As a part of the detailed inspection after seven years on the road, year 'round in Canadian summers and winters with all that entails, it seemed a good time to replace the rear section of the exhaust. While it hadn't been making any unnatural noise, the muffler and pipe were clearly getting rustier and rustier, with large sections of rust layers dropping off and more on the way. Probably not long before a perforation.
The forward sections of the exhaust pipes, from the engine to the muffler, are in good shape, with almost no rust or corrosion, and so will stay as long as they remain this way. Instead of going again with the 'standard' rear exhaust and muffler, it seemed a good time to replace them with the stainless variety, seeing as rust was most prevalent here.
Nothing complicated about the installation. Remarkably simple job. Eight bolts in all. I don't know if it's because anti-seize was used when doing the initial assembly back in 2011, but all the bolts came undone without any fuss. Used anti-seize again with the new exhaust.
Old and new:
Certainly looks a little nicer:
Nice and shiny in there now. In this pic you can also see the rear face of the overdrive through the chassis PTO hole, and in front of the vehicle a glimpse of the former wheels and tires. These will be cleaned, wheels repainted, and stored.