Mandrel bends worth it?

[prevarications]

Hi, I just acquired a Flowmaster Super40 muffler, and was planning to have the local Meineke fab the 2.5" pipes, from the cat back. They dont have the equipment to do mandrel bends though.

Is this a big deal to skip the mandrel bends? My 98 with the Y87 pkg is stock, but I'll be adding a lid, and the FTRA intake this summer. Down the line, I'll look towards a high flow cat and pacesetter headers.

What are your thoughts? Should I keep shopping around, or buy a catback system outright?


Thanks,
Rick

[Blizzard242]

Re: Mandrel bends worth it?

If you expect to have 2.5 all the way back you're gonna need mandrel bends. "Generic" bends pretty much pinch off a lot of the inner circumfrence. Take a straight plastic straw for example, if you bend it you can't suck as much through right? Then imagine a bendy straw with the ripples in it, that'd be more like mandrel bends cause you can bend it and still get the same amount through.

Basically if you're going for a performance application then yeah, find someone who has the right equipment to properly bend the pipes.