How to dull a glasspack?

[Blue91Ex]

Okay so this may sound dumb as glasspacks are made to make exhaust louder and lower. I recently installed one but it doesnt line up with the rest of my exhaust, as the muffler's inlet and outlet werent lined up, so right now its just glasspack and nothing after. It sounds good but its way too loud. I still have the rest of teh exhaust and the resonator (after muffler) attached and hung up, my question is, if i get a piece of pipe to bend and attach the glasspack to the rest of the exhaust pipe will it dull the sound enough to be reasonable and not get me pulled over?

i wanted a little sound but it would be a challenge to put teh muffler back in since we had to cut it off pretty close to the muffler itself. i just want it to still sound good but not be super obnoxiously loud and i cant afford an aftermarket muffler right now.

 

[Anime]

Glasspacks are loud because there isn't much material in there for any sound suppression, which, as you noted, is the whole idea. They were/are simply meant to fulfill the technical requirement of having a "muffer" present on a vehicle, and give a "ratty" sound compared to a straight pipe.

Whether adding the rear pipe will make any difference depends on what rear pipe you have. The stock rear pipe might have a resonator (round cannister) on it, which is similar to the glasspack, and will suppress more sound, so if you have that kind of rear pipe, putting it back on will make a difference.

A plain pipe that is just exhaust tubing from the muffler back won't really do much to quiet the exhaust note, but it will still help a bit since some of the noise that an exhaust makes when dumped underneath the vehicle is from the resonance (echo) it gets from originating under there. An exhaust that exits at the rear of the vehicle towards the ground will not be quite as loud, especially inside the vehicle.


That said, it's not that great of an idea to use glasspacks on the 91-92's, since even their stock mufflers flow pretty well.

If/when you want to get replacement mufflers that flow good and are a little louder than stock, but not as loud as a glasspack, I'd suggest looking at the Thrush Turbo, available at Advance Auto Parts for $31.99 (use a $10 off $30 online coupon to make it $21.99):

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/thrush-turbo-muffler-17713/5291461-P?searchTerm=thrush+turbo

and the Dynomax Super Turbo, available at Advance Auto Parts for $62.99 (use a $20 off $50 online coupon to make it $42.99):

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...ehicleIdSearch=-1&searchTerm=17731&showTitle=

Both mufflers have the 2.25 inch inlet/outlet with an offset inlet design so it will work with the stock 2.25 pipes. You will probably also need a 2.25" extension pipe for the front.

 

[Blue91Ex]

Thanks for the advice, i do have the resonator behind the muffler, and since the glasspack dumps underneath, the noise in teh cab is way louder at certain RPMs than i want, i wanted a little sound, as the replaced muffler that was on the truck was nearly silent and while thats good for a grocery getter, i want to be able to have at leats a little sound. I know most of the problem is it's echoing underneath, but i just wasnt sure if the resonator would make a reasonable difference.

If i bother to get another muffler it will probably be the super 44 or delta 40, as i think they sound very nice on the OHV engine, and from what i have heard arent very loud until you really step on it. thats what i want, but those mufflers are around 80-100$ and this truck will probably be on the road for a year or two while i save up for another 1st gen to replace it as DD duty, so after that i might just straitpipe this one since it wont be on the road.

Anyways i just wanted to know if the resonator would help any noticable amount, and i know having it dump out from under the truck will help a bit as well.
the glasspack isnt really the sound i wanted anyway but to be its way better than stock and it was free.. I also know teh stock muffler is sufficient performance wise, i mostly just wanted a lower exhaust note and a little bit more sound, just not this much.

 

[Anime]

It's a bad idea to go for noise over performance. There's a lot of bad information out there, and people misunderstand exhaust, thinking that louder is better, or that a straight pipe is better than a system with a muffler. It's not.

A good exhaust system with the right muffler and correct size pipes will be better than a straight pipe, or a system with a universal glasspack. The 4.0L OHV is a modern computer-controlled engine, not a big block motor with a carburetor from the 1950's.

Where the stock system with the muffler and pipes will be snappy with good throttle response and low-end torque, a system with just the glasspack will be loud, but also sluggish - and it will use more fuel.


If you want a Flowmaster, get a Flowmaster. Generally you want to get Flowmasters with 2.5 inch inlets and outlets and use 2.25" adapters, since the larger size gives flow rates closer to what you want.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on a brand new muffler. Go to exhaust shops and see what they have in the dumpster or just took off vehicles recently. Chances are good you can get a barely-used Flowmaster for cheap or free, as muffler shops frequently remove them for customers who thought they wanted that Flowmaster sound but quickly found it annoying and switched to a different muffler.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182514

 

[Blue91Ex]

This truck is not a performance machine, i dont have 4th gear and the glasspack is a 2.5" with 2.25" adapter pipe, it shoudl have similar performance, it doesnt feel more or less sluggish anyways. While i understand and pretty much already knew most of what you are saying, i got what i got, it was free, i expect to get another year or two out of this truck due to rust issues and cost to fix it. Its not worth the money and effort to go and buy a new muffler, i just want to make what i have work. I dont liek having absolutely no sound from my exhaust like it was, but all i was asking was if attaching it to the rest of the exhausta dn the resonator would make a decent impact on the volume. again, thank you for answering that, but i honestly didnt need a lecture about the logic of glasspacks vs stock exhaust etc etc. I know a glasspack wont make my truck be some super fast milage monster. it might even make it worse, but for what i wanted and the cost of nearly free, thats what i did.

also i dont even think there is an actual "exhaust shop" for at least a 2-3 hour drive.

 

[Anime]

If it's a 2.5" glasspack instead of a 2.25" that should help flow some, but almost all glasspacks have louvres that stick into the exhaust flow and cause turbulence, making for a lousy design. There are a few that just have holes punched into the inner walls instead of louvres, though. Even if it has louvres, you can just turn the muffler around so they are 'facing' towards the back, which should also give a different sound.

If it's just a beater and you don't want to put much into it, then sure, just rig up a way to get the stock rear pipe on there and be done with it. It might be easier to do by cutting the front pipe even more, and adding another section of bent tubing to make the muffler line up straight from the front to the rear.

These are't lectures. Keep in mind that the answers on these forums are here not just to help you, but those who may search for the same topic in the future, and could use the information provided.

 

[Blue91Ex]

Yea, sorry i might have sounded harsh, and i do understand that, wasnt having the best day.

While the truck isnt really a "beater", it unfortunately wont get past more than one more inspection without major, expencive body work and rust repair underneath, and the transmission is on its way out. I plan to keep it once i get another explorer, but probably not on the road until i can fix everything. Im trying NOT to beat into the ground while still having some fun with it.

I did not know about the leuvers, although from what i remember this one just had holes.

Your idea for cutting out some of the pipe in front of the muffler and getting a bent piece to fit into it, that was exactly what i was planning to do, i just need to find the right piece of pipe, and if i have to i might try and find one in teh junkyard if the local parts store doesnt have something that will work.

 

[Anime]

If the rust repair you're referring to is the common rusting out of the rocker panels, you can just take a reciprocating saw and hack off the entire rocker panel below the door, which gives additional body clearance and also makes it look higher.

Lots of other flaky rust can just be sanded off with rough sandpaper, a wire brush, or a wire wheel on an angle grinder, then painted over with your choice of paint. Where metal is falling off and you really need new metal to make a repair, if you don't have access to a welder, riveting in a new piece of metal can be a decent fix, and you can use body filler or spray over it with undercoating so it blends in and can pass an inspection.

 

[Blue91Ex]

oh dont worry i know how to do all that temporary body work and repairs, half the rockers have been sanded to bare metal and repainted or had patches pop-riveted on and bondoed over etc etc, the inner rocker/back side of rockers are toast, the rust goes higher than the base of the doors in ac ouple spots (not bad rust that high but still rust) and the bottoms of teh front fenders are rotting out, rear frame crossmember is getting very flaky and brittle in a couple spots, the floor supports under the rear cargo areas are rusting through, a spot that is very difficult to repair with limited facilities, and there is much more i dont care to list. to fix all of teh rust properly would be at LEAST 800$ if i did the work myself and bummed a welder off of someone. i figure for that much i can just save a bit more and get another explorer down south with no rust and a 5 speed, as my A4LD has no 4th gear anymore and the torque converter works when it feels like it. suspension is very worn out as well, i plan to keep this truck butrunning it without major repairs much longer will just ruin it completely.

 

[Blue91Ex]

So just to not let this thread go unanswered, i did finally attach the glasspakc to the rest fo the exhaust, it made a big difference, the resonator dulls the sound a lot more than i expected and now the exhaust is juust about the volume i wanted and still has the mean tone to it so mission accomplished. Oh and thanks for discussing it with me Anime.