I was walking past my truck the other day and noticed the tailpipe was pointed almost all the way to the ground. Clearly something was wrong.
I stopped what I was doing and followed the tailpipe. Low and behold the tailpipe had rusted right off the muffler. No bueno.

Investigating further I noticed the rear tailpipe exhaust bracket had disintegrated. The tailpipe hanger was bouncing around in there. My guess is with the hanger bouncing around it caused stress where the tailpipe and muffler come together. And over time it weakened.

The repair looked like it was in my skill level so I went searching for parts. This is what I bought.
2.5 Inch Stainless Steel Strap Clamp – $10
Ford 4L3Z-5260-AB Exhaust Bracket – $41
It took me about an hour to do the repair.


I found it easier to take the tailpipe off to get the old bracket off and new one on. There was a lot of rust and I’m guessing the bracket was original to the truck.
I used a hammer to get the old exhaust clamp off the muffler. It slid off. Much easier than trying to use a socket wrench. I also used the hammer on the old bracket. Gave it a couple of taps after spraying some WD-40 and I feel it helped loosen it up.

It was a little tricky connecting the clamp and the muffler. An extra set of hands would have been nice. Had to get a cardboard box to rest the tailpipe on to keep it level while I tightened the clamp.

It looks like everything worked. Here is a video I made of the repair.
While I was under the truck I noticed the entire exhaust system was very rusty. My guess is the muffler and pipes are six years old. It wouldn’t surprise me if holes started showing up in the next five months forcing me to replace the entire exhaust system. I would need the bracket anyways so I could use these parts when that happens.