Without going overboard on costs, we wanted to ensure our Mitsubishi Canter (FG649) was getting the most it could from the engine. Some power gains are possible by reducing the impedance exhaust gasses face as they are pushed to the back of the truck. The most obvious point in our canter is the 2 ¼ inch exhaust brake. And to a lesser extent the matched size exhaust system and the OEM restrictive muffler.
In our situation, the solution was to have fitted a 3 inch exhaust and exhaust brake. Finding someone to do this is almost impossible and we did not really like the idea of working with the exhaust. So we approached Trulson’s Mechanical in Bundaberg for some help.
Ross from Trulsons was extremely helpful and sourced a replacement secondhand exhaust brake to keep the cost of the modification down. The price of a new brake was around $1,000, way out of our affordability.
The replacement exhaust brake unit is from a Mitsubishi FK417 fighter, 6 cylinder. When picked up from wreckers we were told to be careful to include about 6 inches of pipe either side of brake. The guys then upgraded the exhaust system from turbo manifold to tail with 3 inch piping. The original actuator bolted straight to the FK417 brake. Took a day to do (including fixing a couple of studs they broke removing manifold on turbo).
Today we have a new full 3 inch exhaust system from turbo to tail. The increase in performance is most noticeable on the big hills where we needed to change down, thus loosing momentum. We are not expecting a huge change in fuel economy and we were pleased not to have a large increase in the exhaust level. The quality of the manufacture appears excellent.
