22-RE exhaust

[SubChad]

Im looking for some knowlegable sugestions on some replacement exhaust for my 89' 22-RE truck. my mufler just rusted off of the tube one the motor side. what is a good after market setup? or should I just weld a new stock mufler back on? would there be a noticable increase in perfromance with an aftermarket mufler and new tubes from behind the kat? i dont have money to spend on a free flow cat so im jsut looking as a kat back change. also in mind i need to keep it smog legal for california. i will be happy to her from everyone. thanks

[Swang]

Go with a quality 2 1/4" exhaust tubing and a good flowing muffler.I went to the local shop & got their Flowmaster muffler.It seems to be a good value.You can get a whole cat-back system from a lot of the high end manufacturers-can't go wrong there but, value not as good.($) Like: Gibson,Borla,Downey

[snorkleman]

Yeah I hit up my local muffler shop for thier version of the flowmaster (mellowtone). It was cheap and works good. There was a little horsepower gain, but really with the 3.0 v6 its not that big a deal. If its rusted out...replace it. Sounds like you'll need some pipe behind the cat and the muffler. Like swang-ola said..get some 2 1/4 and throw it up. ;D

[SubChad]

That all sounds good, thanks for the help guys. Ill up-date on here next weekend and let everyone know how it went.

[NCSU]

For those of you with a 22-RE, does an aftermarket system have a good sound too it, or is it high pitched. I have the same problem with the rusted out muffler, but I have just continued driving with it. Somehow, it has passed inspection for 2 years and running. Does Flowmaster or Mellowtone sound pretty good, or anyone else with something inexpensive... how does it sound? (Don't want to pay to get Borla, Gibson, etc)

[Colotoyboy]

Hey, yea i have a 90' with a 22re and i just did my exaust. I went to the local shop and told them i didnt want to sound like these rice burners runnin around town. They set me up with a Turbo stage 3 muffler with some 2 1/4 cat back piping. My truck isnt high-pitched or loud. But its a nice mellow, more of a V-6 sound. Power wise im at extremely high-altitude so i didnt see a gain but maybe you could see a small one at see level. Total cost 115$

[4linktoy]

I have a 93 toyota p/u and I put on a Magnaflow aftercat straight through exhaust about six months ago. I like it...doesn't sound much different...supposedly 18% more efficiency. $125 with complete set of new pipes (304T.)

[NCSU]

Does a high flow cat make a big difference in power/efficiency? I have considered getting one with an aftermarket muffler and 2 1/4" pipes, but I didn't know if the cat would be worth the money. How much does a decent high flow cat usually go for? Good brands?

[4linktoy]

Supposedly the after market high-flow cat is supposed to complement a low restriction exhaust. perfomanceproducts.com have them for sale at $119.99.

[NCSU]

Have any of you tried a Flowmaster muffler with single outlet and 2 1/2" piping from the cat back? A guy at a local muffler shop said that it would he what he'd do if he had a 22-RE. I saw how some of you put that you had 2 1/4" piping, but I didn't know about 2.5". I don't plan on getting any kind of a chrome tip put on or anything like that, just the pipe. I was going to get this done tomorrow, so I wanted to get some last minute feedback.

[86taco]

I punched out my cat and have 2-3/4 from the cat to the flowmaster and the same size tail pipe. I really like the sound it does not soud like a bumble bee like the fast and the furious wanna bees. it has a good rumble. It should sound even better once I get my header. rock on

[NCSU]

Does the truck pass inspection in your state (assuming you have to test it) with the cat. punched out? How did you go about punching it out... may be a dumb question, but I am learning alot on this truck as I go. I think that a header is one of the next things on my agenda, once time and money are permitting of course (sucks having many thoughts of stuff to do on a truck and being in college at the same time... holds you up with money and time to do stuff)

[NCSU]

Well, I just got back from the muffler shop. I ended up getting a Flowmaster with single outlet put on and I got 2.5" pipe from the cat back. Overall, I am pleased... I have only driven around town, so I don't know exactly how much different it will run, but it doesn't sound like a rice-rocket and that was my main concern. In town, I can tell a little difference in the acceleration, but nothing to get too excited about.

[86taco]

Well what I did was first I cut the pipe off behind the cat and smashed the catalist out of it. That didnt work to well. I could not get it all out so I cut a good sized hole in the bottom took it all out and then welded it shut. If your state does not require your truck to pass any tests I would just replace the whole piece from the header/manifold back to the muffler. That is what I am going to do as soon as I get my header. I live in Indiana and we have no emmisions laws.

[NCSU]

Oh, see I have emissions laws here in North Carolina. I haven't figured out exactly how strict they are though, because before I recently got my muffler replaced, I had a pretty significant hole in it. I took it to Jiffy Lube, who I've noticed is one of the less observant places and it passed two consecutive years with that hole in it. But, I had to replace the muffler when I started getting headaches from driving due to exhaust rising into the cab... never a good thing. I have considered gutting the cat on mine, just haven't actually figured out the best way, so thats why I asked. I think I just need to take up welding... that would make many more things possible at much less cost.

[DeadlyPeace]

I live in Calif$#@*fornia where they have laws against anything and everthing. I put on a Downey Header to a 2 1/2" pipe to a free flow cat and a 60 Serries FlowMaster then into a 3" pipe for a little extra flow out the end. Would have done a 3" all the way through, but the inlet and outlet on the FlowMaster were only 2 1/4". I had the inlet stretched to 2 1/2" and the outlet to 3". 1/4"-1/2" is normally the most you want to really stretch the pipe, but I've always been willing to put thing to it limit. It got to be pretty thin so I really wouldn't sugguest it without doing some kind of adapter (2 1/2" to 3" adapter would work), but so far I haven't had problems with it yet. I didn't do the inlet to 3" cuz it would coz to much retriction going into the muffler.

BTW if you plan to get a header and need to have your rig smogged make sure that it comes with a heat riser or you can get one for the header you get. Downey Headers are good and they do have the heat riser, but it doesn't come with the header.

[DeadlyPeace]

NCSU said:

I have considered gutting the cat on mine, just haven't actually figured out the best way, so thats why I asked. I think I just need to take up welding... that would make many more things possible at much less cost.

FREE FLOW CAT - try this:

Unbolt or cut the cat off, if it's still good, keep it. If not, get a new one.
If you have flanges that held your cat on, GREAT, just buy 2 more flanges. If not and you had to cut it off, buy 6 of them.
Get a length of pipe the same length as your cat and weld (or have welded) a flange at each end and bolt it up.
If you didn't already have flanges then weld (or have welded) one to each end of the cat and one to the end of each pipe where it was cut then bolt on the pipe.
When it come to smog time. Remove the pipe and put on the cat.

;)You'll be amazed at how long the cat will last when you only use it to smog your rig. My rig is an 85 and I'm the first and only owner. I did this mod a year after I bought it and would be still using the stock cat, but I junked it when I went to a larger exhaust pipe.

[NCSU]

I am going to have to say that is deviously clever. I haven't actually thought of doing something like that, but I may have to give it a shot. Does the lack of cat give the ol' 4-cylinder much more power?

[86taco]

Welding is not that hard. it just takes time to get the hang of it. MIG welding is the easiest off all the types. stick is a little trickier. I learned to weld with stick so that made mig a sinch. Do any of your buddies know how to weld . If so have them show you how some time. good luck.

[NCSU]

yeah, my friend has a MIG welder, I am pretty confident that I could learn it quickly. I would like to buy one for myself, but money is not permitting at the moment. I have to save for a trip abroad at the moment. Aren't decent MIG welders about $250-300?