Install Guide: 2011-2014 F150 5.0L Solo Mach-X Cat-Back Exhaust Kit on our 2012 FX4 Project Truck!

We're in the home stretch of our cat-back exhaust kit installs for the 2011 to 2014 F150 5.0L's, and we've put our 2012 F150 5.0L FX4 project truck through the ringer by testing just about every system that we can get our hands on. Next up is the Solo Performance Mach-X dual side exit exhaust system. While several of our dual-exit kits gave us more than a few problems in regards to fitment and install difficulty (more on that in later blog posts), the Solo Mach-X system had the perfect fitment and absolutely zero hassles of both our Borla ATAK and Borla S-Type installs, but comes in at a price point that's roughly $200 less than the Borla systems by using lower-grade 409 stainless steel. More importantly, the Solo Mach-X F150 cat-back exhaust system has, thus far, been the best-sounding system that we've so far put on our truck, just edging out the Borla ATAK and Solo 4" systems as our favorite and likely the one we'll be putting back on the truck after all of this is said and done.

The Solo Mach-X is, in fact, a dual exit system, which does make it a bit tougher to install than your typical single-exit system just due to the extra tubing and hardware that's involved. Unlike the kits that we've had problems properly fitting onto our truck, the Mach-X system uses longer lengths of tubing that are each perfectly bent and molded, rather shorter lengths with more clamps that involve a heck of a lot more work. Anyway, lets get to it.

Just like the rest of our cat-back exhaust system installs, we headed down to Extreme Performance down in Goodyear, Arizona, to enlist the help of Marty, Kris, and the rest of the guys for a little bi of grunt work. We arrived and got the truck up in the air on one of Extreme's lifts, while Kris tried to stay warm and not burn himself on our hot exhaust system from the drive over. He just can't win, can he?

The stock cat-back kit is built to keep your truck quiet and features both a forward resonator and mid-mounted muffler. The first step of our cat-back installation was to hit all the piping connections with penetrating oil to help make Kris's life much easier.

After letting the penetrating oil do some work, Kris removed the bolts holding the resonator pipe to both the muffler's pipe and our F150's mid-pipe, before completely removing the whole assembly.

With the resonator pipe out, Kris maneuvered the muffler tube and over-axle pipe out of its hangars, over the axle, and out of our truck.

After the factory exhaust is removed, the first step is the installation of Solo's mid-pipe connection tube that easily attaches to your factory Y-pipe on with the supplied bolts. Solo's mid-pipe tube has hangars welded in place that perfectly slip through the forward exhaust mount.

With the mid-pipe connection firmly in place and supported by an axle stand, Kris grabbed the Solo Mach-X system's unique dual-outlet muffler and slid it right into place on the connection pipe. Kris supported the muffler with another axle stand to hold it in place while he fiddled with the rest of the system.

Then Kris grabbed Solo's passenger's side exhaust assembly which consisted of both the over-axle tube, kick-out tube, and tip as one complete unit. After the assembly was guided over the axle, Kris fit the welded-on hangar through the stock mount and slid the tube into the muffler outlet.

Once the passenger's side of the truck was slipped together, Kris started working on the driver's side, and fit the over-axle tube into the Mach-X muffler.

Before the driver's side tip and kick-out tube assembly can be installed, a new hangar provided by Solo needed to be bolted on to the truck's frame just inside of the leaf springs.

With the mount in place, Kris slipped the final section of the Solo Mach-X kit into the over-axle tube and fit its hangar through the new mount. The driver's side tip assembly clears the brake lines, spare tire, and our 36-gallon gas tank with plenty of room to spare. The tubing even has heat shielding for the tire and lines. You may notice the zip ties left over from our earlier MBRP dual-exit cat back install. More on that later.

All of the tubing was now in place, so Chris tightened the bolts for the mid-pipe connection tube.

With the mid-pipe secure, Kris fully tightened down Solo's new exhaust mount after making sure to align the tip into proper position.

The final step of our Solo Mach-X cat-back installation was to install the high-quality, form-fit band clamps onto all of the tubing connections. Kris started at the muffler and mid-pipe extension tube connection and worked his way toward the tips, checking the alignment of both tips after he tightened each clamp.

With the band clamps all tightened down, and our exhaust tips aligned, our Solo cat-back install was complete.