I was welding my first exhaust together and was having a hard time getting the pipes to match up perfect so a pipe expander would be a big help. My question is, do the hand tool pipe expanders actually work? Up to what gauge are they effective? I finished my exhaust but need to do the over the rear beam section. Any help or tips is appreciated. Thanks.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=37354

 

I have used them effectively in the past. Your best bet it get everyting cut and just go to your local exhaust shop. Tell them to just expand them so they fit in each other and throw the guy 5 or 10 bucks.

 

$20 isn't a bad Investment... go pick 1 out and try it... ---- i might stop at Harbor Freight Tommorow just to pick 1 up too...

 

I have a friend with a shop that takes care of mine with a hydraulic unit but I have used the manual expanders with good results also.
I'm thinking of picking one up also since harbor freight has them for so cheap.

 

Never been able to get those peices of crap to work, expands like a fraction of an inch and that's it!

 

I've broken one out of two. Another friends has broken one also. Typical of harbor freight.
They do work & are useful to have. The trick is heating the pipe before using it, which nearly noone does - hence, most people have problems.

 

Sounds good, I plan to use a propane torch to heat it up so hopefully it works. Ill pick one up tomarrow and see how it goes.

 

would this work in takin out dents in a header?

 

Only if it's thin-wall.

 

yo jeeve, you're going to have to let me use it if it works

sears hardware has a pipe expander too if i remember correctly but it is probably much more expensive

edit: actually same price
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00947606000