Stock Muffler Construction?

[FireDemonSiC]

Does anyone know, or better yet, have photos of how the factory mufflers are internally designed on the Explorer ST models?

Wanting something that sounds a little more aggressive than the factory Prius exhaust and better flow is always a plus. On my '17 Sport, I had a resonator delete done and the stock mufflers replaced with Flow FXs. REALLY loved that setup. Zero rasp or popping through the exhaust. Looking through the videos though, I have yet to find anything on the 3.0 engines that I think either has rasp or sounds like a 4 cylinder Honda.

For the first change, I was thinking of going with a dual in/out Borla ProXS in place of the factory resonator. Have one of these on my 6.0 truck and the straight through design plus internal X Really does a fine job of cancelling out any obnoxious rasp in the exhaust while flowing very well.



Depending on how it sounds after, I'm highly tempted to just keep the factory mufflers in place. Are they a straight through perforated design or are they baffled/chambered?

 

[Novagunner]

There is a thread here with resonator swap with a magnaflow with internal x and muffler delete. Sounds good on vid and thought of doing it myself

https://www.explorerst.org/threads/magnaflow-muffler-resonator-swap-and-stock-muffler-delete.432/

 

[jrgoffin]

I have a set of stock mufflers I removed when swapping in the Gibson axle-back - have been tempted to cut one open out of curiosity before they get scrapped. If I do it, I’ll snap some pictures.

On that note, the Gibson kit has an amazing sound and is a fantastic bang-for-the-buck at around $500. They did their homework when producing this kit since all the others just charge two- to three-times the cost for little to no performance gains. Adding to that, so many of the kits out there just sound like crap whereas this one adds a perfect, but not obnoxious, rumble. It’s your cash - spend it wisely!

 

[Cdubya]

I have a set of stock mufflers I removed when swapping in the Gibson axle-back - have been tempted to cut one open out of curiosity before they get scrapped. If I do it, I’ll snap some pictures.

On that note, the Gibson kit has an amazing sound and is a fantastic bang-for-the-buck at around $500. They did their homework when producing this kit since all the others just charge two- to three-times the cost for little to no performance gains. Adding to that, so many of the kits out there just sound like crap whereas this one adds a perfect, but not obnoxious, rumble. It’s your cash - spend it wisely!

Gotta say, I ditched my Gibson axleback. I could not figure out the higher pitched hum/drone i was getting at 2-2.3k rpm. I couldn't in good conscience resell it if there was a defect in the mufflers so I trashed them. Also, not happy with how rusted out they looked after less than a year. Ended up with MRT H-pipe and stock mufflers with black 4" tips. Couldn't be more pleased.

 

[jrgoffin]

Zero complaints with my Gibson kit. Sounds fantastic at all RPM’s. Not worried about rust since it has a lifetime warranty. The MRT stuff is nice, too. Had the H-pipe briefly and it had a nice bump in sound with the stock mufflers.

 

[FireDemonSiC]

Zero complaints with my Gibson kit. Sounds fantastic at all RPM’s. Not worried about rust since it has a lifetime warranty. The MRT stuff is nice, too. Had the H-pipe briefly and it had a nice bump in sound with the stock mufflers.

I did a bit of poking around and the Gibson kit seems to be a chambered/baffled design. A bit disappointing especially for the price point.

 

[jrgoffin]

I did a bit of poking around and the Gibson kit seems to be a chambered/baffled design. A bit disappointing especially for the price point.

What’s disappointing about it? The kit sounds fantastic and is priced right. I was happy to spend less than $500 for it as well.

 

[FireDemonSiC]

What’s disappointing about it? The kit sounds fantastic and is priced right. I was happy to spend less than $500 for it as well.

Chambered and baffled mufflers are more restrictive than a straight through, perforated design. Some people will argue that it's by a negligible amount and they wouldn't be wrong, depending on the exact design. But I've always been the type of person to check all boxes possible.

 

[GearHead_1]

This may be of some interest.

 

[jrgoffin]

The Gibson mufflers are not restrictive at all.

 

[flhx06]

I bought a pair of Paradox Hot Tamale mufflers and had my local shop install them with new muffler tips in place of the stock mufflers. I love it. It sounds good, not too aggressive and no drone.

 

[FireDemonSiC]

The Gibson mufflers are not restrictive at all.
View attachment 20003

OK that's alot better than I was expecting. Basically straight through with a small chamber in the middle.