1. My spare tire DOES fit under the bed but it is snug between the 2 exhaust pipes.
Would some of that high temp wrap that you can buy for headers be something to look into or am I just crazy.
2. Im not too familiar with bending exhaust pipe but that would be the most desirable option. Any tricks to it or is it just heat and bend.
I trust those heat shields to keep wiring and tubing safe, not a large rubber doughnut that could be hauling the weight of my truck one day.
Saying that, if you don't check and inspect your spare regularly, go ahead, it might fail the first time you use it anyway.
Bending exhaust pipe is usually done cold, but it can be done hot in order to get tighter bends. You will need a bending jig however. Shops have metal jigs with a bunch of pieces that allow them to create just about any shape or bend.
You can make your own jig out of 2x4s and plywood, just look up DIY pipe bending. You can get a section of pipe and play around with it. Wood is cheap, and a section of exhaust tubing isn't very expensive.
In the end its a gamble. You spend a little money trying to bend it yourself and either succeed or fail. If you fail, the cost of having a shop do it just got a little more expensive, but you are already looking at 250$+ for duals. Or you succeed and save a ton of money doing it yourself for the rest of your life.
In a way, working on our own cars is a gamble, even the simplest of repairs can go wrong and cost hundreds or thousands. Most of the time if a shop screws it up you can make them fix it at no additional cost.