Easy change! and it sounds GREAT!

[Viperfreak2]

As we all know, the sound of the Viper from the factory is not so good. I drove my first Viper with the stock system for a year before hearing someone elses that made me think mine was wimpy. I told everyone as my second Viper was unloaded from the Woodhouse delivery wagon that the first thing to change was the exhaust system. After a BIG mistake choosing the muffler shop to do the work on the GTS (burnt rear cover, tips touching) I thought I'd try the SRT myself. Alot of people said the sills would be a nightmare, so I delayed (2000 miles) the attempt until I couldn't take it anymore. Friday night I went to the blind horse saloon. A few pickups were revving their engines as I drove by, so I revved the snake. No one heard it. Saturday, I took the sills off. WHAT AN EASY JOB! The problem (I heard) was the front top nut on the sill and how impossible it was to get to. Others said to remove the entire front wheelhouse liner. The trick is to just push the liner in a flip it over the leading edge of the sill. The sill has an access slot that opens to easily get a 10mm socket with extension on it. Just loosen the screw, no need to remove, as the sill is slotted and pulls right out. Now the REAL easy part. The 'mufflers' have clamps at both ends. Loosen the clamps and slide the tip back (the rear bracket doesn't even have to be removed) and the entire secion comes out. I replaced it with a 36" piece of 2.5" ID straight pipe and it was finished! Took about an hour for one side, 30 minutes for the second! I think I could do each in 15 minutes now. Thanks to DC for designing this to be easy!
Now the sound. OMG! I took it for a spin and found myself next to a concrete center barrier. The sounds coming out the sidepipe echoed off the barrier and I got scared! I thought a locomotive was heading for me. WOW. The funny thing is, that when just taking it easy, it really doesn't sound much different, but get on it and .....I'm speechless. It's low, LOUD, raspy, race engine, popping backfires during decel and shift....I'm in love.

 

[Hans Christian]

YEAH !!

Viperfreak2, thanks for sharing - this will be my first mod then (if I could just get my 04 to come in - hehe).

 

[SteveT]

Viperfreak2 - "I replaced it with a 36" piece of 2.5" ID straight pipe and it was finished!" Did you have to have either end flared or reduced to make it fit?
Could it be as simple as a straight pipe?

 

[Viperfreak2]

The pipe came from Autozone (actually 2 18" pieces on each side) already flared on one end and just happened to be exactly the same length as the muffler section! Oh, and I forgot the bad news. If you don't have mud flaps on the SRT, the paint on the front of the sills is shot. The old Vipers had some 3M clear tape for protection. I couldn't believe the damage in just 2000 miles. Oh well, at least I know they are easy to remove when doing a respray.

 

[cstegall]

Viperfreak2,

I know what you mean . I had my Vipertech put the Belanger header/exhaust system on my SRT and the sound is unbelievable...much,much better than stock.

Congrats on the work and the install instructions.

CStegall

 

[Frank 03SRT]

Man, that's some great information. Off to Autozone!!

 

[Viperfreak2]

The whole thing cost $16.00. Oh yeah, and $2.99 for the mud flaps!

 

[homesite]

lets see a pic of the mud flaps.

 

[GR8_ASP]

ViperFreak - Please more info on how to move the wheelhouse liner to allow access to the "nut." I tried to remove the whole liner to no avail. IO also tried to move it aside, again to no avail. I still have not been able to tighten the &^%(&^%(*% nut on the passenger side. Any pictures or other words of advice.

 

[Viperfreak2]

I can take pictures tonight, but I'll have to get someone to post them for me. The mudflaps are almost invisible, they only cover the red section and hang down about 1". I think they should keep the sills clean and undamaged. I'll also take a picture of "how to" move the liner.

 

[Hans Christian]

Viperfreak2,

You are the man - again, thanks for sharing - I will do the same soon (I have already called Bill P and bugged him senseless about my 04).

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Sounds interesting, and I bet you just wanted to scare those Z4s at the Plant,ha.

Interesting note, and something we haven't tried yet.Got the check today, you are a gentleman and a scholar. How bad is the resonance and is it reassonable to drive down the highway? Keep me posted and hope things are going well!?

Bill P

 

[Viperfreak2]

I got pictures. Anyone wanna volunteer posting them for me?
Bill P., the resonance is there, certain RPM's and throttle it's loud, but I like that. Light throttle or cruising down the highway, there's almost no difference. The wind noise (top up or down) is louder than the pipe music. HOWEVER, shift down to third at 60mph and punch it, it will remind you of your friendly neighborhood racetrack! I'm going to have to be very careful about choosing when to show off the sound. I pulled out of a friends house yesterday and 'layed on it a little' and as I came around a corner, there were 3 Sheriffs cars at the end of the road. Luckily they were involved in a foot chase.

 

[LittleFish]

Great information. A couple of pics and just a bit more detail on the sill removal process please! Thanks for being so bold as to try the easy solution.

 

[SRTim]

I removed the sills as Viperfreak said, and found it to be rather easy...Now I'm stuck trying to get the mufflers off. They're really wedged in there! Is there any secret to getting them off?

Tim

 

[GR8_ASP]

Email the pictures and I will post them. email: [email protected]

 

[Viperfreak2]

Try soaking the ends with WD-40 or other pentrating spray. I also found them to be much tighter on one end, so I used a rubber mallet to tap the muffler back. I think it was the angle that you have to move it to clear the tip section, kinda puts it in a bind. Pics were E-mailed this morning.

 

[SRTim]

Well, I finaly finished the muffler removal...and the car sounds AWESOME. Almost the same sound at low RPMs and sounds almost better than my previous 98 GTS w/ Borla headers and cat back at high RPMs. The process wasn't as easy as I had hoped-took at least 1 hour for both sides. I had to use WD40 and a rubber mallet to remove both mufflers. I found it was slightly easier if the rubber block that holds the cats on was removed. Also, there is a tab on the side sill towards the front which must slide back in-I forgot to do this the first time. I suggest this to anyone that is not pleased with the stock exhaust sound of your SRT-it makes a huge difference! Also, it doesn't have as much resonance as my previous Borla system had. Another plus is the extra weight that you'll save by removing the mufflers...they're about 3 or 4 feet long!

Tim

 

[GR8_ASP]

Sorry about the delay. David emailed me the following pictures:

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

 

[homesite]

Instead of the flaps, I put 3m protection on the full length of the sills and behind the rear wheels when the car was new. I also but it in the wheel wells where the painted edges are. Absolutely no damage after 700 miles.

 

[Viperfreak2]

Does the heat affect the 3M clear tape? My sills seem to be a lot cooler now that the mufflers are gone. I haven't been in traffic yet, but so far it's better. After carefully looking at the heat shields, I wonder what the 'fix' to the problem was last year when all the cars were delayed. Looks like heavy duty aluminum foil to me. No more or less than my previous Vipers. My car was built in June this year...I can't imagine how hot the press cars must have gotten for them to have written all that fried egg stuff!

 

[homesite]

I have removed the cats off my car so the heat is not to bad. It does get hot right under the door after you park the car after driving it. Does yours get hot after shutting the car down after a drive?

 

[Viperfreak2]

I still have all 4 cats (meow) The heat after shut down WAS unbelievable! I could park it at night for an hour and come back to a cabin still 90+ degrees inside. I haven't noticed any heat soak so far with the mufflers gone, and it's been in the 90's with very high humidity the last week. I need to go drive it some more and I'll let you know! Actually, the sound is so intoxicating, I forget about everything else. I don't think I've turned on the stereo since the change.

 

[Russ Oasis]

Dave Ivler and I made the change to our SRT's today. It cost a total of $15 a car. We had custom 34" pipes made at a local muffler shop (I'd recommend 33 1/2" for anyone else that wants to do it. It will make the installation about 20 minutes faster per side.) Have the pipe flared at one end and be ready to round out the edges on the other end (a little hammer action did it for me). Maybe I'm jaded by the sound of the comp coupe, however, I could even handle the exhaust a bit louder. The change is a good one for such little money. At least I now feel like I'm driving a car with some ba**s. I think that the next step would be to cut off one cat on each side, AFTER the O 2 sensor. If I were to take a guess, I'd say that you pick up a few ponies by eliminating the muffler. Nothing serious, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

 

[SCLSSRT10]

Not being one that likes TOO MUCH noise I took a different approach. I took the stock mufflers off and replaced them with good old fashion "GLASS PACKS". The sound level is very acceptable and really sound great when you put your foot it it. This is what a VIPER should sound like. The noise level on the highway was not bad even with the top down I could still hear the stereo very well. Went to the Illinois club meeting last night and had to tell three guys how to make the change. Although I don't beleive it can be done in an hour(it took me three) it is well worth the time and whopping $ 60.00 investment(2-glass packs, 4 muffler clamps, 2-4.5" long X 2.5" pipes). Nothing that can't be undone easily. The pipes don't even have to be tapered when attached on the outlet side of the Glass Pack. And the heat problem is almost gone. It is still there but even in traffic (stop & go) last night I didn't "HAVE" to turn on the AC.

 

[LittleFish]

SCLS - can you give a bit more detail? What brand of glass packs? Any more info would be just great. What a great day when you can improve the sound for just a few bucks and some time. Thanks for the help.

 

[Russ Oasis]

It's not too loud in the straight pipe configuration. You can still listen to the stereo on the highway. I'm sure the glass packs also sound good. SCLS is correct in the 3 hour time area if you haven't taken the side sills off before. It's definitely worth the change.

 

[SCLSSRT10]

I went to Pep Boys and used "Cherry Bomb" brand. If you have specific questions let me know [email protected]

 

[Mach500]

I did the muffler replacement with "cherry bombs" over the weekend, and indeed, the exhaust sound is now AWESOME. Thanks to all for sharing the information.

To SCLSSRT10 and others who used "cherry Bombs":
Did you get burning smell (of metal/paint) and/or smoke coming out of the side sills after the replacement? If so, did they go away after awhile? I got both last night during a test drive after the replacement, which makes me a wee bit concerned. Any advise?

 

[RogerL]

Is there a specific model numder for "cherry bomb"? I have removed the cats with and RSI kit which has made a big difference in the heat issue. Not sure I am happy with the sound though. May want to try your fix. Thanks.