About 2 months ago, I got "magnaflow" mufflers put on my stang. I really didnt like the flowmasters that were on it. You may all throw tomatoes at me for saying so, but I don't think flowies sound right on a 5.0. The hum at 2000 rpm is kind of annoying as well. Anyway, I decided to remove them.
A friend recommended magnaflows, so I dialed up a local exhaust shop ( I wont name their name. If you want to know, I'll tell you, but I wont use this board for slamming them) who said they could put a pair on for $280. Good deal, I thought. I dropped the car off, and picked it up later, never looking underneath it. The guy said he had to tack on 80 more because of damaged pipe. He said he put dynomax pipes on it. I took his word and paid for it and drove off. The car sounded better, to their credit, so I didnt care.
The buddy who recommended magnaflows, says "those dont sound like magnaflows" but I didnt think much of it.
Today I decided to get some hi-flow cats. This time I was told to go to Ed's mufflers in Aloha. I take the car in, tell em what I want, and they put it on the rack. Underneath the car was a gigantic mess of crap like none I've seen. I must have looked pretty ignorant.
There were 3 sizes of pipe on the car. It went from 2 1/4 to 2" then back to 2 1/2" on one side. The weld jobs were the worst I've ever seen. I'm no welder, but I've done better work in high school metal shop.
The mufflers were turbo mufflers. Cheap ass $15 turbo mufflers, and two different ones at that. One of them was a 2 1/4" id, the other was 2 1/2". Did they use an adapter to put 2 1/4" pipe into a 2 1/2" muffler? Oh heck no. Thats what welding rod was made for! He literally filled it in to make it fit. Dynomax pipes? Not even kinda.
At first the guy at Ed's tried to accomodate my mismatched turbo mufflers. I set a limit with myself of 400 dollars for this job, and was going to stick with it. He really started fumbling around trying to make it work, but the alignment of the pipes was very difficult. I could see the guy tried his best, but the fact was that this setup was doomed.
Might I note that the hangers weren't done right either, which caused my pipes to melt the back plastic, something I noticed a while back.
So finally, I say screw it. I tell him to rip it all out, and lets start over again. He did, and now I have 2 1/2" stainless steel all the way out. Dynomax pipes (for real this time!), magnaflow cats, and REAL magnaflow mufflers.
Total cost: $1040
They did an excellent job putting it together, the welds are clean, the exhaust is smooth and the hangers are right. The car sounds awesome, and there is a noticeable increase in power. It was hitting 5pm, so I told them I'd come in and have the tailpipes put on tommorow. So we'll see what it sounds like without the annoying cab resonance I got going with having them dumped before the axle.
The moral of the story is a tired old one. Don't try to cut corners and save money. I am satisfied with this system, and Ed's Mufflers in General. They did a good job, and I reccomend them now.
A friend recommended magnaflows, so I dialed up a local exhaust shop ( I wont name their name. If you want to know, I'll tell you, but I wont use this board for slamming them) who said they could put a pair on for $280. Good deal, I thought. I dropped the car off, and picked it up later, never looking underneath it. The guy said he had to tack on 80 more because of damaged pipe. He said he put dynomax pipes on it. I took his word and paid for it and drove off. The car sounded better, to their credit, so I didnt care.
The buddy who recommended magnaflows, says "those dont sound like magnaflows" but I didnt think much of it.
Today I decided to get some hi-flow cats. This time I was told to go to Ed's mufflers in Aloha. I take the car in, tell em what I want, and they put it on the rack. Underneath the car was a gigantic mess of crap like none I've seen. I must have looked pretty ignorant.
There were 3 sizes of pipe on the car. It went from 2 1/4 to 2" then back to 2 1/2" on one side. The weld jobs were the worst I've ever seen. I'm no welder, but I've done better work in high school metal shop.
The mufflers were turbo mufflers. Cheap ass $15 turbo mufflers, and two different ones at that. One of them was a 2 1/4" id, the other was 2 1/2". Did they use an adapter to put 2 1/4" pipe into a 2 1/2" muffler? Oh heck no. Thats what welding rod was made for! He literally filled it in to make it fit. Dynomax pipes? Not even kinda.
At first the guy at Ed's tried to accomodate my mismatched turbo mufflers. I set a limit with myself of 400 dollars for this job, and was going to stick with it. He really started fumbling around trying to make it work, but the alignment of the pipes was very difficult. I could see the guy tried his best, but the fact was that this setup was doomed.
Might I note that the hangers weren't done right either, which caused my pipes to melt the back plastic, something I noticed a while back.
So finally, I say screw it. I tell him to rip it all out, and lets start over again. He did, and now I have 2 1/2" stainless steel all the way out. Dynomax pipes (for real this time!), magnaflow cats, and REAL magnaflow mufflers.
Total cost: $1040
They did an excellent job putting it together, the welds are clean, the exhaust is smooth and the hangers are right. The car sounds awesome, and there is a noticeable increase in power. It was hitting 5pm, so I told them I'd come in and have the tailpipes put on tommorow. So we'll see what it sounds like without the annoying cab resonance I got going with having them dumped before the axle.
The moral of the story is a tired old one. Don't try to cut corners and save money. I am satisfied with this system, and Ed's Mufflers in General. They did a good job, and I reccomend them now.