Aluminized or Stainless???

Humphrey99 · Oct 11, 2012

Is it worth the price difference to go with stainless over an aluminized exhaust system? How much extra life will you get out of stainless?

I live in Iowa so we get some snow and plenty of salty roads in the winter. I'm not sure if there are any other factors that might make a difference or not.

Dieselgeek · Oct 11, 2012

That is a horrendous Avatar... I prefer Stainless myself, and live in MN, so I know all about salt/brine.

Scottbigred · Oct 12, 2012

I've always been told that aluminized will look better longer than the stainless versions. The stainless will get surface rust much easier. It won't rust all the way through but it will look like crap. plus you could always save some money and paint the aluminized kit.

Smokyred · Oct 12, 2012

Aluminized exhaust lasts about 5 years here it seems, stainless still looks good after 8-10 if it isn't factory, and even that doesn't rust out. We get the liquid sprayed on our roads and that stuff is so caustic it eats paint. Aluminized is rusty after it's first winter.

I got my stainless Flo-Pro for 350 shipped, PTP has some great deals too.

Dave

Humphrey99 · Oct 12, 2012

Dieselgeek said:
That is a horrendous Avatar...

HaHa.....Thanks

Charles · Oct 12, 2012

Scottbigred said:
I've always been told that aluminized will look better longer than the stainless versions. The stainless will get surface rust much easier. It won't rust all the way through but it will look like crap. plus you could always save some money and paint the aluminized kit.

You must be referring to 400 series stainless. 300 series I doubt is capable of that.

So it might be worth mentioning that "stainless" isn't a word that can describe what needs to be known in this case. You would need to know for instance if it was say 409, or say 304 stainless. The latter of which would probably outlast the person who bought it.

Big Stroker 6.4 · Oct 12, 2012

My Flo-pro stainless looks like $hit 2 years later...

Charles · Oct 12, 2012

Big Stroker 6.4 said:
My Flo-pro stainless looks like $hit 2 years later...

Go see if it's attracted to a magnet. It almost certainly is, which would not be 300 series.

Big Stroker 6.4 · Oct 12, 2012

Charles said:
Go see if it's attracted to a magnet. It almost certainly is, which would not be 300 series.

Yeah, its 409, too late for this guy.

Boomer · Oct 13, 2012

I live in northern IL and will never waste my money on another aluminized exhaust. I put one on one of my old gas trucks and it rusted through in 5 years.

Sent from a smart phone by a dumb guy.

Tree Trimmer · Oct 14, 2012

i also live in northern il, and put a alumized on my 7.3, and looks as new as the day i got it, minus the standard fading and rock chips, and they really love the salt around here.

whether or not a alumized exhaust rust out, is related to how much and what kind of salt your area uses, and how far you drive it. meaning, if you dont put heat into the exhaust to get the condensate out, it will rust out in 3-5 years, as boomer found out.

that alumized i have is 15 years old, been a daily driver for 15 years, and my plow truck for 10. i dont have a place inside to wash it in the winter, so it has to wait for the "nicer days" to get washed. so if it was goin to rust, its a fair assumption it would have by now.

my daily commute to work with it is about 13 miles, country, and i wait till the temp guage has started to move before i go anywhere with it.

take that for what its worth.

and using a gas truck to compare with a diesel, is no comparison. they dont have the exhaust heat/volume to heat up the pipe like we do.