I've been doing some reading of old posts and I see the term resonator mentioned with exhaust systems.
What exactly is a resonator and what is it for?
Does it have to do with the exhaust sound?
Thanks. Bill

 

I think helps your muffler reduce the sound from your exhaust. That is just what I think don't know for sure

 

It does help the muffler to reduce noise emission by changing the tone of the exhaust noise to a particular resonance.

 

Resonator is just a term for a muffler, usually one used in addition to a main muffler to alter the effective lengths of the pipes in the exhaust system.
If an individual pipe is too long, it can produce a "boomy" sound, via the organ-pipe effect, and a resonator will help e breaking one long pipe into two shorter ones.
Preferably not of equal lengths.
An example of another type resonator is found in the tailpipes of certain models of Explorers; this was a 5" diameter "muffler" tuned to eliminate one specific frequency found in the exhaust noise, a frequency that couldn't be adequately attenuated in the main muffler. It is/was a "Helmholtz tuner," if you're interested in extending your reading...

Resonators aren't of much use in Broncos because of the shorter exhaust system pipes.

 

Resonators also create the neccesary back pressure required for a fuel injection engine. Most cars over in europe were not equipped with cats from the factory(at least the old ones up to the late 80s) The manufacturers installed resonators in place of the catalytic converter. This reduced the exhaust sound of the european cars. Also the resonators are more free flowing than the cats, therefore one of the reasons a euro car always outperforms an american version of the same car.

 

Also as mentioned before they are no use to us Bronco owners, becuse they 1 eliminate the cats we need to pass emmissions tests and 2 they reduce the sound your truck will produce. If you are going to own a bronco why would you want it quiet?

 

and
Congratulations!
Almost everything you know about exhaust is wrong.
First, there is no such thing as "necessary backpressure" for an engine to run: some may be calibrated to run with higher or lower backpressure, and, especially with carburetors, major changes in backpressure can have major effects on the way they run, but it's nothing that couldn't be compensated for, especially with injected engines.
Yes, the typical resonator is far more "free-flowing" than a cat, but that's not why the Euro cars of the '80s outperformed their American equivalents: not having cats, those cars could be jetted and cammed to run far stronger than ones for which catalyst life was an issue. Running the wrong mixture ratio is a major cause of catalyst melt-down. U.S. makers usually go super-rich at WOT to provide a fuel-cooling effect to protect the catalyst. This also hurts maximum performance.

Next: It should be obvious that not all Broncos require catalysts to pass emissions tests: mine for example never had one, and not everyone lives in a region requiring emissions testing.

Finally: Yes of course resonators would make your Bronco quiet: that's why someone might put them on there.
As for why anyone would want a quiet Bronco...
Let's just start with simple answers: because a 12-hour in a roaring machine gets tiring
Because some of us have neighbors, and see no need to disturb their lives unnecessarily.
Because sometime you might want to see the wildlife when you're off-roading before they hear you and disappear.
Because sometimes you'd like to be able to hear the music.
Because some of us aren't pimply-faced 17-year-olds.

 

Well I didn't say that was the reason why the euro cars were faster. I said that was one reasons. That is also the reason why my euro car can't pass emmissions around here. I guess if you want a quiet bronco go for it, I was just making a joke. Also fuel injected engines do better with a little bit of backpressure. Think torque values. Also I know the euro cars outperform because of the engine setup as well. I own one it has a gasoli8ne engine that wasn't offered in america until the late 80s. So please don't be an ******* and slam everyone who posts.