Life without the resonator can and broken trailer wire plug in

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saillaw

saillaw

Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Threads
34
Messages
444
Location
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
I had a refusal over the weekend when trying to climb a steep incline. I foolishly backed down rather than using my winch to get over the top. At the bottom my rear end dug in and I ended up 1) bashing my trailer wire plug in, and 2) bending my exhaust pipe from the rear axel to the bumper such that it was dragging on the ground.

As for the trailer wire plug in, any ideas on where to relocate it (I have the round type) so that I don't break it every time I off-road (which so far has happened every time). I have the BIOR rear bumper.

As for the exhaust, I temporarily pulled the tube back up using some rachet straps, and other than bending the tube, it doesn't seem to have caused any damage. I was wondering if I should just cut the tube and have a new piece welded on to go back the the bumper and just toss the resonator can. My question, have any of you removed the resonator can before? If so, is the sound without it? Did it effect gas milage or power?

As for gas mileage, when I'm pulling my pop-up trailer (about 3500lbs) I'm only getting about 120-150 miles per tank. That works out to 5-6 mpg. Is that normal?

Sorry for the rambling post.
 
Tons of threads on the subject of the resonator. But to save you from having to bear the tedious task of searching :flipoff2: you'll be, as I have been, better off without the resonator. If you do much more than gravel road type off-highway play you'll eventually cave it in again.

If there was a difference in noise at the tailpipe I certainly couldn't tell. But obviously it was meant to do something. Ditto for mpg...couldn't tell the difference.

For comparison with my fairly modded 100 (loaded for touring with both tanks full of gas it weighs right at 8,000lbs) pulling our 2,600lb (again loaded with water, food, etc.) it seems to always average 10.5-11.5mpg; doing 65-75mph. A steady big head wind will drag it down a bit as will steep trail work...but I'd say you are in need of a tune-up if all you can muster is 5-6mpg.
 
If you don't mind drilling your bumper then move the 7-pin plug up. That's what I did on my Slee rear bumper...drilled a hole and mounted it high so nothing hanging down below the hitch receiver; perfect.
7-pin plug photo on bumper.001.webp
 
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I cut of my resonator too. Hardly noticed a difference. If you hit it once, you will most likely hit it many more times.
 
spressomon said:
If you don't mind drilling your bumper then move the 7-pin plug up. That's what I did on my Slee rear bumper...drilled a hole and mounted it high so nothing hanging down below the hitch receiver; perfect.
Click to expand...

spresso, can you post that picture again without the circle? I want to save it to my Favorite 100's folder. =)
 
I mounted my plug between my bumper and hitch- there's a small gap. It's protected much better than the original setup that was done on Reese hitches where a tab holding the plug hung down below.

I average around 10 towing my popup. That's driving pretty conservatively.
 
Here are some before and after photos:

Before:
DSC01650.JPG

DSC01749.JPG


In between:
DSC01636.JPG

DSC01849.JPG

DSC01977.JPG


After:
6816486546_dde17761ca_b.jpg


6816487242_2e53905e41_b.jpg


You can see from those photos that I can't really put the 7 pin plug above the bumper due to the swing arms. I'd thought about drilling a hole like spresso, but I'd have to drill through the frame, I was worried that between that hole and the cut for the trailer hitch that it would weaken that back frame bar too much? But If Spresso's hasn't given out yet, then I'm probably ok too.

I guess I'm going to have to take it in for a tune-up because it sounds like my 5-6mpg towing is not right.

Thanks all for the feedback.
 
saillaw said:
I'd thought about drilling a hole like spresso, but I'd have to drill through the frame, I was worried that between that hole and the cut for the trailer hitch that it would weaken that back frame bar too much? But If Spresso's hasn't given out yet, then I'm probably ok too.
Click to expand...
check with Spresso , but I'm pretty sure that the Slee bumper he is running doesn't run tight to the rear cross member like the BOIR you and I are running. Therefore he probably has space without drilling through the crossmember. Or you might be able to locate it in a way that lines up with the existing holes.
 
x2 on drilling the bumper for the plug. It probably won't affect the strength in a meaningful way (if you were stressing the bumper in such a way that the hole compromised it, then you were probably screwed anyway). On the other hand, it looks like you have lots of room behind the bumper. Buy or fabricate a hard mount clear up behind the hitch and make sure your trailer lead is long enough.

Your gas mileage is really low, but looking at your rig, the added weight and those tires are probably sucking up a couple miles too. I never pulled the pop up with my 100 but my 25' travel trailer gets me into the 7-8mpg range, and it's a lot heavier and less aerodynamic than the pop up. It could also be your right foot that is hurting mileage.;)
 
I'll crawl under the bumper again tonight and see if the drilling will be ok. I'm now worried that if I drill the bumper where the frame is already cut, that it may weaken the trailer reciever box.
 
Why not just call Mike Smith and ask him? Or just move the hole farther DS/PS...all trailer connectors I've seen are typically long enough to go an extra 8-10". And if not its easy to put together an extender...
 
saillaw said:
Here are some before and after photos:

Before:



In between:

.
Click to expand...

Your Jerry can set up looks great. I wish Slee would update his Jerry can rack to look a little better (hint). I'd really like to carry a pair of Jerry cans on my rear ladder like that. Your can holder looks really well done.
 
Thanks, I like it too. The fab quality is great (thanks Mike at BIOR) and I really like that it's easily removable when I don't need to carry cans around.
 
Saillaw:
Truck looks great and the rear bumper is awesome! I can't remember what size tires you put on but they appear to be the perfect size for your rig. Wow!
 
Rolling at Hidden Falls? Thats not too far from my casa. So what did you end up doing about your exhaust? I was at a guys shop the other day while he was working on a 100 and it had a different muffler with no resonator and I have to admit that the sound made me a want to take a hack saw to my stock system.
 
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