Stainless exhaust - T5-based Trooper/Trident

Does anyone have any recommendations for a supplier of a new stainless system for a T5-based conversion (e.g. Trooper, Trident and perhaps the later Topaz)?

It sounds easy enough and there are quite a few companies that make aftermarket systems, but the problem is that they often don't route the exhaust in the same path that the original exhaust takes - so if you have water tanks, it won't fit. We found this out the hard way, buying a system from PPT - which didn't fit!

Ours is starting to get a bit critical now, as the outer skin has fallen off in a few places, and the inner one is starting to go...

Have you googled 'bespoke stainless exhaust' ? Surely they will do whatever you ask them.

Surely that's right! But they generally want you to take the van to them, for them to take the exhaust off to copy, and they then put the new one on. Which, unless they happen to be nearby, makes it not such a simple option.

Logistically it's easier if you can find someone who already has a pattern for a standard 2.5l TDi exhaust (the one on the Trooper is just the standard one from the factory), because then they can make one for you wherever they happen to be in the country, post it to you, and then (critically) you can measure it to be sure it fits before taking it to a local exhaust place for them to fit for £50.

Are you saying that AS have them made to fit their conversions? If so could they not tell you where they get them from? Probably not stainless though.

...simpler just to replace with another standard system ?
Ours ('07) is still the original - if it goes now, another normal one will probably outlast me.......

Exhausts don't rot like they used to. I don't think I've had an exhaust replaced in 20 years, not that I've ever kept any vehicle longer than three years (apart from motorhomes).

Paulmold wrote:Are you saying that AS have them made to fit their conversions? If so could they not tell you where they get them from? Probably not stainless though.

No - I don't need a bespoke exhaust. The Trooper and Trident (and probably the Topaz) have a bog-standard mild steel exhaust, fitted by VW at the factory.

I want to replace ours because it is nearly 14 years old and it ~is~ rotting away.

The reason I don't want to buy a standard VW exhaust to replace it with is because VW charge around £800 for a mild steel system, while a Stainless aftermarket system is less than £400, typically.

But the usual aftermarket system is made by cutting corners (literally) which means that generally they won't fit a van with tanks, because they sit where the corners have been cut.

Hence I'm hoping that someone has already identified a supplier of aftermarket stainless systems that will fit a van with tanks (i.e. a system that takes exactly the same route as the factory system).

Hope that clarifies things!

Just to complete this one: we ran out of time to find a standard off-the-shelf replacement exhaust, because the MOT was due.

We ended up going to a custom exhaust place (A2Tyres in Sittingbourne), and they made up a full stainless, single-box system for £500 - which is no louder than the original factory 2-box system. Not cheap, but still a fair bit cheaper than a VW mild steel replacement, and it should last the remaining life of the van.

Hi,I remember a co.Down your way who did s/steel made to measure exhausts by the name of Vortex  but I have no further details.