Muffler Delete, with a twist
 

You would think after 146,000 miles I would have a descent exhaust system on my truck, but I am still puttering around with the stock system. I haven't had my edge on the truck that long, and I was seeing EGT's that were alarming, so turn down tuner, better temp, less power, defeats the point. Finally got fed up this afternoon and decided something had to give, mainly the muffler.

Of course it's Sunday....No parts available. So I decided that instead of a traditional delete, I would just gut the muffler and weld it back up, reinstall. First off I was being "smart" and tried to accomplish all this under the truck..Yea, not a good idea. Got it cut open, gutted, but then there was the problem of welding light metal, upside down with an AC welder. Not going to work. So I took the front muffler bracket and clamp loose, cut the back bracket--no way am I going to bark my knuckles on those metric bolts hiding behind the shock--took the tailpipe bracket off and... Nuts. Hasn't been off since the factory. After beating on it a while, I got smart. Got a high lift jack removed the base, and literally pushed the muffler off. Worked excellent! Get it tight, tap with a sledge, tighten, tap and wallah! fell right into my lap. There on out was easy. Patch the gaping hole up, wiggle it back in, oil everything down, and no go. So, in just the reverse fashion, I grabbed a ratcheting binding strap I had and pulled the muffler back together. When you get it as tight as possible, you can wiggle it and it slides together without much trouble. Finally got it all lined up, welded the bracket I torched.

The results.

I took it for a test spin at operating temperature up a 7% grade. EGT was down by about 75-100 and surprisingly the noise was only slightly louder than stock! The most surprising thing was the lack of lag in my turbo. Spooled up quicker, and smoked less. So until I can get the good stuff, this will definitely help!:c:

By the way, sorry I didn't get pics, but no way am I showing the bubble gum welding I did on this sucker....I really hate AC!:madd:

:D anything that works:U:

sweet deal

If it works it works.