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muffler question

jrfranz

Active Member
Joined
December 29, 2001
Messages
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City, State
Madison, WI
Year, Model & Trim Level
'96 XLT 4.0L 4x4
I bought a Borla cat back and have 2 questions:

1. What is the easiest way to get the old muffler off the hangers?

2. One of the cat / muffler bolts was frozen - no problem meet Mr 4 " grinder - now I have half a bolt still siezed to the cat - suggestions?

Thanks in advance -

Jeff
 



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WD-40
Screwdriver
Hacksaw
 






Don't forget gloves !!!
 






Thanks guys -

Gloves were a good tip as would be a face sheild.

4" Makita angle grinder - my favorite tool today - always wondered when I would really use it.

I just cut the bolt on the other side (by the nut) tight up against the flange and it fell right out and sizzled in a puddle of water on my garage floor.

As for the exahust hangers - lets just say the Makita grinder went through them like butter. I am not going to save the stock exahust as it is very rusty and I donn't have room anyway. My fingers are a bit frosty, I need some lunch, but the old system is off. Now I just have to slip the Borla in and I am home free.

I recorded the sound before and after the swap - if anyone wants to hear them both at idle let me know or tell me how and if I can post a WAV or MP3.

Jeff
 






Jeff, if you could post how the final install went I would appreciate it. I have a 96 4.0 and need new exhaust. I am considering the Borla but dont want it to be much louder than stock. I dont know how you would post the sound (without having it on your own web site), but if you would email to me I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance
jeff_pearson@insightbb.com
 






Here is my advice if you are considering:

1. I got my Borla on the cheap about half price (thanks yob_yeknom!) - check ebay and the For Sale forum. The Borla is stainless and really should pretty much last forever, but the downside is a brand spankin' new one will set you back almost $500. I have seen two of them on ebay but missed out on both as I couldn't pull the trigger quick enough (my company blocks access to ebay from work - wonder why?) Mine was a bit tarnished - yob had it on his truck for about 15K miles - but stainless shines up pretty easy with sone very fine rubbing compound (I reccomend 3M) and a polishing bit on a Dremel.

2. Install - removing the stock muffler was a bit of a pain - see the start of this post. The fact it was cold and wet on my garage floor and that I have a bad cold did not help.

Expect that your cat / muffler bolts will be rusted solid. I lucked out and the left side came right off. Angle grinder with a good blade cut right through it. Wear gloves (Mechanix my choice) and a face sheild when grinding - nothing like cutting metal to make you feel like a man - safety glasses - lots of mud / salt / dirt under my truck.

The muffler brackets (2 on muffler) 2 on tail pipe are a another serious pain. I was not saving my old muffler so I cut them on the bottom. I tried to work them off, with a screw driver and WD40, but it was cold and the rubber is not real pliable and my patience was short.

I also cut the pipe in half (angle grinder again) just after the muffler which made removal a lot easier.

Removing the old muffler took almost 1 hour - I screwed around with the cat bolts for a bit and the hangers as well. Borla went right on - uses stock hangers - comes in two pieces super easy to mount.

3. Sound - it is not exactly stock - not as loud as I thought, but defiantely nice and low and rumbling.
I tried to make a sound recording with my Ipaq - not what I wanted - I'll try again tomorrow and email it to whoever wants to hear it.

Am I happy - well lets just say it was 7 degrees today and yesterday and I am driving around with my windows down and running all sorts of errands for my wife.

Jeff
 






Jeff, thanks for the info. If you get the sound byte I would like to hear it.

Just a FYI for those who have iPAQ's. I have the Pocket CoPilot GPS from Travroute and it works great.
 






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