Well, for a while now I have been planning to do a new exhaust on the LJ70. I had planned on doing a right side mounted / right side exiting (exiting in front of the rear tire versus out the back under the bumper / stock location). I was under the impression such a system would be more "free-flowing, less restrictive, and cooler." Such a system would benefit an engine that has a bad reputation of running hot.
That said, I've done 4 test drives to compare EGTs Levels on the very same highway which has a 3500' elevation change over 21 miles and a 7% grade at the final 2 miles.
The test results are in and I think I am going to leave things well enough alone, ie,
in their stock location, unless anyone can talk me out of it.
Test Drive #1: Max EGT 665 doing the entire climb in 5th Gear.
Test Drive #2: Max EGT 576 doing the entire climb in 4th Gear.
Test Drive #3: Max EGT 552 with Ram Duct Modified & Stock Exhaust System in place.
Test Drive #4: Max EGT 551 with Ram Duct Modified & Stock Exhaust Removed (only straight pipe of Exhaust Section #1)
Test Drive #5: Max EGT 505 with 33" tires, in 4th gear and speed under 75KMPH/45MPH (no one behind me of course).
On Test Drive #3, Boost was relatively steady at 9.5 psi to 10.5
On Test Drive #4, Boost seemed erratic, fluctuating between 8.0 psi and 11.5 psi
I can only conclude some type of back pressure from the stock muffler system helped maintain a more constant Boost level.
I would also conclude, had the Boost been more constant on the final run, I would have seen higher EGTs than 551.
On the drive home today on level highway, Boost only developed 7.0psi @ 2850 RMP versus the 8.0psi @ 2850 RPM with the stock exhaust system in place. The lower boost of 7psi did produce a lower EGT of 360 versus an EGT of 400 with 8psi of Boost.
It is also worth noting, Water Temp never got over 83.5 Celsius on any run, averaging 81.0 degrees on each climb. I credit that to a Toyota thermostat and rebuilt brass radiator.
Noise Level was acceptable with with straight pipes with the window rolled up, but on the loud side with the right window down. It is nice to hear the turbo wind up, but other than that, I think I prefer it quiet. (I'm obviously too old).
I understand most 70 Series drivers don't care about any of this data since it is from a 2L-TII. But I thought I'd post it away just in case anyone gets any crazy ideas about modifying a perfectly good exhaust system. I probably had another 5 years in the muffler I just cut out of the back. I'm sort of kicking myself now. Nonetheless, I'm gonna sleep on this a few days and decide if I want to run the glass pack out the side or fab up a new #3 section of the exhaust. On a positive side, I was able to wiggle out the #2 section without damaging it.