Gibson vs Flowmaster.

Jun 03, 2009 2 Replies

Well, while cleaning up the oil under the jeep I noticed the ten year old Gibson had a nice crack forming. It was the aluminized one so no lifetime warranty. Not a problem. Reuse the exhaust pipe and tip, pop on a new muffler.



Took the ZJ to my favorite mom&pop muffler shop and asked them to put on a new muffler. Something with a good growl but not overly loud like a glass pack. I did like the sound of the Gibson. Even though I do remember thinking it also was LOUD compared to the OEM muffler.. but DUH.. yea.. :)



Looks like that turns out to be a Flowmaster 40 and well.. Quiet it ain't. Nice deep tone, but when you floor it folks are going to know your there! Haven't had it out for a long drive, hope it doesn't drive me nuts.



If it's like the Gibson it will quiet down a bit as carbon builds up inside.



Tried to use my camera to record the audio, but the camera audio is too crappy to capture what it sounds like.



Time will tell. Anyhoo, Stainless 40 series, $130 installed isn't bad. This muffler is also TINY compared to the Gibson. About half the length and height. This is a plus since it likely won't be snagging me. (which probably is what killed the Gibson)



I have dual Flowmaster 40s under my CJ (SBC). It has a very nice tone at idle. It sounds very nice when I drive conservative around town. However, when I push the accelerator to the floor and open up all barrels on my carb, it has quite the roar. Of course, that's with an eight cylinder.

I've been very pleased with the Flowmaster 40s. They've been on my rig for six years now. So far so good.

True, the I6 can have a bit of a whine and I can tell when it hits the harmonics... ::) But when I mash the go pedal it sounds like I'm back in my C-10 with dual glass packs. Just not in stereo. ;)

I'm going to give it a few more months. Worst off I go back to the Gibson.

The highway sound is fairly nice. Can't hear very much over the tires and other wind noise, so it's not going to bug the crap out of me on long trips. Taking off at a moderate pace does sound a bit like an import fart-pipe, not too happy about that though.

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