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So 14" Pro XS is in and wowee what a difference! Sounds nearly identical to my tiny round body borla stinger muffler but a bit quieter outside and WAY less drone. Even under load.
I ordered two of the Crown Vic exhaust weights to see if I could get rid of the last bit of resonance. It's much improved but if I can nearly remove it while I'm the highway, then I'm all for it.
Very very pleased so far. Did a 35-40 miles drive all different scenarios and I am very happy with the result at this point.
Wow, that was fast on the muffler R&R. Glad it worked for you. I didn't think about ordering the weights from Ford, did not even know they were still available. Mine came on a system I bought off a wrecked HPP Crown Vic to put duals on our Mercury, the Merc had weights already so I had left overs until I used two pieces of angle iron to make a cradle to weld the weights to ... made cradle to fit 3" pipe in my case, then I just clamped it as in the picture. On the CV each weight had a bracket so them mounted with bolts that hook H-pipe to the head pipes from the cats. I hope I didn't lead you astray. Here is another picture.
The ones I ordered appear to be attached via u bolts. For no no welder so must be bolt on, but you can see they likely will work just fine. I found reference to them be u bolt attached as well for forums.
I'll be getting myself a nice welder this spring and can use it at my sister's house. Can't wait until I finally have a house/shop. Few more years. Nice having my garage at the apartment in the meantime for most things. Just can't weld or anything like that here.
If the weights don't work, I plan to recreate my system anyways out of 304 SS this year once I get my welder. I plan to make a 1/4 eave resonator/j pipe. Been studying up on that. I cruise at 1700-1750 or so at 70mph. So I will determine the frequency of the drone, and fabricate the J pipe accordingly when I build the new cat back. It's not bad, but I like it quieter on the highway now.
Oh, I think U-bolts will work dandy with those, look like same weight, just different bracket. You could size the U bolts to the pipe and use two and mount the weights parallel beside the pipe. I think they will make you happy.
I use a 225 amp ac Craftsman stick welder I bought used in 1981 from a friend going through divorce, it has been on 220v 50 amp circuit since 1992 ... but before that I ran it off a dryer cord and just plugged it in in-place-of the wife's dryer which was on a 220v 30 amp breaker. Even now, unless I'm welding some serious thick steel deep, I'm using 3/32 E7014 at just 120 or 130 amps at most, often less so the welder doesn't draw near 50 amps. I once wanted a ac/dc and later a wire welder, but this buzz box works great really. I learned from my wife's dad in the early '80s, he taught me with E7014 but there are easier rods to use.
Oh, I think U-bolts will work dandy with those, look like same weight, just different bracket. You could size the U bolts to the pipe and use two and mount the weights parallel beside the pipe. I think they will make you happy.
I use a 225 amp ac Craftsman stick welder I bought used in 1981 from a friend going through divorce, it has been on 220v 50 amp circuit since 1992 ... but before that I ran it off a dryer cord and just plugged it in in-place-of the wife's dryer which was on a 220v 30 amp breaker. Even now, unless I'm welding some serious thick steel deep, I'm using 3/32 E7014 at just 120 or 130 amps at most, often less so the welder doesn't draw near 50 amps. I once wanted a ac/dc and later a wire welder, but this buzz box works great really. I learned from my wife's dad in the early '80s, he taught me with E7014 but there are easier rods to use.
That is exactly my plan! I'll be using a sound analyzer to see if it removes the drone frequency. A little science experiment 🙂
Those buzz boxes are stout and last a very long time. At my parents back in MA, we have a Lincoln MP 210. Great unit and that's how I did my exhaust originally.
I plan to pick up a Hobart Handler 140 so I can do both regular and stainless steel. Much like those buzz boxes, many guys own the Hobart 140 for 20-30 years. Will be perfect for my needs currently.
Eventually I plan to get a tig/stick machine, but no need right now.
Enjoyed the ride along, I know the area, thought looked vaguely familiar, Concord looks growed up, I can recall it in the '60s before there was an 85 there, you went through on 29. Nice truck, I bet 3 or 4 ounces of hard plastic Red Jacket BBs in each tire would go a long ways to eliminating the vibes. What size tires anyway? Does Borla ship the hat too? Looks like our weather last couple days, just wetter. I use the stick on spot mirrors too, I just put them in the lower outer most corner ... but don't they help. Clean garage there.
Truck sounds great, but hard to imagine taking mine out in rain for a video, dedication there as I rather wash that Mustang 2.7 times before washing these trucks once. My worst or most aggravating drone was at about 1700-1800 rpm in 2nd or 3rd light cruise. Shift up or down, it went away just because the rpm dropped or jumped out of that narrow range. Get it to 1900 and it was "better". A cruise at 1700-1800 in OD got old fast. The 28 inch long 3"ID Dynomax # 24241 Cherry Bomb glass-pack helped ... but did not totally eliminate it. I think it helped me simply by reducing volume level, mellowed the tone some too. The weights were my cure.
Well two years later and the Borla pro XS became too loud. I know I have gotten older over the past nearly 15 years of owning the truck, but these mufflers do get louder the more miles you put on them from my experience. Still in my early thirties and I love a good sounding exhaust, but I just can't deal with the drone.
After much deliberation, I finally decided to buy the Borla single and single out p/n 140136 cat back that they make for these trucks. Obviously incredibly high quality, and I did need to purchase some new exhaust hangers as I had removed mine years ago because I've had the side exit. Stupid me, so that involved a lot of parts catalog diving to ensure I had the correct hardware and retainer clips that you need to install those hangers. Not easy finding that stuff!
The goal is to eventually rework the angle of the tailpipe and install the Corsa style tip you see in the pictures. But I have to wait until I have my house because I can't use my welder in my living situation and I need some more practice with stainless. So I'm just rocking the standard 4-in Borla rolled edge tip for now. Bit of a bummer but it is what it is.
Even with my magnaflow high flow cats, there is zero drone and it is such a relief. The truck is definitely quieter, but it still is significantly louder than a stock 11th gen with this cat back. Has a real nice snarl going through the gears and then gets much subdued just like my Mustang with the GT500KR Shelby axle-backs.
I used all 304 stainless steel tubing to fill in the section of my intermediate pipe that is long gone. And once I am situated hopefully later this year, I'll start planning out making that section fully welded with only a couple of clamp in sections just to clean it up a bit but it is quite nice for right now. I'll have to get some sound clips in a few weeks as there's really not much online for the system.
Unfortunately I did need to remove my helwig rear sway bar that I've had for almost 10 years now. The engineering must have been different 20 years ago as the endlinks are right in the way of the Borla tailpipe section. Makes sense really, because there are so many more exhaust available for the newer trucks. Someone putting a sway bar on a truck is probably going to be putting an exhaust on it as well, so I'm sure they test that better now as I don't see the fitment issues on the newer trucks. I ordered a 2009-2014 rear sway bar that I've been told fits. And that will be dropped off here soon so that'll be a project I'll be taking on in the next week or so. It mounts towards the front of the truck instead of the rear.
Other than the lame tip for now which takes away from my Harley-Davidson themed truck, I'm happy and it's amazing not having drone anymore. Just couldn't take it anymore lol.
Also getting very close to finally getting my newer truck as my daily driver. Looking like early next year I will pull the trigger on a 19-20 5.0 SuperCrew. Long time coming!
01-01-2021, 06:55 PM
