[KCT]

I'm going to need a new muffler and thinking of either the Walker Quiet-Flow SS or Sound FX muffler. The Quiet-Flow SS has a life time warranty and is stainless steel and the Sound FX has a 1 year warranty and is aluminized which I have no idea what they mean by this. If anyone is using or has used one of these Walker mufflers, can you tell how good it is. Also how does the life time warranty work?

 

[Rickorino]

I have used the Sound FX several times before. I get about two to three years of use then they rust thru. I have never used the Quiet Flow because of its high cost. I have never been impressed with Walker Products. I choose them because of availability.

 

[Doug D]

I'd opt for the stainless steel if you can afford it. Stainless steel will last far longer. My '06 Ram has 159K miles and has the original exhaust (OEM stainless steel). We had a '00 T&C that had ~161K miles on it at trade-in and still had the original stainless steel exhaust.

I hate exhaust work and would rather pay a little more now for quality stainless steel than go cheap and have to do it again just a few years later. The non-stainless steel muffler seem to rust out rather quickly. I had an Acclaim go over 302K miles (bought new) - once the original muffler finally rusted out, it seemed like I was replacing it rather often.

 

[KOG]

We've got a 94 Caravan with 185K on the original muffler and pipes. We do have a mild climate and haven't run many short trips on it until the last 4-5 years.

 

[B10alia]

Aluminized means it has a coating on it to prevent the steel from rusting. Steel mufflers don't last as long as the SS ones, I got well under 20k on my last one. The outer casing cracked along the weld line at some point during the winter and let road salt get inside, which rotted out the interior, which looked like mild steel. Come to think of it, I believe it was a Walker.

 

[KCT]

Rickorino and Doug D,

Yeah I hate doing muffler work over and over again. I put a Walker steel muffler about 3-4 years ago and it is now sounding loud when accelerating. The last time I check under that area it looks like it is starting to fail as it's rusting and the weep hole shows quite a bit of it. I'm thinking of stainless steel because in the long run I'll probably save more money doing the job once instead of every 3 to 4 years.

Aluminized means it has a coating on it to prevent the steel from rusting. Steel mufflers don't last as long as the SS ones, I got well under 20k on my last one. The outer casing cracked along the weld line at some point during the winter and let road salt get inside, which rotted out the interior, which looked like mild steel. Come to think of it, I believe it was a Walker.

Was it an aluminized steel or a stainless steel muffler? Also should I stick with the Walker brand?

 

[B10alia]

Aluminized. Stainless will never rot. A stainless system is much better quality than a galvanized or coated steel system. As for Walker, I think I may have gotten a lemon. Any exhaust system will rust eventually, regardless of the manufacturer. It's the nature of the beast,