipes they are on. In fact, the pipe of one of the mufflers protruded at an angle beyond the surface of the flange right where the front bolt is, thereby adding to the problem.
It looks to me like whoever welded the flanges on did not use a jig to properly position the flanges. SVTCuervo, I spoke with Alessondro yesterday and will call him again today. It looks like Brullen's one year warranty will either have to replace my system from the slip connector back or they will have to pay a local muffler shop to rework my existing system. In the meantime, I have put my stock system back on.
