Swapping out the axle backs. Tip needed.

[Sesshomurai]

Hey guys,
I'm swapping out the axle back mufflers for gt500 ones. First time doing this. I got the passenger side one in, although
getting it on the hangers with the bottom exhaust pipe there was tricky. It blocks an easy insert.

On the driver side I'm having more difficulty. There is a simple cross brace mounted right where the long pipe curls into
the muffler and it doesn't provide the clearance to get the muffler up on the hangers.

Need about 1" more space, but its not there.

What's the trick to getting these on easily? I'm about to remove the cross brace, but wanted to ask in case I'm doing it wrong.

thanks!

 

[rcode1965]

Yea, if you unbolt cross brace and lower it down you should be fine, and give you enough room to get the axle back exhaust in, to bolt it up... What kind of exhaust did you end up going with? I put Corsa's on mine and they sound great and really fit up nice.

 

[rinkus]

Yea definitely drop that cross brace. I put a set of the gt500's on friday morning with the help of our head mechanic at the construction company i work for. Took us less than 45 min. Before you tighten those up make sure they hang right and look good from the back. Enjoy they sound great.

 

[Sesshomurai]

Cool. Thanks guys. Once I loosened the cross brace by removing the driver side mounting bolts and loosening the passenger side attaching bolt, the brace dropped down enough to the get muffler in. Not sure if that brace is torqued or not though, not much room to get a big wrench in there but I tightened it back as hard as my hands allowed. The attaching bolt on the passenger side was on good n tight to begin with.

 

[Sesshomurai]

Oh my. These gt500 mufflers are awesome! They are more throaty and when you ease off the throttle in 3rd gear they let out a long, consistent snarl! Very cool. Highly recommend.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Oh my. These gt500 mufflers are awesome! They are more throaty and when you ease off the throttle in 3rd gear they let out a long, consistent snarl! Very cool. Highly recommend.

Cool. Give them a couple of weeks and they will open up a bit more.

 

[ace72ace]

Mine took about 4 weeks & 1500 miles to 'break in' they really sound great when you lay on the throttle. Ease out of the driveway and it's a soft purr. Best of both worlds, you also save I think 8 or 9lb over the stock anchors. I noticed the stock tips have a small hole drilled on the bottom, to let the water vapors you get from your exhaust drain out from the tips. Um, that is I'm assuming what that hole is there for...

Do any other after market mufflers have the same hole? The GT500's don't.

 

[steveespo]

Just a tip on muffler install, the easiest way to remove and replace is to loosen the clamps on the h pipe/over the axle pipes and slide the over axle pipes forward. This gives enough room to get the mufflers out without removing the panhard rod chassis brace. Loosening any suspension or frame bolts back there is a recipe for rattles. Ford uses torque to yield bolts on most of the connections so they stretch when torqued to proper value, every time you loosen them you need a few pounds more torque to get the correct clamping force. That's why the shop manual says to throw out suspension bolts and nuts when removed and use new. This winter I am going to replace all the fasteners on the rear suspension with new Ford hardware as a safety precaution.
Steve

 

[Sesshomurai]

Great advice! Thank you.

 

[MLM]

I just swapped out the stock axle backs for the GT500s. The trick is to unclamp the muffler from the mid-pipe and then slide the muffler toward the rear of the car as far as possible on the hangers. That exposes one of the front hanger bolts that is above the muffler. Unbolt the front hanger from the car (two bolts on the passenger side and three on the driver side) and the muffler drops straight down. All the bolts are 13mm. Transfer the front hanger to the new mufflers off the car and then reverse the removal process to install. No need to mess with the suspension or the h-pipe.

 

[ace72ace]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJXNEn_CCI4&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

 

[Boostd4]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJXNEn_CCI4&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Pretty good for a low cost axle back. Any clips of the car under load?

 

[ace72ace]

Not yet, I should get my son to get a few drive by shots. Will have to find a suitable location... Great time of year to do it now with the beautiful autumn New England foliage.

 

[Sesshomurai]

I have those muffs on mine. I love the sound when you ease off the throttle in 3rd. it just lets out a long even snarl.

 

[coboss]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJXNEn_CCI4&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

I this video, have you removed the restrictor plates, drilled them out, or is the stock plate still in?