FJ60/62 Aftermarket Exhaust - More Theorycraft

[gregnash]

Backstory: About 3 months ago I busted my leg on a mountain biking trip however what I remember starting out that day is walking out to my 85 FJ60 and seeing the rear most portion of the exhaust just hanging there. Apparently it had rusted through at the u-bolt exhaust clamp that held it to the final hanger.

Months and months earlier a buddy and I had been repairing/replacing the quarter panel on that same side and needed to get the pipe out of the way. We disconnected the rear most hanger (the one that recently rusted through) and the pushed the pipe out of the way to get to the section we needed. Well we both heard a loud CRUNCH as my buddy pushed on the pipe, only to find that the outlet had rusted through and broken directly at the muffler body.

Amongst other problems with the exhaust I figured it was time to start looking at something new. I know that Walker offers a full kit that is a direct swap of the OEM. WALKER® EXHAUST SYSTEMS :: E-Catalog Lookup But what is the fun in replacing something with only what is OEM! I wanted something that had a bit more "musclecar esque" sound to it. I had gotten a quote prior to the final hanger breaking and most of the local shops wanted $250+ to replace everything from the cat back with a Flowmaster 50 series style muffler and new 2.5" pipe.

Research:
So this started me thinking.... welding up an exhaust, mig style, has GOT to be easier than body work? Higher gauge steel and what not should make it at least somewhat simple, with the main issues being location of welds, if you are welding on truck, and actually doing the welding on rounded edges.

So now fast forward to about 2wks ago when the DR. finally gave me clearance to start walking on my broken leg, with 50% weight bearing being the main caveat. Well that at least started the research portion on here and Expedition Portal as to what guys were doing. This along with Youtube searches show that really most guys either go with a Flowmaster 50 series muffler with an upgrade from the stock 2" pipe to 2.5" pipe, or they are usually doing some other sort of engine swap that requires a totally different exhaust.

 

[gregnash]

Now:
Here comes the information.... last week I was finally cleared to do 100% weight bearing with the walking boot which allowed me to get up and around the truck much easier. I got under my 60 to see what the deal was and how I would be getting at this. Basically what I found was that one of the POs (I am the 4th owner I believe) had done some work at one point to REPAIR the exhaust as I have nasty goober welds and whatnot all over the place. However, what I found was that the CAT looks ok, possibly questionable but there is TONS of room to add a larger exhaust than the stock round cylinder.

This is when I started doing some research on different types of exhausts. From what I found there are three basic types of mufflers out there to go with your exhaust, each will determine the note (sound) that you have not only when you idle but also when driving on the freeway/highway (drone).
These are:
- Turbo Style exhausts (nothing to do with turbos at all)
- Chambered or Baffled style exhaust (just like it sounds, has multiple chambers)
- Glasspack (these are the old school rodder type like our fathers had on their muscle cars, mind you I am 37)

Of course with each type moving down the line they get progressively louder and more aggressive. This is directly speaking for gassers only, no diesel here. So what does that mean, well if you are anal retentive like me that means listening to tons and tons and TONS of youtube video clips for exhaust note and sound, comparing the type of engine they are being run on etc. This all lead me to the information that will be below..

IT IS ALL PERSONAL PREFERENCE!! LOL........
What I did find is that our community brothers run a variety of mufflers and exhausts that are aftermarket. This is simply because they want something slightly different and we want our cruisers to sound as tough as they really are.

So gentlemen please sound off with what type of exhaust you have on your truck, any modifications that you have done to the truck and ultimately WHY you went with that exhaust and the goal. If you have a video clip, like @klinetime574, then post it up so that others that go through the same anal retentive, alcohol driven research extravaganza can have something to reference!!

 

[gregnash]

I will start this off that I plan on doing the following;
- cut the intermediate pipe between the cat and the current muffler
- add a 2" ID to 2.5" ID coupler (this one 2”ID to 2 1/2”ID Universal Exhaust Pipe to Pipe Adapter Reducer)
- Add 2.5" muffler (currently debating between the sounds of a chambered muffler or a turbo muffler)
- Add 2.5" coupler/clamp from coupler to muffler (like so https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g4625-1/overview/)
- Add 2.5" section of piping from muffler out let to a flanged section
- Add 2.5" flanged section to terminate in stock location at final hanger (similar to this https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-52182/overview/ based on how much distance I need)

All in all it should be a decent sounding system, give me the exhaust note that I want without a huge amount of drone at highway speeds but also not wake the neighbor (yes one specific neighbor) when I start up at 5:30am for work. The ultimate goal of this exhaust is that should something happen to my trusty 2F in the near future I will more than likely move to a V8 of some sort. When that happens that rear section of the exhaust would be able to handle the new engine/drivetrain without a hiccup.

 

[NookShneer]

2.5 is the way to go. Changed the my whole exhaust from stock to manafre tri-y headers and 2.5 all the way back. I'll have to get under the car and see what muffler I ended up going with.

At idle it rumbles like a V8, have had a few people stop and ask if the motor had been swapped.

 

[Kleatus]

This is what I did on my '62. I did it because the stock routing was silly, pipes were bent up/rusty, and my cats and 02 sensors were shot. I used 2.5" with a generic cat and a Thrush turbo muffler. From the muffler shown back the routing is pretty much stock except it comes out at an angle behind the DS rear tire. It's perceptibly louder than stock at idle close to the truck, you hear it's little bit accelerating with the windows down, it's completely unnoticeable on the highway, windows up or down. If you're interested I'll see if I can get you a video-but I don't think phone videos are very telling with respect to exhausts.

 

[gregnash]

Since I am so anal about this stuff I actually found that both Thrush and Dynomax (both owned by Tenneco) have sound files on their sites respective to each muffler. Nice set of headphones let me hear what I wanted so I think I will be getting the Thrush Welded as that has a nice note to it and does not seem like it would drone at highway speeds. This is a Chambered muffler so will have a bit more rumble to it.

 

[Kleatus]

I have found that the generic chambered type mufflers are louder and tend to be more prone to drone than the perforated tube (turbo style), which is why I went with the latter. I would suggest using the stainless band clamps on the muffler just in case you decide it's too loud. I know they're more expensive, but they allow you to disassemble parts because the pipe isn't being crushed.

Crappy cell phone video-but here is the Thrush turbo muffler with generic cat and 2.5" pipe. It's probably going to sound vastly different on a phone vs. speakers or headphones. Not sure if this helps.

 

[gregnash]

Thanks for the info @Kleatus. Truck sounds good, does it have any other mods?

 

[Kleatus]

Just the exhaust system as pictured above and a slight bump in compression by milling the head, otherwise stock 3FE.

 

[gregnash]

Hopefully will be tackling mine in mid-October after the wife and I settle down from travel. Just to be different I think I am going to go with the chambered version of the Thrush, not overly expensive on Amazon and would get it quickly... I actually have this app called db Meter Pro on my phone so when I get mine I will take some videos with my camera and use this. From how I have played with it in the past it is decently accurate for what it is. Figure that if I really REALLY don't like the drone of the chambered then I will grab the turbo style. But at least we will have a decent comparison here.

Oh and for me, the only clamped section will be the small adapter (2" to 2.5") that will be used to connect the intermediate pipe from the CAT to the muffler. Rest of the stuff will be put together with either flanges or v-bands (probably flanges). And definitely going to spend the bit of extra $$ like @Kleatus said on the stainless steel hardware where necessary.

 

[gregnash]

Oh and something else that I thought of... what is the stock exit position for the 60 and 62.. I have seen guys with exhausts on both trucks that seem to either exit behind the rear drivers side wheel under the quarter panel or go straight back and exit under the bumper/rear.

Anyone know what stock is?

 

[Dodobo]

Stock goes strait out the back, with the tip under the bumper. People re-route to exiting just behind the driver-side rear wheel to get more clearance and avoid munching the tip when climbing out of a hole or reversing into one. It also gives more room for the spare or a larger gas tank.

 

[gregnash]

Stock goes strait out the back, with the tip under the bumper. People re-route to exiting just behind the driver-side rear wheel to get more clearance and avoid munching the tip when climbing out of a hole or reversing into one. It also gives more room for the spare or a larger gas tank.

Ah good info!!! That means that my exhaust has been mucked with at some point.

 

[Homey55]

I have a 2-f, 6-1 aftermarket header, 2.5" tubing, and a flowmaster 50. Truck sounds good, people think it's a V-8. I went with the flowmaster because it's an old-school (80's old school) sound that brings me back to my first Toyota I had. It gets raspy only at high rpm.

 

[gregnash]

I have a 2-f, 6-1 aftermarket header, 2.5" tubing, and a flowmaster 50. Truck sounds good, people think it's a V-8. I went with the flowmaster because it's an old-school (80's old school) sound that brings me back to my first Toyota I had. It gets raspy only at high rpm.

@Homey55 Do you think you could do a short video clip with audio of the Flowmaster 50 on your truck. Interested to hear it. And when you say "raspy at high rpm" how high are you talking?

 

[Homey55]

No video for a while...motor is being re-built

High RPM is around 3k.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Personally anymore... I WANT QUIET... The FlowMasters and many other performance mufflers have serious drone at highway speeds that drove me nuts... But, if you're into that....

I run the Walker Quietflow mufflers now on my 2Fs. SAME fuel mileage and PERFORMANCE... BUT NICE AND QUIET...

J

 

[gregnash]

Looks like Walker is also owned by Tenneco as well.

 

[gregnash]

Good post from @cruisermatt in my trucks build thread..
Finally got my own...Meet BeBe
Should have muffler today, once I figure out the mounting position under the truck I will look at grabbing some tubing for construction of the tailpipe section. Debating on if I want to wait completely to do that or if I should just install the new muffler and just have it exhausting under the truck for the time being until I build the tailpipe section.

 

[Landpimp]

I did a magnaflow about 12 years ago, very happy with it, super quite.