Bext Exhaust with less noise for 1st gen

[Rfoley22]

Hi all. I have read many posts, and product reviews. all of them have pros and cons and none specifically answer my question. lots of opinions but not many why's.

Question: I want a muffler that will increase my hp close to that of no muffler. I want to keep my stock cats unless there is a better option. The muffler can be louder than stock but not super ripping loud due to cops where I live and drive.

what is my best exhaust set-up to keep cats and get a hp gain without huge noise? would dual exhaust help? any ideas/suggestions are appreciated. what are your opinions, and why?

what is my best option for high hp, low noise, and not super costly. I know I can't have all 3 but a compromise.


Info: I have a stock '92 ex that has stock exhaust. the resonator broke off due to rust and was replaced by a piece of pipe. Passes emissions in Colo and does better than my friend's 2006 and 2008 compact cars.
The muffler has a rust hole at it's front bottom side. no exhaust is lost at this hole, and no extra noise is produced. If it fails emissions I will be getting a new muffler.

while fixing the tranny, I test drove it both with no exhaust as well as with only cats on.
With no exhaust it did not idle well and died if I left it run with no gas.
With cats but nothing else it ran very well. much better acceleration. spun out the wheels at half gas pedal rather than to the floor.

It was much too loud without the muffler. more noise than stock is good but not that much. I live in Denver and a neighbor called the cops when i drove it with no muffler. In Littleton where I drive often the noise ordinance is enforced regularly.

thanks for the input.

 

[Anime]

The mufflers that FLOW close to having no muffler are the straight-through designs, like a Borla, Magnaflow, or a Dynomax Ultra-Flow.

The drawback usually is, a straight through muffler tends to be louder..BUT with a large truck or SUV, you can get a longer, larger straight through muffler, which tends to quiet the sound down a bit more.

However, a straight-through design isn't always the best option. If you're running a stock motor, and stock catalytic converters, you're not going to see a giant leap in power or torque from straight through mufflers.

My suggestion, since they make a cat-back kit just for the 4-door, is for a Dynomax Super Turbo catback system. This gives you the muffler, cat-to-muffler pipe, and custom mandrel bent tailpipe for ~$150, with a lifetime warranty on the muffler. The sound is quiet but not as quiet as stock, and the performance gives all the flow you need with a stock or lightly modded motor.

The BIG benefit of such a system is it's bolt-on yourself nature (saving you $$$ in install costs or having to get something fixed by a welder anytime theres a problem), and the mandrel-bent pipes, which offer great benefit over crush-bent pipes, which is what 99% of exhaust shops use.

A side benefit of the Dynomax Super Turbo system is it looks like a run-of-the-mill replacement exhaust, other than the larger-diameter pipe. It looks almost the same as their OE-replacement Walker brand mufflers, which should make any emissions and inspection a breeze.

The only bad thing about these systems is they aren't stainless steel, which, especially in an area that sees severe snow, can mean it will rust and need replacement in 5-10 years or so. Luckily the muffler warranty means you don't need to worry about the muffler, but you will be buying the pipes for $20-30 if/when they rust too bad.

Dynomax is also running a $75 rebate through August 31st, making the cat-back systems essentially half price, or less.

If you feel like dropping the dough and like the sound of a straight-through, you can get the Dynomax Ultra Flow SS (stainless steel) or welded muffler, and use that muffler with the same front and rear pipes as the Super Turbo system (parts stores like Napa and Advance, and online stores can get the pipes and Ultra Flow mufflers for you seperately)

You can also go around to some exhaust shops and price a custom setup with a Magnaflow or Borla and 2.25" pipe, though not all shops have stainless steel pipe in stock, and most will still be bending it with crush bends, which hampers flow.

Of course, the BEST setup would be stainless steel mandrel bent pipe and a stainless steel muffler, but it's rare to find a place (short of a very high end performance shop) that can do mandrel bends, hence why a bolt-on system is usually the way to go.

If you go custom, stick with 2.25" pipe. The general concensus is 2.5" pipe is too big for the 4.0L OHV and will give too slow of an exhaust velocity. The Dynomax system uses 2.25" pipe.

 

[HahnsB2]

Check out the Aero Turbine 2525, it's aggressive when you get on it and near inaudible when cruising and it performs great. They aren't exactly cheap but they're worth every penny and are made of full stainless. You can also get a 2525XL which has a built in resonator, making it even more mellow.
Here's a crappy video of one on my friends 4.0 ranger, it sounds much better in person and much better than the Flowmaster 40 series it replaced, if the video wasn't made on a constant uphill grade you'd hear it go near silent when cruising.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSA2zZvDvSk

 

[Rfoley22]

thanks for the reply. I'll check out those mufflers.

I am glad to do the work myself but want to make sure to only pay for it once and be happy with it. New pipes every 10 years is not a problem if they are only 20-30$. I don't care as much about cosmetic down there as long as it works and is not falling apart.

The stock set-up lasted from October 1991 when the truck was built until mid 2007 when I removed the resonator. (the previous owner used it every snow storm and also to get to his house in the mountains through lots of snow so it's seen a lot)

would the stock pipes have been stainless or the Aluminized Steel?

are there more advantages to stainless other than rust? I painted the transmission, and parts of the frame, and will be painting more so I have been and plan to continue cleaning the whole underside as soon as possible after snow. The resonator and muffler are the only parts that have damage from their rust, all pipes look discolored and have some rust but are still intact with no damage from corrosion.

Are the Dynomax mufflers about the same size as stock? or will I need all new pipes from cat back?

 

[Anime]

Stock pipes on the Explorer were aluminized steel.

The only real advantage to stainless tubing is it's resistance to rust over aluminized.


If you get a Dynomax muffler, get the Dynomax pipes.

For ~$75 after rebate, the Dynomax Super Turbo cat-back system will cost just slightly over what a Super Turbo muffler costs, and will cost LESS than the other Dynomax mufflers.

The stock exhaust pipe on an Explorer is 2", so if you put a 2" muffler on there, the crush-bent stock/replacement pipes will probably flow less than the muffler. 2.25" pipe flows a LOT more than 2.00" pipe, so the ideal system is a 2.25" muffler with 2.25" pipe from the cat to muffler and the muffler back, which is what the Dynomax system is.


Dynomax #17430 $129.99 at Jegs:

http://www.jegs.com/i/Dynomax/289/17430/10002/-1#


FROADERS' 1992 with a Dynomax SuperTurbo catback system:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqyvWlN3R-s