So my exhaust on my 2001 XLT 2.3L is starting to change tone/note... started looking back there and realized that the factory exhaust from the cat is starting to develop holes... Note that the cat is fine, just the muffler after it is holes in the top of the pipe, thus making my ride to and from work on the highway louder. Normally I am ok with loud exhausts, my bikes, STi...etc super loud but in my DD I'd prefer as quiet as possible.

I'd prefer not to take it to some shop and have them weld up stuff as I don't know of any good muffler/welders around me, so it would be a gamble taking it to a place and having it turn out to be good workmanship.

Bolt on would be preferred in this application honestly.. Are there any recommendations on what is a decent (doesn't break the bank) cat back exhaust that will bolt up and be quiet?


Found this but appears to be pricey:

http://www.carid.com/2001-ford-range...s-3734119.html


Rockauto has this: No clue on how good it is though?
http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....372676&jsn=420


-Nigel
Thanks,
-Nigel

 

walker exhaust

WALKERŽ EXHAUST SYSTEMS :: E-Catalog Lookup

all of the parts are bolt on in your driveway

 

^^ What he said. I just used a Walker muffler and tailpipe from autozone about a month ago. Fell on in a half hour, $130.00. Nice and quiet.

 

nigel ,,, i would check the catalytic converter just in case

being a 2001 model , the honeycomb material inside could be falling apart .

being me , i would replace the catalytic converter as well , just to be on the safe side

 

Appreciate the info guys!

Is Walker the same as Dynomax? Seems very very similar when comparing the two.


Can I ask one minor request on the Walker system... I am not 100% sure with my current exhaust if it was tweaked or modified as when I was doing my lift shackles the way the rear exhaust pipe was routed it would hit the leaf spring because the lift shackle would push it down a few more inches... so I had to cut the end of the exhaust off... So now the end pipe is cut right before the frame in the rear.

How is the pipe routed to the passenger side? Any issues with clearance or possibly hitting the shackle/leafspring, or anything like that?


EDIT: Ideally I REALLY want a side exhaust, and from what I read it isn't hard to do so that might be something that I can talk to the exhaust shop that I found that comes highly recommended about 20miles away and see how much it would run. I don't mind spending a little money but if it costs the same for them to route the exhaust and have two tips on the side of the step side before the rear wheel as the dynomax exhaust I'm going to do that, where if they come back and say it's $400+ or more then I will get the dynomax exhaust/walker exhaust.. I can't imagine there being a lot of piping being used maybe a couple feet since it's coming right out from the side.


Good point on the catalytic converter and I will have to check that out as well.


I'm almost 100% positive the top of the OEM muffler has a hole because when I was spraying the bottom for undercoating I was inspecting the piping and said that looks thin, then put my finger on the exhaust and started failing apart, flaking off...ROFL.

Then a week or two later it sounds later and is resonating from what I can only imagine being directly where the top side of the muffler is. It's not gotten to the point where people are like FIX THE EXHAUST, but I'd like to fix this before it gets to loud.

-Nigel

 

Look at LMC truck they have a nice bolt on dual setup that eliminate the muffler and use only resonator tips.

If the sound is too loud it would be easy to purchase a inline muffler to make it very quiet.

With other systems your stuck with whatever muffler they used.

when I am ready to replace the exhaust I was planning on getting it through LMC mainly because it cleans up the under side of the truck.

Yet I am not sure how much clearance this system will give for the spare tire so I was going to call LMC before ordering to find out.

 

I checked out LMC a couple days ago, not interested in dual exhausts though, I think it looks silly on such a small truck.lol

I'm going to call the muffler shop in a couple hours to get their take and price on things..hoping it's not crazy, if it is then the walker/dynomax is what it's going to be.

-Nigel

 

dynomax mufflers are loud

stick with the walker quiet mufflers

 

Found this dangling from my truck this morning as I went out...ROFL

Now it is loud :-(

Yea I like that the Walker Quiet is s/s.

I called the exhaust shop and he quoted me about $350ish to run an exhaust, possibly $50 less to run it out the side so maybe around $300 vs $190+ tax for the walker setup. He would use s/s piping and my existing broken off corsa dual tip that he'd have to clean the old weld bead off of and weld to the new piping.

Contemplating. I wish I knew how loud the exhaust would be coming out the side of the truck, if it was annoyingly loud or droning then that would get old quick on the highway. But it would look cool coming out the side.

-Nigel

 

Magnaflow is louder than stock yet not too obnoxious.

 

Started ordering all the pieces of the Walker exhaust. Figure that's probably best than to chance paying $350 for a side exhaust only to have it drone on the highway then be back to square one and paying more money.

As far as the clamps are concerned I've never used an exhaust system that uses that style, normally it's bolt together like how the gasket flange is at the cat... Is there a certain amount or using these round U shaped clamps? Is it recommended to use exhaust pipe sealant when connecting and using the clamps?

I noticed that on Walker's website for 2004's their muffler is oval and has the hangers on it (which mine currently has that style being an 01') but on the 01' style it's more of a squarish and I have to buy the bracket separately.

-Nigel

 

stick with these band type clamps

Walker Exhaust Mega Stainless Steel Band Clamp [Walker Exhaust Mega Band Clamp] - $16.99 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

last longer

 

Appreciate it. When looking at those band clamp it appears they are a butt joint. Not to sound stupid but with the Walker exhaust are the ends of pipe bigger/smaller to slide into each other or are they both the same diameter?

I don't want to order the wrong size clamps and waste $30 because I should have purchased ones that were smaller for one pipe and lager for the pipe that goes over top of it?

Looks like the diameter for the pipe is 2" so I would need these clamps:

Thanks again,
-Nigel

Thanks,
-Nigel

 

not the correct one

this is the correct one

Walker (33976) 2-1/2" Aluminized Lap-Joint Exhaust Clamp

read the reviews . it will tell you the proper job it does

 

Welp got everything installed over the weekend after being in Greece for two weeks.

Everything went pretty smoothly. The walker doughnut gasket didn't fit correctly and was too small for some reason. Ended up going to the ford dealer and picking up their gasket and it fit perfectly on the cat pipe.

Install was pretty easy since I just used a grinder and cut the stock bolts since they were so rusted. Only thing I wasn't 100% sure on was the muffler bracket since it wasn't straight up and down it was angled so depending on which way you mounted it, it would either slant towards the driveshaft or towards the frame. I choose the frame.

I sprayed the entire system with high temp 1200' degree paint to hopefully help protect it a little longer and it looks a lot better all black honestly. The crinkles bends are so ugly, and it makes me wonder as well since their dynomax system looks like nicer piping, than the walker one? Oh well. I guess I shouldn't complain for a $40 exhaust piping, but it could have been done a little bit nicer...lol

I used the walker sealing compound on all joints and there are no leaks. I wasn't sure how tight to do the u-clamps so I just started tightening them down by hand until it was uniform and I could see a slight depression in the outer pipe.. I thought about putting a black exhaust tip on the end but really since this hangs down so low it would look weird because when you stand behind the truck you can see the entire bend/back half of the pipe.

I'm actually quite pleased with how quiet this exhaust is. Not buzzy or loud at all. But then again after half the damn pipe which fell off my stock one it was buzzing directly under the bed of the truck. I'm glad I didn't dump $400 into a custom exhaust really. It probably would have been louder which I didn't want.

Overall not a bad job at all.

-Nigel