I am wanting to delete the resonator on my 2012 cab. I have only found one place that can weld stainless, so far, and they want $440 to weld in two stainless pipes. I think this is a bit excessive. I'm going to keep looking, but is there any way I can do this myself? Obviously, I don't weld, but how tight could I get lap clamps? Any other DIY options?

 

They really should be welded, and $440 is high. Should be $200 at the most.

 

That's what I expected. I have another lead, but was trying to figure out all options.

 

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$440 is too much, just had my 2016 cls550 done for $150. Should be less than an hour job. Cut off the resonator and weld two straight pipes. Any muffler shops can do this.

 

Almost every shop I contacted could not weld stainless.

 

What's the big advantage to stainless over whatever pipe they have at muffler shops. I'm guessing some aluminized steel.

 

Well it doesn't rust and the OEM exhaust is stainless.

 

The straight pipes were aluminum, I can check with my muffler shop tomorrow.

 

I ran into this, too.. which is odd, considering that they work on cars with factory stainless exhaust.

 

Not to take away from the post but was not sure if he's straight piping or x piping. If you x pipe is it better to place the xpipe closer to the rear mufflers or closer to the front of the car?

 

Should be no more than $200 on the high side. I had both front and rear delete for &160 BTW luv the results
amazing

 

I'm just wanting straight pipes welded in.

 

Closer to the engine is best for an X-pipe.

 

You can weld it with the normal generic wire and gas, it's just not ideal or rust resistant. The wrong wire and gas won't give the "perfect" weld, but wth, it's just an exhaust pipe and it'll still be stronger that needed. Any issue would be rust and/or cracking at the weld which is a risk no matter what. Even the oem weld on my resonator is cracked half way around. Now that I think about it, all exhaust problems I've ever had (excluding gaskets) were cracked welds, oem or not...

If your new pipes are not stainless then none of the welding issues matter, just weld using using regular wire/gas. I personally would not weld it because I'd want the option to put the oem muffler/resonator back on, or maybe add a cross over pipe. If you cut the pipes cleanly with a hacksaw blade you'll be able to butt clamp it back together. Plus, you simply make your new tubes that same length and butt clamp them in, no muffler shop needed. To cut the oem pipe I'd use an Air Body Saw from Harbor Freight for $20, then you put a good Lenox hacksaw blade on it. What I do is cut the blade in half so it's a good length to cut ex pipe. I also lube the blade as I go or the teeth will overheat and dull, WD40 is fine and greatly extends blade life regardless of the job. You'll still likely need a few blades to make all four cuts. Another option is a Sawzall, but harder to get in there if it's simply on jack stands. You should make the cuts as straight as possible so the butt joint is better.
The issues with butt joints is the seal and clamps strength. So to seal you'd need to get them with 360 degree contact, which I know they make because I've seen them. I've also seen people wrap the joint with thin stainless sheet to get a seal. As for strength, the clamps are not nearly as strong as the pipe so they're the weak link and could break if the ex system moves around, but it shouldn't move much so I don't really see an issue as long as the clamps are not cheezy. It's not like you're offroading it, and there shouldn't much vibration so a good strong butt clamp should be fine.
Of course you can have the new pipes flared to fit over your existing pipes, then use lap clamps, which would be stronger. The issue there is you have to have the muff shop flare them and hope they do a good job, and you'd have to buy butt clamps if you wanted to put the oem muff back on. When I've had this done they either flare too little or too much, usually too much. Maybe the machines are better now, but when i did that sorta stuff there was no setting, they simply pressed a foot pedal to actuate the spreader so they'd typically over do it so they were sure it fit, but they planned on welding it. When I had them do it for a similar clamp job it was maybe 1/16" too big and the pipes were not perfectly round so it just a huge leak point. I had to cut a slit in the flare so i could heat and pound the thing down to a better size but it always leaked.

If you wanted to get creative you could open the resonator up and either mod it to be less restrictive or rip everything out and put your straight pipes inside there. Mine is flatish on the bottom, and as mentioned already cracked so it needs welding anyway. I'd just cut the whole flat bottom out, do my thing inside, weld it back together. For what that shop wants to charge you could buy a frikkin welder, but you probably know someone who has one.

Good luck!