Thinking about a glasspack...
 

I'm thinking about getting a glasspack for my '92 dodge dakota. It's got a 318 5.2 V8 in it. It sounds ok now, but I think a glasspack would really maker 'er roar.

I want to know some opinions from people who have owned one or dealt with one in the past. I also need to know what it will do to performance and fuel milage. Also, is it too loud?

First off, A glasspack at my autozone is only like 20 bucks. Seems like an easy investment. The thing is, I'm not an experienced car person and I don't know if my current muffler is welded on or bolted on. If it's welded on I might as well just quit now. I can't weld and I'd probably have to take it in and pay for labor... By the looks of it it's bolted in, but I could be wrong.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/S7301554.jpg



Should I get the glasspack or go with something else?:neutral:

Go with a flowmaster muffler. sounds great.
phil

Honestly you can take the muffler right out and just fill in the space with straight pipe and keep your tail pipe. I knew a guy that did that and it sounded good, not overly loud by any means and the cheapest way to go. In general though, I love the sound of flowmasters! I had an American Thunder Cat back on my '02 Ram, thankfully I don't have that truck anymore though, but it did sound great!

Flowmasters FTW

Ur muffler does just appear to use a muffler clamp which is just a matter of a couple nuts, but even if it's welded a sawzall and a couple new clamps will take care of that!

back in the 80s glasspacks and cherrybombs were the big muffler and IMO loud I would go with a turbo mufller style (flowmaster)

As long as he keeps the tail pipe it won't be very loud even with a piece a plain piece of pipe in there. Dodge's don't have a loud exhaust due to the size of the exhaust valves used. When I did the cat back on mine I fired it up after I cut it off at the cat, wish I hadn't spent the money on the cat back system cause it wasn't very loud right off the cat yet sounded great.

That sound is good while you are driving up the street, but get out on a day long drive and the drone will drive you nuts.

I too recommend a flowmaster or any other "turbo" style muffler over a glasspack. They offer better flow characteristics for performance and mileage than a glasspack. I much prefer the deep throaty sound (classy) to the cheap harsh noise of a glasspack, straightpipe, or rice grinder tin can.

If you dont have the tools to do the job, yes, you should take it in. The muffler you have is clamped on, but after this long, the pipe is crimped and almost rusted together. They will likely sawsall it off, and insert a short replacement piece of pipe, depending on how long the new muffler is.

Well, the cat is staying. The diameter of all the pipe is 2.5". Shouldn't be too loud or quiet. I think it'll sound pretty dang good wiht the 318.:smile: I think the glass pack is just the ticket.

I think it'll last at least 3 and a half years until I finish high school. When I go to college we planned on me taking the family '04 accord.... That is until I build an electric car.:yes:

The one thing pushing me towards a glasspack over a flowmaster is price. A glasspack is only 20 bucks. I don't want to spend 100 bucks on a muffler even if it's extra badass... I'd rather spend my money on other things. You know, my projects. Rc, Spud guns, electric bike.. etc.:intello:

To me, putting money into a vehicle is just like fireworks. They're fun as hell, but they money you spent on it just burns up.:yes:

3 chamber flowmaster all the way. Glasspacks are a bit noisy, and they will not last like a baffle style muffler, like the flowmaster.

I feel like I'll get flamed for this, buuuuutttt IMO, glasspacks sound "ricey". Pretty much any high-performance baffle type muffler will sound better since they don't block the sharp tones as much.

*Edit- Yes Metallover your muffler is clamped on. It is rusted however. That may be a problem.

On a 318 there is no ricey sound! My vote is either straight pipe it or flowmaster 40 series

Im doing header to y pipe, no cat's, to dual magna flows to 2 tips, on my 87 dodge, with a 318, now, and a 340 soon. A magnaflow changed the sound a a 96 Subaru alot, so it should on my 318.

Any 2 chamber turbo style muffler will get the sound you want. A 3 chamber will really decrease the sound to a low rumble at WOT and no big difference at idle. My biggest suggestion to you is to get rid of the monsterous cat that came on those things. It restricts more sound than anything. Throw a nice high flow cat, 2 chamber Flow and 3" pipe all the way back and love the sound. For a true performance upgrade look at going headers back with an X pipe and a pair of 2 chamber mufflers, along with the high flow cat. You would need to bypass the O2 sensor or purchase two cats($$$) to prevent the SES light from coming on though.

+? I gotta love my dual cat-back FLOWMASTER '08 Pony

That right there is funny, I don't care who ya are!!!!!

lol, thats pretty funny. i have a dual flowmaster catback exhaust on my '77 trans am, and it makes my 454 sound deadly. im thinking about a BMW M6 exhaust on my moms TL too...

What? We put a magnaflow on a 96 Subaru Impreza Brighton, 4 banger, should do wonders on my 318 8 cyl.

Man this thread brings me back. lol

back in my day we would put in bypass valves in the exaust right after the header. It was basically a pipe with a y on it. the header flowed into the main end, and one side of the Y went into the normal exaust system, and the other ran to short straight pipes that basically just lead to the front wheel well to get the exaust out from under the hood. When you wanted power you pulled the cable operated lever inside the car and the flaps opened up the straight pipes and the thing roared with no exaust restriction at all. Then you pushed the switch inside the car closed and the flaps closed and the car went back to normal sounding.

Great for street racing. Reaaly loud when open though. I did it on an old Chevy 350 in my '79 z28 and an oldsmobile 455 in my '74 cutlass. Freaking deafaning when you got on the culass with basically open headers.

Damn I miss that stuff... Now I'm just happy when my car gets me to work with no trouble. :sleep:

Those are called "cut-outs" and are utterly pointless on any V style motor without forced induction. A V style engine is designed to scavenge the exhaust puffs from each cylinder and syncronize the two banks for a more efficient, smoother running engine that makes more power. A true performance exhaust system has both banks combining behind the headers by and X pipe for the scavenging effect. You can put cut-outs after the X pipe to decrease the back pressure a bit but you really gain no horsepower. You lose horsepower and efficiency by putting cut-outs on a V style engine before the X pipe. It causes a rough idle and an incurable inbalance in the engine. A forced induction vehicle does not require scavenging as it already has pressure in the intake and has a ton of back pressure in the turbo. Also, most cams designed for forced induction motors do not rely on scavenging and are built with a more aggressive low end powerband.

OK. Not gonna argue it was good. Just loud and fun. lol What the hell did I know I was 17. :)

Haha, I know. I see it all the time. Kids go out, cut the exhaust off and stick straight pipes on and say they gained a hundred horsepower. Its the whole "louder must be faster" concept they have. Its fun to kill the ricers next to you at the light with an open header V8 at 5k RPMs. My cut-outs are electric so I just touch a switch on the center console to open it up. The cable cut-outs are more reliable, just more of a pain.

And the cable ones were the only thing I think they had back then. Probably cheaper too which would have been another important reason I would have chosen them.

I remember showing my dad those things after my buddy and I installed them. Lets just say he was pissed. lol

Another thing I remember is they didnt close that well after a little while so it always had that "it needs a new muffler" sound to it.

Thanks Tempted - I was going to say something about that also. Antoher misconception is that a bigger exhaust is going to give you more power. IC motors rely on a certain amount of backpressure to give torque. So for all those that go ripping out the kitty's, do so with the knowledge that someone a heck of a lot smarter than you did many hours of research putting that exhaust system in place. Yes, in some cases they sacrificed some power for efficiency and regulatory requirements, but overall, they are sized about right.

Well I just picked up a Thrush glasspack for $23.30. It's 28" and the stock is 24". I'll have to take it in to have it installed. Hope it costs under $50. At least it has the right diameter ends...

How much do you guys think it'll cost me?

Why not take a swzall and cut the old muffler off and put the new one on yourself and save you the money? Nothing hard to it at all.

I guess I could do that but I'd have to find someone that can weld...:neutral:

Just get 2 exhaust clamps. They will work just fine and require no welding.

IMO glasspacks are loud and obnoxious but if you've got it already go ahead and put it in. If you don't like it you can always get something else. I personally don't like Flowmasters, they all seem to have the same bland sound and everybody uses them. My brother has them on his '66 Mustang with a 347 stroker and the mufflers don't do that engine any justice.

How much louder are glasspacks then stock? My dad asked me if it was going to be loud and I said I didn't know..... He said it's loud enough already...

There pretty loud and sound like crap IMO. Some people like them I just think it sounds horrible.

I'd have to agree. They sound like crap and they get even louder when they get older. Borla FTW.

+1. Borlas are very good mufflers. Expensive but they have a great sound, they're well built, have a good warranty, etc. I have a Magnaflow catback on my Mustang (which has a smaller engine) and it sounds awesome, but keeping the stock manifolds, cats, H-pipe, etc. it is unobtrusive and you can drive it on the interstate without getting a headache from drone.

Well it should sound better then stock, right? The fact that I paid less then 25 bucks is the reason I got it.....

What type of glasspack did you buy? On my saab 1989 900s Im running an upgraded 2.5in exaust from the downpipe back "No cat" with a cherry bomb turbo muffler and a 3in chrome tip. Has a really nice throaty growl to it. Added a somewhat noticable amount of power to the 2.0l I4 aswell.

It should, depends on if you like the sound of glasspacks or not. I say spend a few hours and put it in and if you like it then keep it. If not you can either put your stock muffler back on (provided that you didn't cut it up too bad getting it out) or save up and get a better muffler.

I got a Thrush 2.5in/out 28" long one... There's a shop in town that's supposed to be able to do install it for $40 bucks... I'll go to them this week if I can.:yes:

Install it yourself. Its not difficult. ;)

Problem is this one is 4" too long. I'll need to do some cuttin and peobably weld a new bracket on....:sleep: I'll take another look at it and see if I can't get er done with a friend.:eyes:

Hack 4in off your exaust pipe, pick up some muffler clamps and a make a bracket to hold the glasspack. Peice of cake.