[DaveyJ]

Hi all, I'm new to the forums, but it looks like there is a pretty good community of Titan owners here so I thought I'd give this a shot. I've owned my 05 Titan LE for almost 5 years now and can honestly say I love this truck, it's a work horse. This spring we bought a 30' travel trailer, and the second time we had it out, my tail pipe fell off where it rusted through at the spot where it was connected to the muffler. I had the shop weld a new stainless steel tailpipe on there and we were back in action. Since then, I have noticed that when I run the truck hard for several hours, the frame near the tailpipe - right where it arcs over the rear axle - gets really hot and is causing the wiring harness and the bedliner directly above to melt. When I'm pulling the TT for any amount of time, it's even worse, and appears to do even more damage. I'm OK with ordering a new harness and taking the time to replace it myself to keep it cheap, and I don't care much about the bedliner other than I can't put anything in that spot that might melt, but my question is - how do I manage the heat to prevent further damage? Could the SS tailpipe be getting hotter than the stock pipe was, or has anyone else seen this before when running your truck hard with stock exhaust? I've already wrapped the new tailpipe with exhaust wrap, but that didn't make much difference. Maybe cut it and point the exhaust out of the side in front of the rear tire? Looking for thoughts/suggestions.

P.S. The attached pic is of the frame behind the right rear tire, where the harness travels over the frame from the outside to the inside and is slowly melting away on me.

 

[agnostic x]

I'm having this same issue but my exhaust is dumped before the rear axle. I curious to see what others have done to fix this problem.

 

[LaxDfns15]

My exhaust pipe rusted in the same place, but luckily I switched for a full stainless exhaust right before it happened (broke while I took it off the truck). Maybe he didn't weld it well/correctly and it's leaking hot exhaust on the area? Maybe the pipe is placed incorrectly or too close to the bed/wires?

I thankfully have not had any issues with mine.

 

[DaveyJ]

I'm having this same issue but my exhaust is dumped before the rear axle. I curious to see what others have done to fix this problem.

Have you done any work to your exhaust, besides shortening it and dumping it out the side, or is everything else stock?

I got under there while it was running (still cold) and did a quick check for leaks with my hand, especially near the weld, but maybe I need to do a more thorough search. I also had the same shop move the exhaust down several inches from the frame, to give it a little more breathing room, which helped some, but the problem still remains. I just find it hard to believe that it can put off that much heat, especially with the pipe wrapped...

 

[jeerme]

don't melt that wire harness!!! it can short out and kill the computer, happened to me last summer pulling our travel trailer. Exhaust rotted at the known spot and melted the wire harness which then fried my computer. The truck shut off on the highway at highway speed pulling the travel trailer. Dealership fixed it (added Gibson catback exhaust) and added some heat shields along the way of the exhaust. Replaced computer. No problems since.

 

[agnostic x]

Have you done any work to your exhaust, besides shortening it and dumping it out the side, or is everything else stock?

I got under there while it was running (still cold) and did a quick check for leaks with my hand, especially near the weld, but maybe I need to do a more thorough search. I also had the same shop move the exhaust down several inches from the frame, to give it a little more breathing room, which helped some, but the problem still remains. I just find it hard to believe that it can put off that much heat, especially with the pipe wrapped...

Yeah, Flowmaster scavenger pipe, Dynomax Race Bullet and Bully Dog tuner. I definitely don't want it to fry my computer so I'll have to get on this.

 

[DaveyJ]

don't melt that wire harness!!! it can short out and kill the computer, happened to me last summer pulling our travel trailer. Exhaust rotted at the known spot and melted the wire harness which then fried my computer. The truck shut off on the highway at highway speed pulling the travel trailer. Dealership fixed it (added Gibson catback exhaust) and added some heat shields along the way of the exhaust. Replaced computer. No problems since.

Thanks for the warning! I'll make sure to get this fixed before I pull my TT again...

 

[Walrus]

Thanks for the warning! I'll make sure to get this fixed before I pull my TT again...

Just plain driving it will introduce risk. Get it fixed ASAP.

 

[DaveyJ]

Just plain driving it will introduce risk. Get it fixed ASAP.

Definitely! I am driving my car for now, until I can get this issue fixed on the Titan. What I really need help with, is a way to fix this without having to bring it to the dealer. I'm confident I can replace the wire harness myself, but I'm still unsure how to solve the problem of the tailpipe throwing so much heat on the frame and melting everything. I was really hoping I could just direct it out the side in front of the rear tire, but it sounds like that won't work. I might try throwing another heat shield on there instead, between the exhaust and the frame where it arcs over the rear axle, and see if that helps. I'm hoping to take a crack at this this weekend.

 

[Walrus]

Take a picture and post it. These guys will give you a practical solution.

 

[TitanBlue]

You shouldn't have that problem at all with a proper exhaust setup. being welded (clamped works though) and proper distance should be all you need. You do have the option to wrap the pipe with Thermotec Heat Wrap, but really should not have to. My exhaust now dumps don't right after the muffler. I got tired of paying exhaust shop to weld carbon steel pipe onto my SS Magna Flow Exhaust and seeing it rust off at the weld at the muffler and at the hanger near the axle. i simply bought a new MF Catback and bolted it on in 30 minutes.

 

[dubyam]

Thinking that the simplest answer is likely the correct one, I'll bet the issue you're having is with the new pipe welded in. I suspect it has more rise over the axle, placing it in significantly closer proximity to the harness and bed, and you're seeing the heat soaking those items because of it. Find a friend with a Titan and measure the stock rise I've the axle, and compare that to your new pipe. I bet your pipe is too close to the bed floor.

Alternately, check the new pipe for a leak somewhere which would blow a jet of hot exhaust on that spot where things are melting. But I bet you have too much rise over your axle.

 

[DaveyJ]

Thinking that the simplest answer is likely the correct one, I'll bet the issue you're having is with the new pipe welded in. I suspect it has more rise over the axle, placing it in significantly closer proximity to the harness and bed, and you're seeing the heat soaking those items because of it. Find a friend with a Titan and measure the stock rise I've the axle, and compare that to your new pipe. I bet your pipe is too close to the bed floor.

Alternately, check the new pipe for a leak somewhere which would blow a jet of hot exhaust on that spot where things are melting. But I bet you have too much rise over your axle.

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone else with a Titan for me to compare the rise over the axle, but it was definitely too high to start with (when the new tailpipe was initially welded on). Since it's been moved, it now sits a good 3-4 inches below the truck frame, and I just don't know that I would want it much lower. I'm afraid it'll rest on the axle when I've got a heavy payload or hit a big bump towing the travel trailer. I did a better job of checking for leaks though, and there is a pinhole leak in the exhaust in that area - right where the new tailpipe is welded to the muffler. Could a hole that small really cause that much damage?

Regardless, I think you nailed it on the head - the simplest answer is most likely the correct one. I never had this problem before the new tailpipe, and now I do. I plan on hauling my TT with this truck for at least a few more years, so instead of using heat wrap to band-aid the issue, I think I'm going to just replace the exhaust from the cats back. The muffler looks like it doesn't have that much longer to live anyways. I'm thinking of ordering an MBRP installer series exhaust system, single exit to keep the price down. Anyone have any experience with these, good or bad, or any recommendations for a guy on a budget? Thanks in advance.

MBRP Nissan Titan Installer Series Exhaust System - AutoTruckToys.com

 

[dubyam]

I'm bone stock, but I see plenty of knowledgeable folks here on the forum say great things about the JBA cat-back. Not sure how they compare price-wise, but worth looking at based on the good press they get here at TitanTalk.

 

[DaveyJ]

I'm bone stock, but I see plenty of knowledgeable folks here on the forum say great things about the JBA cat-back. Not sure how they compare price-wise, but worth looking at based on the good press they get here at TitanTalk.

Thanks for the tip. Looks like the JBA performance exhaust cat-back is pretty comparable in price, and has plenty of good reviews.

 

[DaveyJ]

Well, it's been a few months, but I finally got my new JBA cat-back exhaust put on and it's pretty sweet! I won't know for sure if this solves my issue until I can pull my camper again, which is hopefully just a month or so away, but my truck is a helluva lot quieter now. My muffler was rusted to ****, and since I was under there, I put on new rear cats from Eastern Catalytic since the old ones didn't look too sharp, and I already had new headers put on last summer. Seemed a shame to replace everything else and leave the old, rusty rear cats in there. Still sounds good coming out of the tailpipe, but the cabin noise is much quieter now. Is it sad that I kind of miss it?

I haven't replaced my wire harness yet, but I've got the new one sitting in my garage now, so I'll take care of that next weekend. Can't wait to spend another few hours crawling around on the ground under my truck :-/

 

[DaveyJ]

It was a big job, but I replaced the melted wire harness, and my truck is back in business. Running the new harness was a bigger job than I thought. Maybe I'm just needle-nose pliers challenged (taking out the old clips is a PITA), but it took me about 6-7 hours to get this done. That doesn't count a couple of beer breaks, but they were short ones. Also, a few of the plugs can be a little tough to get out because they are hard to reach with limited visibility, but it can be done. I can see now why taking the bed off the truck would make this job much easier, which is probably why dealerships quote such a high cost of labor for this job.

For anyone else thinking of replacing your wire harness, this thread was helpful:
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-faq-how-area/209601-replace-melted-wire-harness.html

 

[jdmartin]

Yeah, the job you did is not easy! Replacing anything on wiring harnesses is not a lot of fun, that's for sure.

 

[nightowl]

JBA is the best catback of the shelf you can get for the Titan and cheapest. $425 shipped and in stock at Cajun... Cajun also has just the tailpipe 3" mandrel bent and stainless.

 

[Nick Name]

When my pipe went (coincidentally while pulling my 30' trailer!), it heated up the bed and zorched the liner a bit....that was my tip off to take precautions.....for not much money, no matter what you do to your exhaust, get some exhaust wrap at the local O'rielly's etc that comes with stainless ties and wrap your wires with that. Problem solved now and forever. I also went to my Harley shop and got a cheap aftermarket exhaust pipe shield that is mounted using hose clamps which sets it off about 3/8", enough to stop the heat from penetrating the bed, and put that at the bend going over the axle.