(been so long, almost forgot how to do this!!)

 

Walker Manufacturing makes a quiet, inexpensive muffler (#22361) in a universal style with offsets. I am on my second one and each has lasted over 100,000 miles. Last time I bought one, a few years back, they ran around $20. Here is a link: Muffler--Quiet-Flow3 by Walker - part# 22361

 

UPDATE: I completed this 'custom' exhaust late spring/early summer and have no issues to speak of. I used the factory stainless Taurus muffler and a small piece of the remaining system from the donor Taurus. The muffler ends (with no tip) about a foot before the rear axle and there is little resonance heard inside. Performance was not affected in any way and overall I am very happy with the result. The only out of pocket expense was $10 to have the inlet pipe welded to the muffler and a few dollars for two clamps and an adapter......

 

Does anybody know if the OEM muffler is still available?

Mine on the '97 4.0l is starting to hiss a bit. I like that the OEM muffler lasted 14+ years, and I'm willing to pay quite a bit for a muffler that durable. I want NO rumble, not at idle and not under load. I tow quite a bit, and my current commute (for the next two months) is 100 miles per day, 94 miles of which is at 80 MPH.

I suppose I'd consider an aftermarket SS muffler.

Suggestions?

 

My Wickedflow MAX muffler while it sounds deeper and can produce some sound at WOT is QUIETER than the stock one. But if you truly want a stock sound, get a Walker OE type muffler. It won't last as long as the factory one, but it will be quiet.

Are you sure your hiss is not due to a broken flex pipe? A broken flex will sound a lot like a bad muffler, and can get really loud.

 

just go to Autozone and get the cheapest muffler they have for the Aerostar, "Dura Last" is the brand I think, and they last until they go, and then they go real fast. But hey, for $34.99 + tax what can we expect!

 

Khan,
Don't you own that site that you are directing traffic to? AND, you no longer are a site sponsor here, are you?
If I am wrong, please tell me so that I may apologize.

 

Apologize, you haven't offended me, no apology needed. Yes I do own the site, which is why I do not strongly or openly advertise, but regardless, I am also a customer and user of these. The results speak for themselves. I quit being a sponsor after the moderators of this forum showed that they could not protect their sponsors from blatant attacks from uneducated non-paying members. When I was a sponsor, I spent over $2500 in advertising through this site, yet only received about $300 in sales. Why, because people here would blatanly attack the claims and credibility of my product, people who had not used the product, who had not tested it. They disregarded and ignored the legitimate tests that had been done showing the quality differences between our product and a "leading brand" competitor.

So I tell my personal experiences now. This muffler, produces the same sound levels as the stock on on my '97 and '95 Aerostars. Both vehicles measured at 78 decibels with the stock mufflers cruising at 65 mph. Both vehicles measured at 78 decibels with the new Wickedflow mufflers while cruising at 65 mph. The main change is not the volume, its the tone. The new muffler sounds deeper. AT WOT they can get louder, to understand this you have to keep in mind they are a true straight through muffler.

Stock mufflers primarily use backpressure and small internals to keep sound levels down. This severely limits power. The inside of the stock muffler on an Aerostar is a mere 1.75". This is then connected to the stock 2" tailpipe, which was necked down from the 2.25" at the cat. They are using backpressure to control the sound levels. The stock muffler contains no packing or sound absorbing materials, it just uses small diameter tubes and chambers to create backpressure and flow restrictions, which in turn reduces sound levels.

If you truly want an OE type sound, Walker is the way to go. But it you want something that has acceptable sound levels, without any flow restrictions, You have only two real choices, a WickedFlow or a Borla. A compromise is to use a turbo muffler, Dynomax would be my recommendation. However, a turbo muffler is a glorified version of a stock muffler. The primary difference is it has larger internals so it creates less backpressure, and has flow directing plates to also reduce internal turbulence. Both of these design changes also undermine its sound absorbing qualities, super turbo rely on backpressure to reduce sound levels. So you end up with something that is both louder than stock, but not as free flowing as a straight through muffler. It will be quieter than a straight through at WOT however.

On my '97 I decided it was too quiet for my personal tastes, but still didn't want something too loud. So I kept the same muffler and y-ed it off after the muffler and ran dual tailpipes, which has the effect of further deepening the sound. This had the desired effect, I can hear the engine a little more than I could before. I also use a WickedFlow on my '00 Focus because the stock muffler droned at highway cruising speeds and sounded hollow and ratty when you revved the engine. The new muffler does not drone at highway speeds and sounds meatier and sportier when you rev it. It is actually quieter than stock. I also have these mufflers on my '87 Turbocoupe and my '96 Taurus. The only one I'm not happy with is the Taurus, its too loud on that, but its also dual mufflers with the mufflers right at the rear bumper. Seems a straight through muffler works better and is quieter if it has more tailpipe behind it. The Turbocoupe is a little loud too, but then again it has a large exhaust system, single 3" off the turbo and through the single cat, then it splits into dual 2.5". Larger pipe tends to produce a louder deeper sound. It doesn't drone at highway speeds, but it is a lot louder than my other cars. I also plan on using these same mufflers when I get to redoing the exhaust on my '86 Merkur XR4Ti.

 

I have newly installed Muffler(700044) and Flex-Pipe(28363) from "AP Exhaust" through Rock. Endpipe is Walker.
The "AP Exhaust" Heatshield is sold separately. Steelstripes holding the Heatshield start to corrode within Days, all other Parts seem to be stainless Steel. Noise is barely noticeable, even without a Carpet in the Cargoarea. Cool sounding idle.

97' XLT RWD 3.0L

 

I use a Magnaflow 13644 in my 2" system (3L spec). In inventory is a 13645 plus cats and tips for rebuilding the system front-to-back as a 2.25" (4L spec). Internally its two parallel pipes.

 

Yeah, on a 3.0L no need to go larger than 2". The stock 4.0L is also 2", but can benefit from stepping to 2.25"

Problems with Magnaflows I ran on Aerostars in the past is droning at ~2500 RPM. On my mom's '92 3.0L the sound level was an almost unbearable 98 decibels.

 

Hmmm, Magnaflow has their aftermarket reference tables pointing to 3.0 v 4.0 as two different apps, meaning you could still be right about stock design. {ed: btw, within the California market, cats now have to conform to state issued tables and iirc Magnaflow had the cats as 2.00 and 2.25.}

I choose to blame any droning on the body and trim rather than the muffler. Even in in EB trim the roof had no insulation except the headliner and the sheet metal gauge is too thin imo and could be teased into a droning harmonic as well as permanently oil-canned. Someday (?) the roof will get additional ribbing. Meanwhile, the roof floor and doors got dynaliner with fiberglass batting stuffed into all cavities. This was done for climate control but also cuts wind and road noise.

 

Yes, the stock soud deadening on Aerostars is woefully inadequate.

 

I like the idea of additional ribbing in the roof. I would not install equally spaced halos, but maybe pieces at oblique angles to help eliminate resonance, or at least move them up to higher frequencies that aren't so annoying.

Is there a chance that those mats will lose their stick in the future, due to repeated baking by the sun? It would be damn annoying if they were to fall off the roof and start hanging on the headliner.

 

Yes, I'm anticipating exactly that, but after 18 months +/-, still good. Even if it detaches, its then supported by the headliner shell. Its still imperative to at least have some insulating material in between you and sheet metal that may reach 200 degrees F in the Arizona sun. However, if it detaches then you lose the acoustic benefit, whereby the Dynaliner increases the acoustic mass of the sheet metal, sending the resonant frequency higher. A nerdish topic if there ever was one.

FYI OT, I have a comprehensive headliner restoration writeup brewing. Soon, soon.