Justin: The MBRP Black System that we're talking about here today will be for the '11 to '14
3.5 EcoBoost owners out there who are looking for a unique appearance thanks to the combination
of black powder coating on top of the very cool mid cab exit design or configuration.
Now on top of that, prospective buyers can look forward to a noticeable increase in sound
as you guys heard with our sound clips, all for right around that high $500 price point.
Install may require some cutting depending on your wheelbase or bed length, so figure
a two out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter here and a couple of hours or so to
complete from start to finish.
But as always, guys, if you hang with me for a little bit, we'll show you how it's done
later in the video.
But, let's just jump right into things here, gang.
And as you heard at the top of this video, the sound coming from the Black Series, it's
pretty solid overall.
In fact, I really enjoyed the tone coming from the MBRP for the 3.5 EcoBoost which let's
face it is not always the easiest engine to make sound good.
Certainly not the loudest or craziest system out there but nice tone overall and one that
will get noticed without driving you crazy.
So let's go middle of the road, three out of five, on my patented one to five or one
to wake the neighbor scale.
Now you are gonna hear this thing and the interior guys, little bit of drone, nothing
outrageous but if you notice some of our customer reviews is kind of a reoccurring theme in
that regard.
Not whisper quiet, but again, something to be aware of before purchasing.
But with the sound covered, let's briefly talk about why the Black Series is a unique
system from MBRP.
And on the surface it's black, right?
Pretty obvious stuff.
However, there is a little bit more to it than that.
Now this system actually starts out life as the Installer Series which is MBRPs kind of
bare-bones or entry-level system thanks to the very affordable aluminized steel design.
However, at that point, the tips here and kinda tailpipes have been given that heat-resistant
black powder coat can not only kick up the appearance a little bit but actually act as
a barrier against the elements for that aluminized steel which historically isn't the best material
at reducing corrosion.
However, coating it with something like this certainly helps prevent that corrosion in
the long run.
But aside from that black finish, the second big draw I feel here with the MBRP is gonna
be that tip configuration.
Again, this is a middle side exit or middle cab exit as they call it, meaning it will
dump in front of those rear tires which is pretty unique.
Now this does add a little bit more to that interior noise we just mentioned but if you
don't mind hearing this thing a little bit, you don't mind turning up the radio, you're
certainly gonna be getting one of the coolest looking aftermarket systems on the site.
But talking a little bit more about construction, guys, we did mention that aluminized steel
already.
However, you are also looking forward to 3-inch mandrel-bent tubing throughout here, guys,
leading into and out of the were MBRP signature muffler before it does step up to the 4-inch
twin tips here etched with the MBRP logo.
Now interesting fact guys, those tips themselves have actually been made from premium 304-grade
stainless before being finished off in the same heat-resistant black powder coat as the
rest of the system here.
Now the lead pipe which is over here does connect after your resonator so you will not
be deleting that with the system.
However, this is the piece that you will need to trim depending on your wheelbase.
Very long-wheelbase trucks will not need to cut anything but everybody else, basically
90% of trucks will need to make some small modifications to this piece here which MBRP
does lay out very clearly in the instructions.
However, to give you a better idea of how things will go down on your own 3.5 EcoBoost
at home, here's that detailed walkthrough we promised earlier on of the quick tool breakdown.
Man: So the first step to installing your new exhaust system is obviously to remove
your old one.
I'm gonna start off by lubricating all of my hangers and actually, I'm gonna unbolt
this hanger that faces the opposite direction before I unbolt the flange up at the front.
Then I'm gonna slide the whole exhaust system back out of it's hangers and remove it all
in one piece.
Now I'm just gonna hit my bolts and my hangers with a little bit of penetrating oil to make
removal a little here.
All right, so I'm gonna start off by removing this hanger, it actually points the opposite
direction and it's gonna stop me from sliding the entire exhaust system back out of the
other hangers.
So I'm just gonna use a 10-millimeter socket to remove these two bolts and that hanger
will just move out of the way.
Now I'm gonna use a 13-millimeter socket to remove my two flange bolts here at the front
of the cat-back.
Now that I've got everything lubed up and everything unbolted, I'm gonna use a pry bar,
slide my entire exhaust system back out of the hangers.
With the help of a friend up front, we're gonna drop this out in one piece.
All right, so this hanger up here is fighting us a little bit and rather than risk damaging
it, I'm also just gonna unbolt it like I did with the one right in front of it.
So after measuring our truck, we have a 145-inch wheelbase which is gonna require us to cut
our intermediate pipe to 24 inches.
So I'm gonna make a measurement and then make a cut.
Now I'm just gonna clean out some of the burrs on the outside of the pipe.
It's also a good idea to clean up the burrs on the inside of your pipe.
Now that we've made our cut, we can install our intermediate pipe to our flange.
Now I'm gonna use the supplied clamps and the muffler, install it to our intermediate
pipe.
Once I have it installed, I'm gonna put support underneath the muffler to hold it in place
while I put together the rest of the system.
So one of our factory exhaust hangers is actually gonna get reused since they are identical
front and rear.
And the front one does not have a nipple that holds the exhaust hanger from sliding off,
I'm gonna remove the front one and put it in place.
And now I'm just gonna put the factory hanger back in his factory location, the furthest
back spot.
At this point, I can pre-install my exhaust clamps onto the back of my muffler and then
start installing my side exit pipes.
Now I'm gonna use the provided J clips in these pre-drilled and cut holes in the frame
to mount my side exit pipe hanger.
And now I'm just gonna use a 13-millimeter socket to tighten up these bolts.
And now I'm just gonna install the provided isolator onto the two new hangers.
Now I can install my final side exit pipe and leave all my clamps loose so that can
make all my alignments and adjustments to get everything lined up perfectly at the tips.
So these side exit pipes come with welded brackets on each one, this is to hold the
two pipes together to keep them from vibrating and also to help alignment with the tips at
the side exit.
You're just gonna use the supplied bolt from the kit and install it into the two brackets
to hold them together.
Now I'm gonna slide my tips into place and then make all of my adjustments and alignments
to get everything perfectly lined up.
Now working my way from the back all the way up to the front, I'm gonna start tightening
up my clamps and my bolts a little bit at a time, making sure that I keep my alignment
as I go.
I'm gonna use a small extension and 13-millimeter socket with a wrench.
Now using a 15-millimeter socket and an impact gun, I'm gonna start tightening up my slip
joint clamps and I'm gonna keep my eye on the tip alignment as I work myself forward
with all my clamps.
Now I'm gonna tighten up the two bolts at the flange before I move back to the tips
and make my final adjustments.
Finally, I'm gonna use an 8-millimeter Allen socket to tighten up the tip clamps.
And that's gonna wrap up our review and install for the MBRP Dual Side-Exit Exhaust for your
'11 to '14 F-150 EcoBoost.
Thanks for watching.
For all things F-150, keep it right here at americantrucks.com.