Magnaflow Muffler Droan Help

[Explorer 5.0]

Magnaflow Muffler Drone Help

I just had a magnaflow 3 diameter single in and out with a three inch tailpipe installed on my 97 V8 AWD Friday. The technician at the muffler shop installed a y-pipe at the 3 bolt flange in order to fit the single in and out muffler. I was suprised that they installed the y-pipe instead of the dual inlet single outlet design like the OEM muffler. He said that the single in and out muffler would give me a better sounding exhaust. After the system was installed I was very satisfied with the sound. It has a very deep tone at idle and at highway cruising speeds I can barely here the muffler. When I am accelerating and the truck is going through first and sencond gear in drive I get a terrible resonance/drone
inside the Explorer. I was shocked when I heard this drone/resonance. In all of my research on this board no one has ever complained about magnaflows droning. How can I cansel out this resoance that I get during 1'st and 2'nd gear and also when climbing steep hills? I had considered installing some dynamat sound absorbing sheets under my carpet in the rear cargo area. Do you guys think that will work? Will a resonated tip tame the drone? I have a mean round angle cut non resonated borla tip that I love, I do not want to remove it unless a resonated tip is the only way I can tame the drone. Other than the resonance in first, second and passing gear the muffler is awesome. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Explorer 5.0]

More Insulation in the Rear Cargo Area

I purchased some insulation type sound absorbing material and installed it under the carpet pad in the rear cargo area. It lowered the sound level in the cabin but it did not stop the resonance. I think that the resonance is coming from the tailpipe so it looks like my next step is to add a resonated tip and possibly downsize to a 2.5 inch tailpipe. The three inch tailpipe is hitting the supsension when I go over speedbumps.

 

[Bill Kemp]

The resonance is comming from the muffler and being magnified by the size of the tailpipe. A resonated exhaust tip will reduce the sound comming out the tailpipe but do nothing for the "drone" of the muffler.

 

[Alec]

The drone you speak of is something I hear of with the V8's often. It's just the way the exhaust pulses leave the engine and resonate in hi-po mufflers. I agree with the suggestions to downsize the pipe to 2.5 or 2.75 and add a resonated tip. This problem is not specific to Magnaflows, actually Magnaflow mufflers tend to decrease annoying exhaust resonance. Good luck!

 

[Explorer 5.0]

Magnaflow Muffler Drone Solutions

I returned to my local muffler shop and switched to a 2.5 inch tailpipe and added a resonated tip. The shop replaced the tailpipe for free. The 2.5 tailpipe and resonated tip raised the bass note of the exhaust slightly. To my ears it sounds like it is about 2 notes higher in pitch. The combination of the 2.5 inch tailpipe and the resonated tip cut down the db level of the exhaust. I also instaled some sound insulation under the back seat and rear footwells. These improvements have made the muffler drone very tolerable. If this was not a family vehicle I would be satisfied. I plan to install some additional sound absorbing material inside the rear hatch door and rear cargo side panels this weekend. After that the exhaust db level will problably be as quiet or quieter than stock inside the cabin.

 

[beachbuggy]

..just had a Flowmaster 50 installed yesterday and the drone between 2500 and 3000 RPM is nasty! I had them run 2 1/2" pipe and put on a chrome tip (about 10" long). How does a resonator tip work? And EX 5.0, where did you get your sound dampening material? Thanks!

 

[Explorer 5.0]

How does a resonated tip work

A resonated tip is an exhaust tip with metal baffles and fiberglass sandwiched between the metal baffles and the inner walls of the exhaust tip. It is supposed to quiet the sound coming out of the tailpipe without adding allot of restriction. The 2.5 inch tailpipe and resonated tip quieted the drone and exhaust decibel level slighty. However I feel that the most effective drone defeater will be adding sound absorbing material under your rear cargo area, rear seats, and rear footwell area and finally your rear hatch. The cheapest type of sound absorbing material that is nontoxic is the insulation/rugpad type. I purchased one 4 ft x 8 ft role at PepBoys. This is the cheapest premade soud blocker but it is not the most effective. If you do a search in the audio forum you will find tons of post on a susbtance called dynamat. It is much more effective, thinner and exspensive than the pad type of insulation. I talked to a car stereo technician at a local shop here in Greensboro that just happened to be the owner of a 95 Limited V6 with 20 inch custom wheels, it looked sweet but rides like a buggy. He had installed dynamat exstreme in the entire vehicle and he still could here a slight drone in the cabin. We both figured that since the muffler is welded to the frame some soundwaves are impossibe to cancel out. Your flowmaster 50 is supposed to be even louder than my magnaflo. I would recommend not using the cheap stuff at PepBoys but rather buy the cheaper real sound deadener like original dynamat or a cheaper competitors version of the same product b-quiet original. I just ordered a 1x18 foot role of b-quiet original for $25.00 including UPS ground shipping from California. I plan to install the b-quiet original in my rear hatch this weekend. If that does not get the exhaust sound to a stock sound level on the inside of the cabin I may throw in the towel or purchase another role of b-quiet orgional and install it under all the areas that have the cheap sound insulation. Don't get me wrong what I have done so far has lowered the decibel level of my exhaust inside the cabin but I want be satisfied until I have done all that I can do. I have a Pilot angle cut roled edge T304 resonated tip that is 3 1/2 inches in circumference and 8 1/2 inches long. They stock the very same tip at Advanced Auto here in Greensboro. The tip must be clamped on only. Since the fiberglass is going to burnout a removable/clamp on tip seems to be the best choice for a resonated tip. Advanced Auto had a Monster sized Pilot resonated tip that is 4 1/2 inches in circumfrence and 12 1/2 inches long. That monster should tame the flowmaster. I may install the monster tip on my explorer after my current tip burns out. JC Whitney carries the Pilot
Motorsports exhaust tips, but they dont stock the monster version.
www.jcwhitney.com

Sound absorbing material companies www.b-quiet.com

www.dynamat.com

Circuit City, Best Buy, and most custom car stereo installers will stock the dynamat line.

I hope that this information helps.

 

[Explorer 5.0]

Muffler Drone Results

I have been driving with the Magnaflow #12579 muffler installed for a month now. To my
ears the muffler is about 20% quieter than the 12249 Magnaflow that was removed. The
drone and resonance in the 1700 - 2300 rpm range 60 - 67 mph highway cruising speed is
still present. It is quieter than the smaller mufflers drone but it is still annoying to me. The
drone is much quiter when the truck is pulling two passengers up front. When I put any
type of load in the back seat,or cabin, especially the left rear seat the drone and resonance
increases 6 dbs. With the resonated tip the sound coming out of the tailpipe is very quiet. I
hear more muffler noise inside of the cabin than outside when the SUV is turning 1700 -
2300 rpm. The bottom line is that the 5.0 V8 is much louder than the V6 engines. The
resonance and drone in the 1700 to 2300 rpm range is very hard to tame with just one high
flowing muffler. The Magnaflow custom exhaust sounds great to my ears at idle. Some
might say that the resonated tip makes it too quiet. There are only two other modifications
that I think may lower the volume of the 1700 - 2300 rpm drone and resonance. One would
be installing a heat shield. This may lower the volume of the soundwaves penetrating the
muffler case. Flowmaster makes one for their big block 70 series mufflers, but to my
knowledge Magnaflow doesnt. If you are going to install a high performance muffler on your
V8 I would recommend installing a resonator right after the muffler outlet, like the Borla
catback system and the stock exhaust system. This may help at lowering the voulume of
the 1700 - 2300 rpm drone and resonance. Installing sound deadening material only quieted
the cabin by 3 dbs so I do not think it is worth the investment for exhaust note quieting,
for high performance stereo installs it is worth the investment.