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Stock Muffler Construction?

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2020 Explorer ST
#1
Does anyone know, or better yet, have photos of how the factory mufflers are internally designed on the Explorer ST models?

Wanting something that sounds a little more aggressive than the factory Prius exhaust and better flow is always a plus. On my '17 Sport, I had a resonator delete done and the stock mufflers replaced with Flow FXs. REALLY loved that setup. Zero rasp or popping through the exhaust. Looking through the videos though, I have yet to find anything on the 3.0 engines that I think either has rasp or sounds like a 4 cylinder Honda.

For the first change, I was thinking of going with a dual in/out Borla ProXS in place of the factory resonator. Have one of these on my 6.0 truck and the straight through design plus internal X Really does a fine job of cancelling out any obnoxious rasp in the exhaust while flowing very well.

Screenshot_20231011-031907.png

Depending on how it sounds after, I'm highly tempted to just keep the factory mufflers in place. Are they a straight through perforated design or are they baffled/chambered?
 

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#2
Last edited:
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#3
I have a set of stock mufflers I removed when swapping in the Gibson axle-back - have been tempted to cut one open out of curiosity before they get scrapped. If I do it, I’ll snap some pictures.

On that note, the Gibson kit has an amazing sound and is a fantastic bang-for-the-buck at around $500. They did their homework when producing this kit since all the others just charge two- to three-times the cost for little to no performance gains. Adding to that, so many of the kits out there just sound like crap whereas this one adds a perfect, but not obnoxious, rumble. It’s your cash - spend it wisely!
 

Cdubya

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#4
I have a set of stock mufflers I removed when swapping in the Gibson axle-back - have been tempted to cut one open out of curiosity before they get scrapped. If I do it, I’ll snap some pictures.

On that note, the Gibson kit has an amazing sound and is a fantastic bang-for-the-buck at around $500. They did their homework when producing this kit since all the others just charge two- to three-times the cost for little to no performance gains. Adding to that, so many of the kits out there just sound like crap whereas this one adds a perfect, but not obnoxious, rumble. It’s your cash - spend it wisely!
Gotta say, I ditched my Gibson axleback. I could not figure out the higher pitched hum/drone i was getting at 2-2.3k rpm. I couldn't in good conscience resell it if there was a defect in the mufflers so I trashed them. Also, not happy with how rusted out they looked after less than a year. Ended up with MRT H-pipe and stock mufflers with black 4" tips. Couldn't be more pleased.
 

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#5
Zero complaints with my Gibson kit. Sounds fantastic at all RPM’s. Not worried about rust since it has a lifetime warranty. The MRT stuff is nice, too. Had the H-pipe briefly and it had a nice bump in sound with the stock mufflers.
 

OP
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Thread Starter #6
Zero complaints with my Gibson kit. Sounds fantastic at all RPM’s. Not worried about rust since it has a lifetime warranty. The MRT stuff is nice, too. Had the H-pipe briefly and it had a nice bump in sound with the stock mufflers.
I did a bit of poking around and the Gibson kit seems to be a chambered/baffled design. A bit disappointing especially for the price point.
 

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#7
I did a bit of poking around and the Gibson kit seems to be a chambered/baffled design. A bit disappointing especially for the price point.
What’s disappointing about it? The kit sounds fantastic and is priced right. I was happy to spend less than $500 for it as well.
 

OP
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Thread Starter #8
What’s disappointing about it? The kit sounds fantastic and is priced right. I was happy to spend less than $500 for it as well.
Chambered and baffled mufflers are more restrictive than a straight through, perforated design. Some people will argue that it's by a negligible amount and they wouldn't be wrong, depending on the exact design. But I've always been the type of person to check all boxes possible.
 

GearHead_1

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#9
This may be of some interest.

 

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#10
The Gibson mufflers are not restrictive at all.
IMG_7156.jpeg
 

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Location
San Rafael, CA
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2020 Explorer ST
#11
I bought a pair of Paradox Hot Tamale mufflers and had my local shop install them with new muffler tips in place of the stock mufflers. I love it. It sounds good, not too aggressive and no drone.
 

OP
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Thread Starter #12
The Gibson mufflers are not restrictive at all.
View attachment 20003
OK that's alot better than I was expecting. Basically straight through with a small chamber in the middle.
 

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Location
Boney lake
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2020 st
#13
I bought a pair of Paradox Hot Tamale mufflers and had my local shop install them with new muffler tips in place of the stock mufflers. I love it. It sounds good, not too aggressive and no drone.
could you please do a sound clip inside and outside? I'll PayPal you for your time. I have a 2020st and want to dot his exact setup with no drone. I dont like any of the exhaust systems. They all sound terrible in my opinion
 



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