So What Will Happen If I Take Off All FOUR Cats?

[schmidlkofer]

give up either have a explorer or a mustang.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks Gator, that is more tactful than I usually am. Colton evidently is satisfied with his rear half exhaust already. If I wanted it louder like I think he does, I would alter the exiting tips some. I'd pull them back up under the truck slightly, even dropping them up to an inch to obtain a gap between the tip and the outer body edge.

As the exhaust exits up underneath the body, it does get louder, a lot louder. If you just play with how much you end the tips beneath or inside the outer body line, the exhaust will grow in volume.

Part of that Mustang sound is because the tailpipes end adjacent to the underside of the body. Some of the sound is getting underneath the trunk area, bouncing off of the ground and the trunk. The Explorer is shaped differently, so it will be hard to duplicate that sound exactly.

The O2 sensors are easy for exhaust shops to relocate. They use a spark plug arrestor which they cut in half to make the bungs out of(they are cheaper than a real bung). They simply cut a hole anywhere they want to and weld the new bung in place. If you have original O2 sensors you should probably replace them. You will save more in fuel mileage than the cost of the sensors. Good luck,

 

[Turdle]

The rear 02 sensors monitor the front cats function--nothing more.
You need those, as well as the front cats, no, do not gut them.

Like mountaineergreen said--get the Torquemonster headers--and go from there.

Remember this though--a balanced sound is hard to achieve on explorers--
the mustang has the benefit of having equal length tubes-running down the center of the car.

Ours go all the way over to one side--making the driver side exhaust at least 3 feet longer than the passenger side At the point it starts to turn rearward, it is already "de tuned", for lack of better terms
I believe this to be the obstacle, however, if it was thought out well, it could be balanced for a good "tuned sound"
Maybe add a resonator to one side for more air volume?

 

[DixieOnMyMind59]

If you want to do it right, start with Torque Monster Headers, then build a quality exhaust behind them.

Thats what i want to do, eventually. I don't have the money for them right now. As of now, im driving around with no mufflers or secondary cats with 3'' tips so as you can imagine, it's loud as hell. I already have the mufflers (Mac Flowpaths) and the X-pipe (Magnaflow) purchased and sitting in my garage. All i need to do now is have them put on and before i do so, i want to know if there is a way i can eliminate my Pre-Cats.

So basically, right now i have the money to get my exhaust done but i don't have enough money to buy the TMH. My top prioriety is getting my mufflers on my vehicle so that i am not running straight pipes anymore.

I just want to know what my options are for ELIMINATING the pre-cats.
Maybe i need to go to a Mustang message board.

Thanks,
Colton

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Dude, seriously, leave the converters! That is your answer, the only way to do it right.

Apparently you want to hear that you can remove them, so cut em off, throw away the 02 sensors, pull your MIL bulb and go with it.

 

[CDW6212R]

I have known a lot of people who kept changing their exhaust. Some finally get what they want, some don't. It isn't somethig that you can plan and succeed on the first try.

Start by installing what you have so far. Work on the tail pipes to achieve the volume that you want. If you do all of that, then maybe do something with the cats. Those should be the last thing you mess with, if needed. The O2 sensors should be changed regularly, not just when they go bad. For what gas costs now O2 sensor should be fresh, and synthetic fluids should be in everything. Night,

 

[DixieOnMyMind59]

The rear 02 sensors monitor the front cats function--nothing more.
You need those, as well as the front cats, no, do not gut them.

Like mountaineergreen said--get the Torquemonster headers--and go from there.

Remember this though--a balanced sound is hard to achieve on explorers--
the mustang has the benefit of having equal length tubes-running down the center of the car.

Ours go all the way over to one side--making the driver side exhaust at least 3 feet longer than the passenger side At the point it starts to turn rearward, it is already "de tuned", for lack of better terms
I believe this to be the obstacle, however, if it was thought out well, it could be balanced for a good "tuned sound"
Maybe add a resonator to one side for more air volume?

I plan on balancing the exhaust system with the X-pipe that i purchased. Mustangs exhaust systems are balanced with an H-pipe from the factory and thats what gives them that "balanced" sound.

Until a few weeks ago, i didn't even believe that i could make my x sound like a Mustang until i saw this video. Its a 97' Mountaineer with the secondary cats removed with true duals into two flowmaster 40 series...you have to click on "Switch to Windows Media Player" for it to work (right above the video). It sounds nearly just like a mustang to me. Heres the vid.
Click here to see Video

Thanks,
Colton

 

[Turdle]

I tried to, but the link doesn't work--

 

[CDW6212R]

That would have been funny if it was Jon's truck. My PC isn't playing a lot of things lately.

 

[DixieOnMyMind59]

Try this link

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/wm/9b5ddb9b-10b4-48c7-8433-98f40018e8e7.htm

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

Ok I've just got to chime in here. Both my front two cats are gone (straight pipe instead), the rear two are empty, and the muffler was replaced with a pair of "twister turbo" mufflers. It used to be dueled off out the back, but I broke a couple of hangers on the trail. I just cut it off about 3 inches past the rear doors (5 inches of pipe past the mufflers). I don't have any CEL, and it's been this way for about 4 years (3 months cut off). Just my 2 cents.

 

[reserved50]

gutting cats or removing them off the track is silly (yes im talking about for the air we breathe), if you have ever run with no cats and the exhaust is not downwind you'll find yourself going dizzy when idling for a bit . If you can save the cats and make a "test pipe" even better, each cat is worth about 35$ to a recycling center , or if you plan on reinstalling it.
To make it sound like a Mustang you need a H-pipe first of all, good luck on that, and remove all the cats and replace the rear O2s with "MIL Eliminators" or figure out what resistance you need and splice them in (thats all they are). The front cats trim teh fuel and are before the cat anyways so it makes no difference to them if you have cats or not (but DO NOT eliminate the front O2s). Then you need to run this true dual exhaust thru two seperate two chamber flowmasters (classic hollow sounding drum that makes your ears ring at 2000 RPM droan sound ) to wherever you want them to exit.

 

[Iron-Mike]

would a person still be able to pass state inspection with the rear 2 cats removed and the O2 sensors from them relocated?

I only ask cuz my mechanic keeps telling me my truck needs both sets of converters to run and that if I remove a set it will never pass a Massachusetts state inspection

Mike

 

[aldive]

The O2 sensors should be changed regularly, not just when they go bad. For what gas costs now O2 sensor should be fresh, and synthetic fluids should be in everything. Night,

I am running original O2 sensors with 130k miles and get over 30 mpg. They DO NOT need to be changed unless they are bad.

 

[nickm347]

I had a 5.0L Mustang before my X and it had no cats, and I had some cutouts on it as well....never had a problem, but my buddy with a 4.6L mustang cut his cats out had started having problems. I always thought it was okay for the 5.o to have no cats

Here is what my old stang sounded like-
http://videos.streetfire.net/Player.aspx?fileid=D8667C96-AF90-4B75-9BB3-8DF3BA1DF5B5

 

[L4CX]

I know I'm a New guy here, But wouldn't it make sense to wait and "tune" your Exhaust intill you put the headers on? Because when you change the Headers your Perfect mustang sound will be changed. Maybe you'd want to wait intill you have your whole exhaust system intill you start fine tuning it. I know that is not ideal, I wouldn't want to wait, but it might be the best thing. Also, the Cats are there for a reason, like many people have said, they clean the exhaust and keep the Air Healthy for people to breath. So, I guess you could say your cats are on there, not for you, but for the people that have to live here after we die. If Anything you could put some Cherry bombs on there right ? What ever you do, Good luck.

 

[DixieOnMyMind59]

To make it sound like a Mustang you need a H-pipe first of all

You are the man...it took me a year to figure that out (seriously), but i will be using an X-Pipe which will create the same effect.

replace the rear O2s with "MIL Eliminators" or figure out what resistance you need and splice them in (thats all they are).

Where can i buy these? My local speed shop doesn't sell them anymore because they said they are illegal.

DO NOT eliminate the front O2s.

But the passenger side pre-cat has the O2 sensor on it. How do you remove the cat without removing the O2 sensor?

Ok I've just got to chime in here. Both my front two cats are gone (straight pipe instead), the rear two are empty, and the muffler was replaced with a pair of "twister turbo" mufflers. It used to be dueled off out the back, but I broke a couple of hangers on the trail. I just cut it off about 3 inches past the rear doors (5 inches of pipe past the mufflers). I don't have any CEL, and it's been this way for about 4 years (3 months cut off). Just my 2 cents.

So you mean that you have no pre-cats at all and it runs fine? No check engine light at all? What did you do about your O2 sensor that is located on your pre-cat? If you say that your engine is running fine without any cats at all then im hacking my other two off this weekend.

Thanks,
Colton

 

[Turdle]

In the interest of all-
The advice which is being discussed disturbs me.
I'm afraid others will be drawn in to this foolery. We are not talking about "off road use only" trucks here. just my .02

 

[aldive]

In the interest of all-
The advice which is being discussed disturbs me.
I'm afraid others will be drawn in to this foolery. We are not talking about "off road use only" trucks here. just my .02

Amen.

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

So you mean that you have no pre-cats at all and it runs fine? No check engine light at all? What did you do about your O2 sensor that is located on your pre-cat? If you say that your engine is running fine without any cats at all then im hacking my other two off this weekend.

Thanks,
Colton

Yes, I have no pre cats at all (actually no cats), and no CEL or running issues. The O2 sensor was simply put back into the pipe that took the cats place with a weld in bung. I'm not encouraging you to cut your's off just telling you my experiences. You could end up throwing a CEL or driveability issues. I just did not.