Bassani Installation Notes, Pics, & First Impressions

[BMWBig6]

I know I asked a lot of questions before I bought my Bassani. But now that I've taken the plunge, I figure I'd return the favor and share some of my experience with you all. Please be patient as there are lots of images that need to load...

First, if your truck has any miles at all on it, budget a good half hour the get the dang stock muffler off. Mine was already replaced once by the dealer only 1000 miles ago and it was practically welded on by the time it was time to come off. Had to coax the thing off with a little heat and an enthusiastic mallet. Was considering saving the stock exhaust in case I wanted to return it to OEM later, but a couple swings with the mallet put those plans to pasture:

Here's the "old" stocker. Not a bad unit.. just a little too pedestrian for something as bold as a Lightning:

Another view:

Now let's see what Santa brought:

Inside the box you will see 3 boxes: one for each muffler, and another for the X-pipe. The fasteners come in little baggies, and you get a little disclaimer sheet with warranty info and 2 pages of instructions (text and photos). The clamps are kind of floating around in the box so don't lose those. You also get 2 cool stickers. NOTE: Bassani has changed the sticker design to this new style - the old style were silver letter cutouts that looked a little better on the window glass.

I recommend you leave the bubblewrap on the exhaust tips to keep them scratch-free while you are aligning the exhaust later.

Here's a close-up of the x-pipe.

 

[BMWBig6]

OK, now on to the installation. Sorry I don't have any in-between shots (I was busy dammit) but here are some notes I remember while putting the new sucker in:

1) Feel free to toss the old rubber hangar donuts as you won't be using the factory hangars anyway.

2) When installing the new hangars, PAY ATTENTION to the photo instructions - it's very easy to put something in backwards. No I'm not an idiot but at 3 AM anything is possible.

3) Do not lose any nuts. (goes without saying)

4) If your L is lowered, you may need to find a different way to mount one of the hangars... see other board members for info on this.

5) The 2.5" spacers supplied in the box are too LONG! Or the bolts that go inside them are too short. Either way you'll need to cut down the spacers or discard them althogether for something else (like stacked washers) to get enough threads above the frame rail when installing the biggest hangar. This will seem vague to those who never installed one of these, but if you've done a couple you know that Bassani gave us the wrong size parts and a little customization is necessary.

6) Do NOT tighten anything until the whole exhaust is in place. That way you'll be able to align everything properly.

7) If your lift arm was in the way like mine was, by all means lower your L, move the arm, and lift it again. You may not be able to line up the mufflers properly otherwise.

8) Bassani has changed the clamp design yet again. They used to furnish U-bolts but not anymore. Use whatever you want, but tack-welding is probably recommended for the highly modded L's.

The finished results:

Take the bubblewrap off the tips BERY KERVULLY!

BTW, the new Bassani exhaust tips have the logo stamped or engraved on each tip, while the older ones do not (nyuk nyuk nyuk):

Hopefully when you're done everything is lined up properly and you only have a couple washers left over.

WARNING: Exhaust will STINK like Dana Stubblefield's cleats whenever you drive it for the first few days.

NOTES: I noticed my Bassani was almost SILENT at idle - it barely even hissed. But my friend's Bassani has got a couple thousand miles on it and he has a nice rumble at idle. I'm not sure if Bassani changed the design or sound characteristics of the exhaust since he got his, but I imagine that the whole thing gets a little louder (meaner) with age as its broken in.

 

[BMWBig6]

So how do I like it? I LOVE IT!

The SOUND: I was suprised as how quiet it was at idle (although I do expect it to get louder). At around 2000 RPM the crecendo will fill the cabin, and the blower wine is being overwhelmed. Briefly visiting 3000 RPM, you're roaring down the road and it never stops after that. Let off the gas and the exhaust note changes and bubbles a bit . It drones a LITTLE bit when going up hills at partial throttle at cruising speeds, but coasting is absolutely silent (for now). It only comes to life when you put the pedal down. The exhaust doesn't seem quite as deep as before, but it's definitely LOUDER and has a nice aggressive note. It's not harsh at all, which I like. I am very pleased with the sound, but unfortunately the factory stereo is having a hard time keeping up.

How does it FEEL?

Well, I don't notice any loss in power, and the L still takes off with the same grunt as it used to. But it does seem to stay alive a wee bit longer in the higher RPMs. This could all be psychological of course, and I haven't calibrated my butt dyno to SAE specs in weeks, so take this with a grain of salt. I have to say it does seem just SLIGHTLY stronger, like it's holding the power band a little longer and higher than before.

Was it WORTH it?

IMO, yes. The craftsmanship is super, and almost everything fit perfectly. Took an hour to install and the only hold-up involved adapting the spacers. The tips look great and really fill in the side skirt opening well. And the sound.... WELL TIME TO GO FOR A RIDE!

Ok, enough bandwidth for now...

 

[Lightning Tim]

Cool pics and good post. I bet you would have been done 1 hour earlier if you didn't take pics! I have the Bassani high flow cat crossover pipes and it makes your exhaust much louder everywhere. (idle, WOT) I installed my exhausts myself and it wasn't fun. Like you said pipes tend to stick together after a while.

 

[sstock]

Real nice write up on the install.
As the mufflers break in the will become a little louder though.
later
Steve

 

[Clutchfan01]

bassani

Thanks for the post! Very helpful! I'm getting the FULL Bassani setup tomorrow, headers to the tips, the whole deal. I can't wait to hear how it sounds. I'm actually getting the single blade TB, flip chip, and the 2 inch lowering rear shackles also. Should be quite a mean truck when it's done, lol.

 

[BMWBig6]

Thanks for the compliments on the post. Yeah I probably would have been done sooner if wasn't wielding the camera at the same time!

Clutchfan01, please keep us posted on your mods as I'm sure we'd all like to know how you like your full Bassani setup as well.

 

[soap]

Great post

How ironic.........I just pulled my stock exhaust off because my Bassani is arriving this week, and then you post this......nice timing
I had no problems at all pulling my stock exhaust off either, slid right off form start to finish in 30 minutes. I guess when the truck only has 1100 mi that is to advantage huh
Anyway, BMWBig6 did you start your truck up with the stock exhaust off and nothing else on. OH MY GOD does the truck sound awesome. Very low rumble at idle and loud (not raspy) when you goose it. I considered straight pipes all night but it might be too loud for the po-po.

--Joe

 

[BMWBig6]

YES I *did* start her up without any mufflers on! I blipped the throttle a few times and couldn't believe how loud it got. It sounded sweet, but a little unrefined at WOT. The would love to have that rumble at idle though.

 

[DJANIMATE]

Ben,

It's been a while since such I've seen such a nice install post for anything, very well done.

 

[Jayman]

Re: bassani

Thanks for the post! Very helpful! I'm getting the FULL Bassani setup tomorrow, headers to the tips, the whole deal. I can't wait to hear how it sounds. I'm actually getting the single blade TB, flip chip, and the 2 inch lowering rear shackles also. Should be quite a mean truck when it's done, lol.

Clutchfan, you installing all of that at the same time? You're going to be busy this upcoming weekend... If you need any tips on the headers, let me know, I have been there/done that.

 

[Clutchfan01]

Well, no go on the Bassani setup. I actually didn't intend to install it myself, rather I was going to head up to Jackson, Michigan to Paul's High Performance and have them do the install. My wife asked me what it all was going to cost, she asked if that wasn't a bit high (she's right, of course, the Bassani setup installed is well over 2 grand), and I got to thinking, geez, everything together is over 3 grand! I decided to defer to my wife's better judgement on this one. I did, though, order the single blade TB and the shackles from LFP, (considerably less expensive that way), and the truck right now is in the process of having a complete new audio system installed. Eclipse head unit, JL Audio 5x7's, an amp (it's yellow, don't remember the name), and 2 MTX 10 in. subs in custom fitted enclosures. The stock radio was ****ty anyway.

 

[BMWBig6]

Clutchfan, sorry to hear about the Bassani... too bad you already started the stereo installation. You could have saved money and skipped the stereo and just gotten the Bassani after all. Sweet music to my ears!

Sorry, this probably doesn't make you feel any better. But at least you have an extra $3K in your pocket to spend on other things.

 

[MJM]

Great Pictures. Is it much louder at highway speeds in the cabin?

 

[BMWBig6]

Well I never noticed hearing the stock one on the highway before, so with that as a baseline, you can say the Bassani definitely lets you know it's there when cruising at highway speeds. It is by no means loud until you dip into the throttle. Like I tried to describe earlier, it is very quiet while coasting around at 70 MPH and doesn't really drone (this was a major criteria for my purchase - other exhaust can be noisy all the time. The noise obviously increases as you climb up hills or pass someone without downshifting, but stays reasonable until you really get on it. I can use the crappy stock stereo with only 3.5 or 4 bars on the volume and enjoy my music. WOT it's a whole different story!

 

[CrazyFoo]

Ben,
how come there are holes on the bottom of the exhaust tips???

 

[Clutchfan01]

BMWbig6,

Actually, the cost of my stereo installation, even factoring in the cost of the stuff I ordered through LFP with it, is STILL less than what the Bassani would have cost by itself. I have a Magnaflow muffler on the truck as it is, anyway.

 

[soap]

Drainage

how come there are holes on the bottom of the exhaust tips???

Justin......they are there to drain the condensation. Ever notice how huch water exits your tips before the exhaust can really heat up and burn it off

--Joe

 

[BMWBig6]

Soap is right, they help drain the gallons of water that are produced on startup.

Clutchfan, glad to hear you have a Magnaflow - those sound awesome too and now I don't feel so bad since you're not missing much at all. Now who wants to donate to the "BMWBig6 Aftermarket Stereo Fund?"

 

[Clutchfan01]

Ohh, update on my stereo stuff. What I have are the following: Eclipse model CD3421 CD reciever, JL Audio Evolution 5x7's in the doors, Coustic 400SE amp mounted under the passenger seat, and 2 MTX 10 in. subs in custom fitted ABS plastic enclosures mounted behind the seats. The enclosures are black ABS, same as the tray that was back there. The CD changer and tray had to come out, and the enclosures go in their place. They look as if Ford had put them there, not the ugly carpeted wood enclosures. It sounds really nice, tons better than the factory system.