Yea...It's cheaper too...it's called a 'muffler shop'.
Find a good one, that takes pride in it's work, and you can have the sweetest system in town...WELDED if you want. HAND BUILT and CUSTOM designed by you.
Don't buy into all the 'mandrel bent is better' crap. With a 4.6, 2.5" or even 3" (if blown) is so big that the system will hardly see the pressure drops in 'stretch bent' bends of that size.
Rant over. Just DO NOT see the advantage of buying an expensive 'cat-back' packaged system. I'd be a little embarrassed to run one actually...but I have a great muffler shop here locally.
Well, it's kinda just to have everything work out right, no hassles. If I get a shop to do it, I'll probably want some welded on tips, cause I don't like the factory ones too much. I'm kinda glad you suggested that because I've really always wanted an O/R X-pipe and some Spintech mufflers.
Does anyone have any pics of 96-98 GTs with welded on tips? Is it easy to see the part where the tip is attached?