Texas Speed and Performance complaints

[GTG91]

Guys, Im not one to complain, instead I work to find a solution and I find a way to make it work.

First off Im not an amateur, I actually own and operate a garage and towing company. Ive worked on cars my whole life and my father and I build and race dirt cars, I can weld, fabricate, build frames and roll cages, rebuild engines, all that good stuff.

I contacted TSP and after some suggestions from them and complaints from my end they stopped talking to me.

I just paid almost $900 (shipped) for a set of Texas Speed long tube headers, cat delete, x pipe, and the long extensions that go back to roughly the rear end... first I called TSP and told them my problem, which is the x pipe was nowhere close to fitting my headers so I called Gary at TSP, he suggested that I loosen my headers from my heads but not to take them off and the x pipe should fit, it did not. to make everything fit I would have to pry apart the x pipe then depend on everything springing once I tighten my headers, which brings me to problem number 2, if everything is sprung when I tighten everything, over time something is bound to crack and cause a massive leak.
that stuff aside my solution to the x pipe problem was to tighten my headers back up and measure outside to outside on the downstream end of the headers (24 3/4") then I measured the upstream end of my x pipe (24") 3/4" too narrow to fit, since I cant weld stainless I took it to a local welding shop, he actually cut the weld pried the pipes apart and rewelded the pipes back together, crisis adverted, the x pipe fits like a glove to the headers.

3rd problem now is that when I put on the extension tubes that go from the downstream side of the x pipe to the upstream side of the last little bit of factory exhaust, just before my mufflers, their basically a full tube width off.
so it looks like Ill be taking my extension tubes to an exhaust shop to have a tweak put in them to turn them out a little more so they actually fit the last section of my stock exhaust.
another problem I ran into is with the exhaust clamps they give you, the bolts are 1/2" too short and will strip if you snug them too much, if your dead set on this setup I highly recommend replacing the bolts before you even get started.

I cant tell you how unhappy I am with Texas Speed and Performance, the quality of the metal appears to be decent quality and the headers do fit well thats the only nice thing I have to say about my entire experience so far.

I have put at least 20 hours into this exhaust system and its only half done, I have heard a ton of good things about TSP but for my 2015 2SS their not the company for me, they got me once, it wont happen again

if there is any TSP reps on here please refer them to this post

[WVracer]

I had great experiences with them. In fact, they have the best customer service I have ever seen.

[SSEssence]

I would have at least attempted to PM a rep in private instead of posting publicly..

[flyinglow57]

Originally Posted by SSEssence

I would have at least attempted to PM a rep in private instead of posting publicly..

He did, He called them and they gave him a BS answer of have everything under tension.
I'm betting they sent you the wrong center section like one from a g8 or ss sedan. Or something happened and they f'd up on that one production

My headers > tailpipe fit perfect back in 2011 for my 2010 ss. 2 hours start to finish...( already had it jacked up for cam install)

[GTG91]

I emailed a rep last week, I told him my problem and told him the x pipe needed to be cut and spread to fit correctly, he emailed back and said I should loosen the headers from the heads and make the x pipe fit then bolt the headers tight again and I explained to him that that would cause tension and with the stress on the metal and the vibration that would eventually lead to cracking a tube somewhere

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[GTG91]

Thank you flyinglow57, I called an emailed multiple times, the best answer I got was, well it's a tight fit but it's possible

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[Punisher_ATX]

MINE WERE A SNUG FIT BUT ON LIKE A GLOVE. NOW YOU DO KNOW THE EXTENSION PIPES GO ON BETWEEN THE HEADERS AND X PIPE CORRECT THEY ARE ROUGLY 10-12" LONG. THOSE ALLOW A SLIGHT BIT OF PLAY AND MAKE FOR A SMOOTH INSTALL. IF YOUR HEADERS ARE ATTACHED DIRECTLY TO THE XPIPE IM SORRY TO SAY BUT YOU DID YOUR INSTALL WRONG. WHICH MAY BE WHY YOUR EXTENSION PIPE DIAMETER IS OFF....

[GTG91]

No the short little tubes that look like cats are between the x pipe and headers, the "entension" tubes I was referring to was the long ones that look like a lazy S that go from the back of the x pipe to the front side of what's left of my factory NPP exhaust

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[Punisher_ATX]

Ahh that part is common. They designed the kit for aftermarket axlebacks. bolts up to theirs or the magnaflow easily but stock is a smaller diameter. Did you tighten the cat looking pieces before you tried to fit the xpipe?

[GTG91]

I've tried 4 or 5 combinations of different things, finally cut my x pipe apart and reweld it, I'm guessing they sent me the wrong kit for the wrong car, or their tubing bender needs calibrated... either way there's guys that claim they've done this in 2 hours in their driveway with no lift... I'm not impressed because my car has been hanging on the lift for a week

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[Sales@Texas-Speed]

Hi Garett

Sorry to hear you were still having problems installing the x-pipe. I just want to touch on a few things that may make it easier for you in the future and for some of the other members

1. It is quite common place when installing exhaust to keep the headers and the rest of the exhaust loose until it is all in place then tighten it up. The X-pipe will not crack or become brittle. Like you said we use high end stainless steel that is seamless on all our exhaust products. We give this advice because we know it works and it won't crack the tubing.

2. If you do have an issue with the exhaust, we try to help all our customers by explaining how they can go about installing to make sure good fitment. In the rare event they still can't seem to make it work there is always a chance the piping is off some. In every one of the those cases, we will replace the items. Not one time have we ever told a customer we can't replace the part with an issue. The only time that happens is when they have put the exhaust on and drove for a few hundred miles, or have modified (cut and welded) on them.

3. Never once in the 4 years I have been with Texas Speed have we ever ignored, or avoided talking to a customer. Not for any reason. I will be the first to admit I don't always agree with all the customers, but we never hide from or ignore them. We are not perfect by any means, but we ALWAYS take care of our customers.

4. There is a possibility that the fact that you modified the X-pipe has a lot to do with the issue of the extension pipes to the muffler not fitting. If you change the angle slightly it will be a greater difference the longer it is.

As you have heard from a lot of forum members, they 2010 plus camaro headers fits very well. We rarely have complaints, but when we do we can usually help the customer through the install.

If you would like to email me direct with the pictures of the issues your having I would be more than happy to help. If you feel that your xpipe position hasn't changed with your modifications i have no problems sending you out a couple extra extensions to try.

Dominic
Texas Speed and Performance

dominic@texas-speed.com

[GTG91]

Thank you dominic, it's far too late to help me I'm afraid, I appreciate the help, I started this project last tuesday, Thursday I emailed TSP, spoke to Gary, he was very helpful when it came to measuring the pipes for me and getting me some info and I appreciated that, after I emailed him some photos and everything that I tried that did not work I showed a little displeasure with some of the things I was not happy with about the system, mainly the price vs fitment quality, I also complemented the company saying they appear to be made of high quality metal and whatever tubing bender TSP uses must be pretty high quality itself because of the way it bends the 3 inch tubes without kinking.

I bought this car 2 months ago and have been trying my best to use only the best quality materials in my build, I chose TSP because of all of the good reviews I've gotten on this forum.

The car has been hanging on my lift for a week and I have well over 20 hours in a job that a lot of people claim takes 2-3 hours

I really appreciate your help and concern, I'm truly not trying to give TSP a negative review or a bad name, I'm just disappointed that I got the one in a thousand that was an issue.

As for prying everything together and bolting it tight I have to respectfully disagree, if metal, especially tubing, is under stress and exposed to vibration for a period of time it will crack, it's physics... when one of our guys crashes a race car, the first thing to do when you get home is to take a saw and cut the frame at certain places (assuming there's frame damage) the reason we cut the tubing is to relieve stress and to let the metal go back to its natural state so it doesn't develop a memory or a crack somewhere other than where the frame is already damaged, sure chromoly is different than stainless but the principle still stands, metal under stress for a long period of time and exposed to vibration WILL develop stress cracks beside the welds over time.

Thank you for the help, I apologize for the bad review, but everything I said is 100% truth

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[MrChrisLS3]

Seems that there is a difference in perception here. There is a fine line between tension and binding. In a multi-part system like an exhaust, a little tension is good, hence loose mock up then tighten everything down. This tension actually prevents leaks and protects against vibration from knocking everything loose. I think this is what the guys at TSP are talking about.

The other side of that, what you are talking about, is binding. If you have to excessively "force" everything together causing the pipes to have "reshape" then that is going to create issues down the road.

I, of course, have no idea which is the case here, but just wanted to share what I view the miscommunication of terms is.

I've read nothing but good reviews on TSP headers, and should I go long tubes one day, they're very near top of the list of quality vs price vs service = value.

[GTG91]

I agree, the tension part is true, a snug fit is always good but this was a little more than that... I'm not here to bitch and complain I just think I got the wrong x pipe and /or it was made slightly incorrectly... considering it was a minimum of 3/4" too narrow, but problem solved, after 2 weeks my car is going to the exhaust shop this week to get everything fixed.... if it sounds as good as the headers fit I'll be in good shape

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