A van build is expensive. It’s always more expensive than you think. After spending four months and thousands of dollars on our conversion, we didn’t want to do any more work on the van! We could do without it, whatever “it” was.
Then, deep into Mexico, heading into the hot and humid coast, we decided on more upgrade: to extend the vehicle exhaust.
What is Vehicle Exhaust & Why Avoid It
Vehicles operating on gas and diesel emit lots of yucky gases into the air. This is why vehicle emissions standards exist – to protect our air quality.
One of these yucky gases is carbon monoxide, a nearly undetectable, colorless, odorless gas that can poison you to death. Yeesh.
Carbon monoxide is a molecule that forms from the incomplete combustion of fuel (gasoline or diesel) with oxygen. In a perfect world, auto exhaust would only spit out carbon dioxide (CO²). CO² is not dangerous; in fact, it’s all around us, in our atmosphere.
Carbon monoxide, however, is very toxic and potentially life-threatening. This is especially true if you’re exposed to it in an enclosed space for a long time. For example, if you fall asleep with the car running in the garage, as shown in the 1999 movie The Virgin Suicides.
We decided an upgrade to our exhaust system is worth the cost and effort of potential carbon monoxide poisoning!
What Vehicles Need an Exhaust Pipe Extension?
Not every vehicle needs an exhaust pipe extension. It depends on what vehicle it is and where the exhaust currently extends.
If you look at the rear of most vehicles, you can see the exhaust pipe sticking out. The exhaust pipe usually runs across the length of the vehicle, from the engine at the front of the vehicle all the way to the rear.
Ford Transit Van Conversions
This isn’t the case for some Ford Transit vans. In the Ford Transit long-wheelbase extended length (an extra 28” of cargo length) models, the exhaust extends to only about ¾ the length of the van.
Usually, this isn’t a big deal since the engine is usually only turned on for driving.
But it is a problem for most van conversions. Why?
- Most van conversions place the bed at the rear of the van.
- You may need to idle your engine a bit to charge up your battery bank.
Without an extension of the exhaust pipe, you’ll be setting yourself up to be bathed in automobile exhaust and the accompanying carbon monoxide. You don’t need me to tell you that’s not great!
The Solution: Extending the Exhaust Pipe on a Ford Transit Van Conversion
Fortunately, the solution is pretty darn simple: extend the exhaust pipe.
You can extend the exhaust pipe straight out the back, but we chose to route it behind the passenger side rear wheel so the pipe sends gas out perpendicularly to the van. This gives us the flexibility to leave our rear doors open if we want to (without the fumes coming up to our bed).
What Does it Cost to Extended the Exhaust on a Ford Transit?
Any muffler shop should be able to punch this out in a couple of hours.
In the U.S., assuming a labor rate of $100/hour and maybe $50 in parts, you should be able to get away with ~$250 for a similar job.
We had the good fortune of deciding to do this in Mexico, where we had our exhaust modified at Mofles Don Gato. This muffler shop is right outside of Oaxaca City. We received excellent, fast service, and were charged only $1,300 MXN (less than $70 USD).
Now that’s geo-arbitrage! Waiting until Mexico to get this upgrade worked in our favor – we saved hundreds!
The gentlemen cut the factory exhaust just before the final exhaust hanger. He removed the oversized factory exhaust tip and the exhaust hanger with it.
We’re very happy with the final product!
Get a Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector for Your Van Conversion
However, even if you don’t expect to idle your van, consider adding an inexpensive smoke and carbon monoxide combination detector. It’s just a few dollars that can save your life. Here’s a link to the smoke and carbon monoxide detector that we have in our van. It is mounted right above our bed.
