Need a good exhaust pipe expander

[n8n]

Who can recommend one? I know that I've tried the harbor freight ones before and they feel stressed just taking clamp marks out of thin tubing. I need to fix some serious rural engineering on the original exhaust on my XJ (THICK) and am thinking one of these sets

Lisle 17350 Lisle Exhaust Pipe Stretcher Kits | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Lisle Exhaust Pipe Stretcher Kits with qualifying orders of $125. Shop Tailpipe Shaper, Expander and Stretcher Tools at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

Astro Pneumatic Tool Company 78835 Astro Pneumatic Tool Company Exhaust Pipe Stretcher Kits | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Astro Pneumatic Tool Company Exhaust Pipe Stretcher Kits with qualifying orders of $125. Shop Tailpipe Shaper, Expander and Stretcher Tools at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

Are they the same tool or is the Lisle worth the extra $70? Is there a different tool that would work better?

In my typical fashion, I'm going to take the money that I would have paid the mechanic and lay on my back in the snow to fix it myself. Then, I'll probably never use the tool again for the rest of my life, but I'll have it. I'm assuming you guys understand.

What's actually happened is it appears that someone replaced half the exhaust on this vehicle with one from another vehicle; the front of the cat has a cut off piece of pipe in it and the crossover pipe from the header that should slip into the cat inlet was crimped down and forced in. So, I need to take a Sawzall and carefully cut the pipe from the inside of the cat inlet, then round out the clamp crimp in that pipe, then either cut the crossover pipe shorter and use a coupling or seriously reshape that so it will now fit properly in the cat inlet. I can't believe that this was all just jammed together and it actually looked OK at a glance and also held for the appx. 5 years that I've had the vehicle (until yesterday morning, that is...)

 

[ChevyEFI]

You might start with a light hammer and flatting the crimped areas against a round tool (socket.) If the socket (or HF expander) is in reasonable tension, you should be able to flatten the engineering marks.

If you're trying to create a slip-fit between two-same-sized pipes, I'd go right ahead and buy the tool you're considering.

Also, pre-bent mandrel pieces to replace the old might be a sound option. I haven't priced these in a long time, however.

 

[xlowxyotax88x]

Have no problems with the astro have one at current shop and one at previous shop which had about 6 years of use and no issues, so bought the same for the new shop

 

[tyyost]

I have the Astro and it just plain works. I bought it after having to run all over to get a shop to expand a piece of pipe for me and had another job lined up the next week. It worked flawlessly. The nice thing about this style is you can take the expander to the car and do work in place if you have to.

I saw HF has the same style as well, they did not when I was in the market. I’d still buy the AP again but if you want to lay eyes on the kit before you buy it’s there.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I have the astro, it gets the job done. It's not like a hydraulic machine where you can bump a pipe 1/2 inch and split it if you like. But it will reshape and "bump" pipes up if need be.

 

[JoeR]

I have the astro and it'll reshape an out of round pipe or clamped pipe but I've never been able to stretch a pipe with it

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Bought the AP kit for modding a 4" exhaust for my truck. It works great. Expanded the pipe quick and easy with an impact.

 

[signcrafter]

I have the astro and love it. It will expand the pipe a size or two. I have bought a stick of each size exhaust pipe and will cut and expand an end to go over another pipe.

And if you can find a green lee hydraulic knock out press it threads right into the astro so you can hydraulically expand it instead of using an impact. Makes it a lot nicer to use.

 

[BillK]

If you really and truthfully are only going to use it once then I would go to Advance and use their free loaner tool.

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[FMB4]

I know that I've tried the harbor freight ones before and they feel stressed just taking clamp marks out of thin tubing.

Clamp marks?
Expanding already reduced exh tubing is not easy.

 

[dogdog]

I know that I've tried the harbor freight ones before and they feel stressed just taking clamp marks out of thin tubing.

Clamp marks?
Expanding already reduced exh tubing is not easy.

HF one *****.

 

[vssjim]

I have both and they work the same and Astro and Lisle are both great companies and Chris from Astro is a great representative for Astro on the Garage Journal he fixes problems.

 

[mike93lx]

If you really and truthfully are only going to use it once then I would go to Advance and use their free loaner tool.

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

Loaner tools are for the plebes. Real GJ'rs buy one-time use tools

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Loaner tools are for the plebes. Real GJ'rs buy one-time use tools

LMAO this is the garage journal way.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

BTW, factory pipe will not expand any meaningful amount,it will crack with little provocation. Expand the cheapo replacement pipe.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I can tell you this type won't expand to the next size up reliably, especially SS tubing. These are more for reforming tubing after being clamped.

 

[tyyost]

I can tell you this type won't expand to the next size up reliably, especially SS tubing. These are more for reforming tubing after being clamped.

Absolutely, this style is worthless for most work. The ones shown above actually can expand pipe. I’m surprised the posters who weren’t able to get pipes to slip fit with the AP set, I used mine an impact and even stretched the fit enough to hop up a size in dies.

 

[B_Bimmer]

I have the lisle set and it has impressed me many times, sure beats trying to find something to fit inside and massage the wrinkles out that way. I even used it to take a dent out of a jack tube which was a little thick for it's intended purpose but it was no problem.

 

[n8n]

Thanks guys, it sounds like there's a lot of love for the Astro Pneumatic set so I'll go ahead and order that right away.

I can tell you this type won't expand to the next size up reliably, especially SS tubing. These are more for reforming tubing after being clamped.

this is what I was referring to when I mentioned the Harbor Freight tool, one that looks like that. I'm willing to pay more for something that I'm not going to worry whether it's going to break or not each time I use it. I never got back under the Jeep to take a picture but I need some more serious reforming than just taking out a clamp dent, to the point where I think I may have to cut one pipe shorter and splice in a new section although I'm trying to avoid that. Now you may ask yourself, why am I worried about fixing a 300K mile vehicle "right" I can't answer that, it's just the way I am...

 

[decableguy2000]

Just went down this road myself, and bought the Astro kit. I still haven't used it yet. Have an exhaust project waiting on some warmer weather. I will report back, when my project is done.

 

[n8n]

TL;DR: if you get the Astro Pneumatic set order a 28mm impact socket at the same time and also make sure you have an O-ring assortment on hand.

Gah. So, I ordered the Astro on Monday, it didn't show up until Friday afternoon which was disappointing, I had thought to take Thursday off work for Jeep fixing because it was 65-70 degrees that day. But, that didn't happen.

So, last night I got home, unpacked the box, and one of the expanders had come out of its holder in the case and both O-rings were broken. OK, speed run to Harbor Freight. Buy an O-ring assortment, have dinner at local restaurant in frustration as it's now 7:30 PM, go home, fix tool. This morning I get up, take the battery for my electric impact off the charger, go to find the right socket. Huh. I only have up to 27mm. OK, I take the forcing screw piece and measure it, it's 1.092" or a hair under 28mm (1.10236") or 1-1/8" (1.125" obviously). Pretty sure I don't have either (OK, I probably have a 3/4" drive 1-1/8" socket, but I guarantee it's 12 point) go to storage locker, look in big stuff box (I do have some axle nut sockets in there) sure enough smallest one I have is 30mm and my SAE impact set tops out at 1". OK, start driving... Harbor Freight, Advance, Lowe's, AutoZone, NAPA, Home Depot all either didn't have specifically a 28mm or didn't have sockets that big. Seems like most sets either topped out at 27mm or jumped from 27 to 30mm much like my ragtag collection of tools that I've acquired over the years (anything larger than 27mm in my toolbox was either found in a pawnshop/thrift store and opportunistically bought, or was bought for a specific job where I needed it) Oddly, I did see a 29mm socket at Advance, but I didn't buy it because I didn't want to ruin my new tool with something sloppy. I found a 28mm Craftsman chrome 12 point at Lowe's but I wasn't feeling froggy enough to try that. It did feel like it fit properly however.

So, I'm responding not to ***** and whine, but in case someone comes across this thread in the future, if you purchase the Astro tool and don't have a hydraulic Greenlee punch press, might as well order you a 28mm impact socket at the same time, otherwise you'll end up wasting two hours driving around like I just did, and end up ordering online and deferring the work to another day anyway.

So, right about now, I'm asking myself why I didn't just take this thing to the shop... this is actually turning out to be more expensive than I anticipated as I am now ordering two more sockets on top of the tool and the O-rings I already bought, and it's been now 7 full days since the exhaust fell apart... (I'm going to go ahead and order the 29mm as well because OCD; if it exists, there must be a use for it, and clearly I'm having the type of luck where I'll need it.)

Edit: the more I look the more I think the Lisle set is the same set. From the Amazon description: "Instructions: Turn 1-1/8" bolt with a 1/2" or 3/4" impact wrench. If necessary, choose appropriate aluminum adapter to use with the standard expander tool." Well, 1-1/8" would be the closest size to 28mm in SAE (I ordered 28mm because it's a tighter fit and I had neither.)

 

[dogdog]

I am interested in how that perform. on stainless ? or is that regular killed steel you are expanding.

 

[dffay]

If you are in production, buy the best. If not, there’s no dishonor in getting a step down (not too many steps down) model for that once in a great while project.

 

[n8n]

I'm glad I got it. Was pushing the limits of my Fuel cordless impact. Yes, I did grease everything up well before I started. Denouement here:

Electric die grinder?

One more tool recommendation request for the hive mind. I need to get a stub of exhaust pipe out of the cat inlet on my Jeep, I was originally thinking of trying to do it with a Sawzall and then realized that it might be worth it to just get a die grinder for better control/less risk of...

www.garagejournal.com

Ugly, but I was able to round out the cat inlet again to insert a proper sized piece of pipe, even though it was seriously clamp crimped.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

Why bother replace the whole system except for the cat. Cut the old ones out and buy new ones repeat after 5 to 7 years.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

I've had the HF ones for years, only use them occasionally. They work a lot better if you lubricate the threads and sliding surfaces.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Many (many, MANY) years ago, I worked in a muffler shop. We were never able to SUCCESSFULLY expand a pipe without splitting to fit over the same size pipe. Use an adapter/connecter and clamps. It may not look pretty, but it works !

 

[n8n]

Why bother replace the whole system except for the cat. Cut the old ones out and buy new ones repeat after 5 to 7 years.

I needed the expander to save the cat. and I doubt this thing will be on the road in 7 years. Definitely not worth paying whatever it would cost to get the piece that broke... (googles) I can't even find it; the one listed is a Walker 53440 which lists for over $180... and the pictures show the wrong part, there's no flange at the cat, it's a slip fitting. My "fix" has held for over almost six months now, I just used a male to female coupler to go over the busted end of the pipe and into the front of the cat. I used two clamps although it would have been a better repair if I'd been able to weld it.