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KSH Axle Back Exhaust - Kooks 97-04 Chevy Corvette Full 3" Axleback w/ Polished Tips

The factory exhaust setup on a C5 Corvette leaves a lot to be heard. From the factory, the restrictive layout and quiet mufflers choke out the natural, aggressive rumble of the 5.7L LS1 or LS6 V8 engine. If you are building your car for more power with a set of longtube headers or an aggressive camshaft, the tiny stock piping creates a major bottleneck right at the rear axle. The KSH Axle Back Exhaust system featuring Kooks premium design (Part Number: 21506300) drops right in to fix this issue. This is a full 3-inch high-flow axleback setup finished with classic polished tips that gives your C5 the deep, old-school muscle car roar it should have had from day one.Kooks builds this system out of heavy-duty stainless steel piping that handles exhaust heat and moisture without rusting out over time. They use smooth, mandrel-bent 3-inch tubes so that exhaust gasses can exit the car completely unrestricted. This configuration eliminates the turbulent air pockets and backpressure that rob your motor of horsepower. The rear section splits into quad polished tips that fit nicely in the factory bumper cutout, giving the rear end of your Corvette a clean, aggressive look without sticking out too far or looking cheap.

Features and Benefits

Full 3-Inch Mandrel-Bent Piping

The entire system uses large 3-inch stainless steel tubing with smooth mandrel bends. This design maintains a constant inner diameter all the way through the bends, letting exhaust gas flow freely out of the engine to free up hidden horsepower and torque.

Polished Stainless Steel Tips

The kit finishes out at the rear bumper with a set of premium, high-gloss polished exhaust tips. They add a clean, custom hot-rod style to your C5's rear valence while resisting discoloration and carbon buildup from exhaust soot.

Eliminated Backpressure Bottleneck

Replacing the highly restrictive factory rear mufflers with this high-flow design stops spent exhaust gasses from backing up into your cylinder heads, allowing your engine to breathe much better at high RPMs.

Clean, Deep V8 Exhaust Note

This axleback changes your Corvette’s tone to a deep, aggressive muscle car growl when you hit the gas pedal, but keeps the interior cabin drone under control when you are just cruising down the highway.

Direct Hanger Placement

The kit comes with heavy-duty mounting hangers welded directly onto the 3-inch pipes in the exact factory spots. This lets the system hook straight up to your stock rubber exhaust mounts, stopping the pipes from rattling or shifting while you drive.

Vehicle Fitment and Requirements

This 3-inch performance axleback exhaust is engineered specifically for the fifth-generation Chevrolet Corvette chassis under these exact parameters:
Year RangeVehicle MakeModel ModelsCritical Installation Requirements
1997 – 2004ChevroletCorvette (C5 / Z06)Requires a 3-inch X-Pipe to install. Will NOT bolt directly up to the factory 2.5-inch mid-pipe without custom fabrication or a matching 3" midsection.
Critical Installation Warning: This is a full 3-inch race-spec axleback system. Because the factory C5 Corvette exhaust system uses smaller 2.5-inch piping from the factory, this kit requires a 3-inch X-Pipe to complete the connection under the car. If you try to bolt this straight onto a stock mid-pipe, the diameters will not match up. Make sure you have a matching 3-inch center section ready before you start tearing apart your factory exhaust.

Technical Specifications

  • Part Number: 21506300
  • System Type: Axle-Back Performance Exhaust System
  • Piping Size: Full 3-Inch Outer Diameter
  • Tube Construction: Mandrel-Bent Heavy-Duty Stainless Steel
  • Tip Finish: High-Gloss Polished Stainless Steel
  • Axle Placement: Rear Section Only (Includes Left and Right Assemblies with Quad Tips)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Will this 3-inch axleback kit bolt directly up to my stock C5 mid-pipe?
No, it will not fit your stock mid-pipe out of the box. The original factory exhaust on a 1997-2004 Corvette uses smaller 2.5-inch piping. Because this Kooks axleback is a true 3-inch system, it requires a 3-inch X-pipe to link everything up properly. If you want to use your stock center section, an exhaust shop will have to weld custom adapter reducers onto the pipes to bridge the size difference.
Does this exhaust system cause a loud, annoying drone inside the car at highway speeds?
Because this is a large 3-inch high-flow performance system, you will definitely hear the engine a lot more inside the cabin than you would with the quiet factory mufflers. However, Kooks designs their internal core geometry to specifically target and cancel out the worst low-frequency drone frequencies, keeping the car completely streetable when you are just maintaining speed on the interstate.
Can I install this system on my garage floor using basic hand tools?
Yes, you can swap this system out with basic hand tools, but working on a C5 Corvette exhaust on the floor is a tight squeeze. Because of how the factory over-axle pipes are shaped as a single giant piece, you usually have to jack the rear of the car up very high to slide the old exhaust out from under the bumper. Having an extra set of hands to hold the heavy 3-inch pipes in place while you line up the rear hangers makes the job much easier. 

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