Typical cost of a shop swapping out my muffler for a new one ?

[MotorboatMcGoat]

A highly regarded shop in town quoted me ~$150 to weld in a vibrant resonator where my muffler is and then weld the tips to the res. What your small town shop quoted you is probably more accurate going with just a muffler to muffler swap. More simple, less expensive.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Just as an update, i called a local small town shop where i live that specializes in mufflers and exhaust and the guy said of course he'd have to see it to know for sure but just to swap mufflers, probly $50-$100 which is ballpark for what i read online. And that's not reasonable for what im wanting so i guess i'll figure out which muffler will suffice and set aside a few bucks over the next couple weeks.

So you want them to add a new muffler back there, and it was only 100 bucks? Or was that 100 bucks for labor and piping and you provide the muffler? A lot of times they do the whole job cheaper if they provide the muffler, since they get them waaaaaaay cheaper than you do. That way they charge less for labor but make up margin on the muffler itself.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

So you want them to add a new muffler back there, and it was only 100 bucks? Or was that 100 bucks for labor and piping and you provide the muffler? A lot of times they do the whole job cheaper if they provide the muffler, since they get them waaaaaaay cheaper than you do. That way they charge less for labor but make up margin on the muffler itself.

I worded it to him if i buy a muffler and bring it in, how much wold labor be. It might be cheaper if they supply it, but i kinda wanted to be able to choose the one im getting in both sight and find some audio for it to make sure i don't hate how it sounds, if i can.

I assumed if they provide the muffler it's not going to be exactly what i want as they are not really an aftermarket type shop as the town i live in is only about 14k people. Not much demand for that here. I can ask them to be sure but i figured they would just have normal mufflers and i wanted something smaller and slightly more rumbly, just not the trumpet that's on there now.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

A highly regarded shop in town quoted me ~$150 to weld in a vibrant resonator where my muffler is and then weld the tips to the res. What your small town shop quoted you is probably more accurate going with just a muffler to muffler swap. More simple, less expensive.

Ok good to hear, yea just a bolt on can't be asking much. And i'd assume it will get done in a timely fashion if i call ahead. Didn't want to have to drop my car off for a full day or more.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

I worded it to him if i buy a muffler and bring it in, how much wold labor be. It might be cheaper if they supply it, but i kinda wanted to be able to choose the one im getting in both sight and find some audio for it to make sure i don't hate how it sounds, if i can.

I assumed if they provide the muffler it's not going to be exactly what i want as they are not really an aftermarket type shop as the town i live in is only about 14k people. Not much demand for that here. I can ask them to be sure but i figured they would just have normal mufflers and i wanted something smaller and slightly more rumbly, just not the trumpet that's on there now.

Ah - most of those types of shops have a bunch of magnaflow or dynomax mufflers on-hand, you just have to ask what they carry. If the shops small enough they might not carry anything on-hand, but YMMV. The shop I usually go to does titanium exhaust fab for lambos so they have tons of stuff available, but I've also been to small shops that only had basic flowmasters on hand.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

Ah - most of those types of shops have a bunch of magnaflow or dynomax mufflers on-hand, you just have to ask what they carry. If the shops small enough they might not carry anything on-hand, but YMMV. The shop I usually go to does titanium exhaust fab for lambos so they have tons of stuff available, but I've also been to small shops that only had basic flowmasters on hand.

Hmm ok it's worth a try. When im ready to pay i'll definitely call around and ask what is carried, if it will save some cash and i get something i like, why not!

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Hmm ok it's worth a try. When im ready to pay i'll definitely call around and ask what is carried, if it will save some cash and i get something i like, why not!

Check the classifieds section too, full systems pop up from time to time.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

Just an update on this topic, i should be ready to swap mufflers a week from this friday (so like 9 days'ish). So that gives me a good week or so to figure out what where and why. Im also gonna call a few more shops and ask around for prices and if they carry any units like Clint mentioned.

Im looking forward to having a less conspicuous ride. I'll either update this thread for anybody interested or just start a new one when the time comes. Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Just an update on this topic, i should be ready to swap mufflers a week from this friday (so like 9 days'ish). So that gives me a good week or so to figure out what where and why. Im also gonna call a few more shops and ask around for prices and if they carry any units like Clint mentioned.

Im looking forward to having a less conspicuous ride. I'll either update this thread for anybody interested or just start a new one when the time comes. Thanks for all the help so far.

I would just update this thread, if you open too many individual threads that are just run-ons from others people will stop opening your threads.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

I would just update this thread, if you open too many individual threads that are just run-ons from others people will stop opening your threads.

Ok so another question if anybody can answer regarding this topic. So our exhaust line is stock 2.5"? So if i get a 2.5" inlet muffler, does that mean they are exactly the same size and need to be welded, or will the inlet be a 2.5" inner diameter, meaning it can slide on and secured that way?

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Ok so another question if anybody can answer regarding this topic. So our exhaust line is stock 2.5"? So if i get a 2.5" inlet muffler, does that mean they are exactly the same size and need to be welded, or will the inlet be a 2.5" inner diameter, meaning it can slide on and secured that way?

This question was already answered on the first page of this thread.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

Ok so 2.25", but what about the other part of the Q? If i get a 2.25" inlet muffler, is that measurement meaning it's identical in inner/outer size, or is that inlet 2.25" for the inner diameter so it can slide onto the exhaust piping, or, are they identical and need welding?

 

[Hypergram]

Well you are a patient guy to put up with that bahavior. Anyway, i was looking at the pics i posted yesterday and saw a bolt on the piping behind the Magnaflow tip. Woudn't that suggest it's bolted on and not welded? I thought i saw somebody mention it looked like they welded it on after cutting off the muffler, but i wanted to be sure as that will likely alter the labor cost for a shop.

If they can just unbolt it and bolt on another, surely that's cheaper than having to cut through the exhaust line to get it off, and i'd rather have more than enough pipe than not enough. If i need to take another pic i can if that would help. View attachment 22903

Cutting it off is actually extremely cheap. I borrowed a Sawzall from my mate and had my s-bend cut in 5 minutes. Now, welding it or clamping it back on is the hard/expensive part.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

Cutting it off is actually extremely cheap. I borrowed a Sawzall from my mate and had my s-bend cut in 5 minutes. Now, welding it or clamping it back on is the hard/expensive part.

Yea i know absolutely nothing about welding nor do i have the hardware. Clamping seems easy by comparison, just get the fittings and tighten them properly right? I just have never had experience with this and i have no idea how people do it. I have seen videos of people replacing mufflers and they weld them but im wondering if that's the ONLY way to do it.

I know we have to worry about pressure so nothing on the exhaust line can be attached in a half hearted way. I looked again at the pics of my exhaust but can't tell if it's a clamp only or if it's welded. If it's just a clamp and that's enough to secure it, i could probably manage to cut it off myself and attach a new muffler, im just not sure if that's the case.

 

[Hypergram]

Yea i know absolutely nothing about welding nor do i have the hardware. Clamping seems easy by comparison, just get the fittings and tighten them properly right? I just have never had experience with this and i have no idea how people do it. I have seen videos of people replacing mufflers and they weld them but im wondering if that's the ONLY way to do it.

I know we have to worry about pressure so nothing on the exhaust line can be attached in a half hearted way. I looked again at the pics of my exhaust but can't tell if it's a clamp only or if it's welded. If it's just a clamp and that's enough to secure it, i could probably manage to cut it off myself and attach a new muffler, im just not sure if that's the case. View attachment 23026

When I put on my Mountune Catback one end of the connection was bigger, so I could slide it in, twist into the "slots" and then use the clamp. I don't know how to weld, so a shop might be better suited to doing that.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Ok so 2.25", but what about the other part of the Q? If i get a 2.25" inlet muffler, is that measurement meaning it's identical in inner/outer size, or is that inlet 2.25" for the inner diameter so it can slide onto the exhaust piping, or, are they identical and need welding?

It's really going to be dependent upon what size pipe they put in place of your stock muffler. The only way to know for sure what size that is is to measure it. They might've stuck 2.5" pipe to the cut-off 2.25" one. The stock piping should fit very tightly inside a pipe with 2.25" diameter, but again, it's dependent upon what happened with that pipe extension that is stuck on there. Your best bet is to take it to an exhaust shop, they'll probably cut off the pipe that's been added on and extend the stock pipe to the new muffler. That'll bump up material/labor cost a bit, but at least they won't be welding already rusty pipe. If you drive on salty roads you might want to think about having them use stainless - I think the stock pipe is t409 stainless, that tacked-on bit looks like aluminized steel which doesn't hold up well on salty roads.

There's no way to know what a shop is going to say since there's no standardized pricing structure - some people get mufflers installed for 40 bucks, some people pay 300 - it's down to the area you're in and how much local competition they have. Fire up Yelp and call the 3-4 closest exhaust shops and get quotes - those quotes are not firm until they go eyes-on your car, but it'll get you an idea of their range.

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

When I put on my Mountune Catback one end of the connection was bigger, so I could slide it in, twist into the "slots" and then use the clamp. I don't know how to weld, so a shop might be better suited to doing that.

So you didn't actually weld them though? If not, then it's just a matter of me getting the right size inlet so it will slide on properly, or i could get a sleeve to join the two together.

 

[Ford ST]

Here's another issue whatever muffler you add needs to have a piece of metal welded to it so it can slide into the exhaust hanger.
It has to have some type of support.
I would really leave this to a muffler shop.

Patience is a virtue. Save your money do it right.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[TalkToTheFiST]

It's really going to be dependent upon what size pipe they put in place of your stock muffler. The only way to know for sure what size that is is to measure it. They might've stuck 2.5" pipe to the cut-off 2.25" one. The stock piping should fit very tightly inside a pipe with 2.25" diameter, but again, it's dependent upon what happened with that pipe extension that is stuck on there. Your best bet is to take it to an exhaust shop, they'll probably cut off the pipe that's been added on and extend the stock pipe to the new muffler. That'll bump up material/labor cost a bit, but at least they won't be welding already rusty pipe. If you drive on salty roads you might want to think about having them use stainless - I think the stock pipe is t409 stainless, that tacked-on bit looks like aluminized steel which doesn't hold up well on salty roads.

There's no way to know what a shop is going to say since there's no standardized pricing structure - some people get mufflers installed for 40 bucks, some people pay 300 - it's down to the area you're in and how much local competition they have. Fire up Yelp and call the 3-4 closest exhaust shops and get quotes - those quotes are not firm until they go eyes-on your car, but it'll get you an idea of their range.

Good point on stainless, i live in MO and we do have a lot of crap weather in the winter, some years lots of snow and salt on the roads. I did call one shop so far and the guy said 50-100$ depending on the setup. I'll have cash in hand this friday so maybe this week sometime i will drive to the shop i called so they can see it and estimate from there.

 

[Hypergram]

So you didn't actually weld them though? If not, then it's just a matter of me getting the right size inlet so it will slide on properly, or i could get a sleeve to join the two together.

Yeah. I don't think you have to weld any aftermarket exhaust. In your situation it make be a bit different since you might be combining parts, but any "full set" shouldn't need any welding unless otherwise specified. That being said, unless you are buying a full set like I did, with lots of instructions, I would just leave it to the shop. If you decide to buy a whole new exhaust set up, Ron at Whoosh is giving away exhaust hangers with an exhaust purchase. With an aftermarket exhaust, they are a must.