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How to make a Flowmaster louder, and less restrictive!

40K views 44 replies 21 participants last post by  wesleys4.3  
#1 ·
Not for those with a fresh new Flowmaster 40, until it breaks in a month, and you know how it sounds!

This is a theory of mine, but I believe it will work on single center outlet flows, I haven't tried it yet, because I haven't had time, nor the ambition, & energy to take my 6 month rusted Flow orig 40 off, But eventually I'll get to it,,, those of you who are ballsy, & willing, I'd like to know your results. Ok, here's the simple mod: All flowmaster orig 40's have an inverted V-shaped baffle plate as the final baffle on the exhaust, drill a 1/4" pilot hole directly in the middle of the inside of the baffle, then use the biggest hole saw you can fit to carefully drill thru the V-baffle (most probably a 2" hole saw) and you're done. This will free up the exhaust flow more like a straight thru muffler, but still leave some muffling, some of the exhaust flow will still go around the V- baffle, and some of the faster higher pitched pulses will go directly out thru the V- baffle first, & faster, this way instead of the exhaust flow roaring, & reverberating, and giving you a baffled hollow can sound, it should produce a louder, sharper, more defined sound, with less roar (but still leaving some baffling) and sounding like a good old steel pack. If you have a Cat on the vehicle, it's not very loud without a muffler anyway with a full tailpipe, I think this would be a most likely candidate for this experiment.
 
#2 ·
Chambered mufflers dont "break in"...
 
#3 ·
They might not "break in" but they do change in sound after the carbon builds up and smoothes out the internal edges... Dosen't make a crazy difference in the sound but I noticed my Flowmaster 40 Series change in sound after awhile. But Sorry MikDee, I'm not cutting mine up to test your theory LOL Your idea does make sense though.
 
#5 ·
BS! Call it what you want, but they do get louder. After 6 months mine sounds way different, and louder then when I put it on. When I get a chance i'll put up a recent sound clip, so you can compare, and eat your words. Then next I will do the mod on my Flow 40, and put up a clip, it maybe awhile for this though.
 
#15 ·
Ok, if this works as I planned, I want to be known as the father of the flowmaster mod :D If not, a famous line from "Mission Impossible" the series: "Mr. Phelp's, If you fail, I'll disavow any knowledge of your actions, this message will self destruct in 5 seconds" :rolleyes:
 
#17 ·
LOL@ breaking in a chambered muffler.....
i wish mine would break in already....I had it on my truck since 97...

Im wondering if you are just hearing your cat change your sound since youve had your new muffler...trying to break it in you may have roasted your cat.....:haha:
 
#20 ·
To all the Naysayers,,, BS, It does break in, and get louder! It gets more boomy as time goes by, when I first put mine on it actually sounded ricey!,,, That's not the case now. If you can't hear the difference you're Deef! Amen!
 
#23 · (Edited)
OK, here's the deal..

I finally read this thread, and I figured I would go straight to the source( I got home very early from work, and the cable is out, so I've got some time to kill)......

http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/products/index.php?main_page=contact_us

Called that number, (press 1 for tech support) spoke to a fellow named Ernie. He says that at no time so far, to his knowledge at least (for purposes of full disclosure), has any testing of theirs shown there to be any "break-in" in terms of flow rates or decibel levels. He said he has heard this many times before, and doesn't argue that it doesn't seem like a reasonable hypothesis, but in the end he said it was just plain not correct.
 
#25 ·
Exactly.
 
#28 ·
For the love of God... put the shovel away!
 
#29 ·
I'll ad a little fuel to the fire. I dunno if yah want to say break in, BUT they do change their tune. I had a new set of 2 chambers on a car I had years ago. The whole exhaust was new. Drove it around for 3-4 days, normal driving, it sounded saweet the way it was just puttin' around. Went to go home, and at the time lived with my parents, uphill both ways. So, at the bottom of the hill, did a linelock to get the tires spinning, then hammered it till they stopped. And right after that I noticed that the sound changed. I can't remember if they got louder or throatier or what, but whatever it was the sound changed.

I have Flows on my fullsize Blazer now, sounds OK, but EVERYONE has them now, want a different sound. Gonna try something else and probly give these to a guy I work with...
 
#39 ·
:lol: :popcorn:


yeah, where is that sound clip???
 
#42 · (Edited)
By the way Where you been Rhot?, this soundclip has been in my signature until yesterday, I guess you weren't paying attention since 7/25/07? :rolleyes: My truck had gotten alot more roar, and began to resonate in the cab, since it was posted then, Here it was sounding abit ricey when I first put it on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-yGUO3_zLQ&feature=user

This clip was there actually first, I bought this muffler from a forum member, but didn't care for it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt31F9dPmS4

cevtv, you're the one that left the smartass remark, but apparently I see thats your style, so be it. Well, the truck is history now, so I never got to try this, and I found a better muffler then a flowmaster, so I'm moving on to that now.
 
#43 ·
By the way Where you been Rhot?, this soundclip has been in my signature until yesterday,
Idon't know...I guess when someone says they are going to post a clip I should start looking in the un-obvious places..it's all good. I'm still waiting for mine to break in...:haha: