My Coach is a 1995 U300 Build 4627 3176 Cat with Jake Brake,
I have been reading on resonator's for months, and now I'm ready to change the entire exhaust system,
I read about removing the side panel, Is it really that easy?
It's time to make a decision Aero or MagnaFlow any opinions ?
I have 4 inch flex off the turbo and the pipe going out the tail is 5 inch
I'm wondering if the 5" has less restriction
Anybody have problems with Exhaust temp on the side panel?
Any advice would be Greatly Appreciated
Andrew
Well you know my reply having emailed me on this topic and again I would take the panel off as it really is easy and gives you access to many other items to check and clean. The long moulding strip is removed then the screws holding panel which are under the strip and down the side left and right. There will be 2 under bottom lip then carefully lift it off. NOW it is easy to work on and will take 30mins for your first go at this.
I also have 4" flex stainless tubing then I made a 4-5" transition to go into resonator (or have muffler shop swage one and weld for you).
With the side panel off all the work is done sitiing on a low stool or?? NOT lying on your back getting crap in your eyes.
Just do it (as Nike say's).
Search resonator and my replacement should come up so you can see how convenient it is.
JohnH
Since I'm not having any exhaust system issues and until they rear their head, I'm not concerned.
As for size, it's been a long time since I've second guessed any OEM application.
99.999% of OEM exhaust design concerns overall normal driving performance.
IF you think you can effect improvement to the OEM system that will be positive enough to economically improve that 99.999%
portion of the design.. give it a go. As for size, if you are not making changes to the inducer side of the turbo, I'd go with the larger pipe option, it does look cooler. Any other gains will be controlled via your right foot. pc
Hope I'm not deviating from the thread, but this has been of interest since we got the coach: hard to imagine someone hitting a low curb.
my brother did the same damage on a driveway apron with a crowned street.
Resonator ^.^d
Done it for my 94 & I believe it was well worth it. Small HP gain, lot of weight is rid of by removing the OEM muffler & for any reason gained space can be utilized for something else ... depending on your configuration. I would go with 5050XL
I did the swap on our '93 U280 in our driveway - raised it up and put the safety stands in. I did not feel it necessary to remove any body panels. Ours is a Cummins 8.3 so might be laid out differently than your Cat. It is not a terribly difficult job, but you will get dirty! On our coach, once the old muffler was out of the way, there was lots of room to work. I used the Magnaflow 12771, which is 4" in and out. To my (70 year-old) ears it sounds no louder (at idle) than the stock muffler. On the highway, with windows shut, can't hear it at all.
I posted several more photos in the long-running "Resonator..." thread - you may have already seen them. If not, link below to Pg. 10 (scroll down the page to my 4 or 5 separate posts).
Resonator and muffler replacement (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=15111.225)
Andrew,
I might be wrong about this but I think you will be the first member to install a resonator on a Jake equipped engine. A Jake and resonator could produce a pretty loud setup unlike what other coach owners here on the forum have experienced with their resonator with a retarder or exhaust brake. You might need to heed the signs that prohibit "unmuffled compression brakes" in certain localities. Might be kind of a grey area as to if a resonator is considered a muffler. I would proceed but have a backup plan where a muffler could be swapped out in case you find its too loud. Different engine models will produce more or less sound depend on how the exhaust and turbo system is designed. Just something to keep in mind.
I have Jake's on our 92 and did the swap and.love it. Is it a little louder yup but not as bad as some truckers but then I am kind of a outlaw lol.Go for it good luck.
I'm going to go for it,
Thanks to all for the input,
Andrew
Let us know how it works out. Been many times out west when I'd wished for one!
It looks like he has an Exhaust brake. They are not as loud as a true Jake Brake.
No, the Caterpillar 3176 has an engine compression brake (aka Jake brake).
Sorry I was talking about Chucks Coach.
You are correct, the Cummins C would have only an exhaust brake.
Yes, we do have a exhaust brake, which has no noticeable effect on tail pipe noise level, regardless of muffler type. If anything, it would reduce the exhaust noise when activated...sorta like sticking a big potato in the end of the pipe. If I turn it on when the coach is sitting still and idling, and then turn it off, it does make a rather amusing sound...kind of a muffled "POP" as the pressure is suddenly released. Fun to play with when you are sitting at a long, boring stop light. >:D
@andrew be sure and keep us posted on progress and we always love pictures!
see ya
ken
I Ready
Have all my parts and the welder is coming out today,,,
One Question What if any safeguards do I need to do before welding on the frame?
Welding Checklist (https://wiki.foreforums.com/doku.php?id=technical:chassis:welding)
Andrew..Take some photos and post up the parts list..I may do the same upgrade.
Thx
Hans
I would like to hear how about how loud the jake is with the resonator.
The Job is complete except for the final bracket adjustments,
I have photo's of the project but I don't understand how to attach them in the thread, Help Please..
Andrew to add pics just scroll down to the line that say's " add files by dragging or selecting them" then click on the words "selecting them and that allows you to them find pics and link them to post.
JohnH
Thank You for that info Brett
Well Christmas has come and gone,
Now back to it.
The Resonator project went well, Removal of the body panel was very easy, I think that was my biggest fear about the project,
Anyway all went well total time was about 6 hours partly because the welder I hired to come out was good but slow as molasses in the winter time.
Parts used,
1, 15 inch piece of 3 inch angle iron (to be used as bracket)
1, 5 inch piece of 4 inch S.S. Flex Pipe
2, 4 inch S.S. preformed W/ I- Block clamps
2, 4 inch 30 Degree elbow's
1, Piece of 4 inch pipe (used about 2 foot)
1, 4 inch 90 Degree elbow
1, 4 inch to 5 inch adapter
1, 5 inch Aero 5050XL
1, Piece of 5 inch pipe (used about 8")
3, Universal tail pipe hangers
2, 4 inch muffler U clamps
1, 5 inch muffler U clamp
The only thing I reused was the chrome tail pipe tip.
I've got to say I was disappointed when I cranked her up, I had the front window open and it didn't sound any different.
BUT then I walked out back, My friend said I had a huge grin on my face,
Sounds Fantastic at flat idle as well as fast idle.
I won't have a chance to hear it on the road for another 10 days, I'll be leaving the San Antonio area headed to Lewisville Lake just north of Dallas, I'm anxious to see what it feels like although I won't have hills to climb for awhile.
I have fuel millage data back to 1/1/2010 to current overall 7.54 mpg I'll keep ya'll posted,
Thanks to all for the help and advice,
Andrew
I have video but can't figure out how to get it to the site so If anyone wants to here it PM me and I'll e mail the video to you.
Congrats on the panel removal (see it was not hard was it, and look at how much room you had to work in!!!)
Pictures too- well done, and maybe in future (easier to look at them) make them a bit bigger when posting to Forum ( more pixels-kbs)
Glad you are happy with it.
JohnH
I'm Going to try larger pixels lets see
Thanks Again John,
I do wish I could get the video live,
Have A Great Afternoon,
Andrew
Much better pics, thanks!
They are better- now you are an expert Andrew. Just like that.
JohnH
Nice job Andrew, you are going to love it. We sure like ours ^.^d
Andrew,
Very nice. If you want to ... you can always upload a video to youtube and put a link here.
Good Idea I'll learn how to do that and get er done,
Thanks,
Andrew
Good Morning Dave,
My Cat 3176 sounds GREAT, I feel it has a little better low end torque 55 or 60 mph easy acceleration seems and sounds more powerful, As far as the Jake Brake 1st stage pretty quite 2nd stage pretty loud, I'll need to heed the noise ordnance signs but that's a small price to pay,
The overall sound and performance and lower engine compartment temps makes it all worth while, Plus I'm hoping for a little better MPG, I will post info on that as time goes by I only have 325 miles on this tank.
I wish I would have done the job years ago,
I have Video- Audio on my u-tube channel but don't understand how to get the link here can you help with that,
One last thing, I knew I had a few small exhaust leaks on the old muffler and pipes that I repaired with jb weld, what I didn't know was the 5 inch 4 foot tail pipe was positioned with the seem on top and it had a 1/2" gap almost the entire length of the pipe the seem was pretty much gone letting all that exhaust blow up towards my bedroom floor. Just FYI.
Not the best quality but here are a few videos
https://youtu.be/kGQcPOKQobg
https://youtu.be/KZBYo0MP6z0
https://youtu.be/XfSISRlwv1Q
Hope This Works,
My 5050xl performance and noise seems to match your comments.
I changed the air filter to the blue finer filtering Donaldson which Pittsburg power mentioned helps performance a bit and the hydraulic fan temp control valve on the engines hot antifreeze output piping.
Stock unit seems to come on at too low of a temp at 190. Replacement unit is 210.
700 mile drive I see no difference in the cool weather engine temps on my silverleaf.
The reason for the change was to lower the 37 hp draw the hydraulic fans run and end up with more performance and especially better mpg.
Trip averaged 7.3 but that's up cajon pass and the roads into Death Valley at 36,000 pounds combined and running 68 on cruise.
Should help on flatter ground.
Definite more torque feel and the same rpms the OP noticed. And a bit better revout HP.
Historical mpg in the engines computer is 7.5. 108,000 miles in this ECM.
Long term will tell on the flat ground mpg difference if any.
Radiator fans still spin at startup and idle like normal. Just wanted a 20 degree increase in the fans ramp up speed.
Thermostat does not open fully until 195 on my m11.
The 190 degree controller seems to be overkill IMO and I got flashes on my silverleaf of much high mpg in short stretches which I attribute to the cooling fans finally ramping down to the low temp fan speed.
I assume Foretravel went to the most fan they could get so the temp gauge rarely moved. Less frantic phone calls from owners.
"But my gauge moved" were the calls and conversations I got personally.
Took mr four years as I wanted to eliminate all the variables before the resonator install.
Yes it's louder. You can hear the exhaust pulses now. Versus a steady noise?
Going to have built a fire wood storage box where the old muffler went over time.
I'm Finally out on the Highway again I'm on I 20 headed to Foretravel, I attached another sound clip of what the engine sounds like, I tried to get the Jake by holding the I Phone out the window on record but there was way to much wind noise, But like I said earlier the first stag of the Jake is quite but the second does make some racket
IMG 1050 - YouTube (https://youtu.be/ZhpdkHztlFw)
Sounds great, we love ours and I really feel like it has added to the overall performance of our 6v92.
Andrew,
Nice work! Looks and sounds great. I'm pretty sure this will be happening to Big Agnes sometime in the near future... :)
see ya
ken
I wish I would have done it long ago,
Check the top of you tail pipe going out the back mine had a long wide hole in it blowing exhaust up I didn't even know it
The seem of the pipe deteriorated
At Camp Foretravel for A Few Days,
Andrew
Ken, Berndt whom I consider a diesel expert told me that he would not recommend a resonator on the 6V92. He said the noise would probably get you banned from every most municipalities and RV Parks and would rattle my teeth if we ever went through a tunnel. He also said the mufflers used by Foretravel on our Detroits has all of the flow required for optimum performance. Of course you can ask him yourself next month when we are in NAC.
Andy, have you had any kickback from your RV Park neighbors or the local Cops?
No I have not, I do however take responsibility and am mindful of where am at. I do respectively disagree with the mechanic. ^.^d I have seen a difference in performance since removing the old muffler. 8)
I would not rate Bernd as an "Expert" on DDC engines, aware, ok, Expert No way. Noise from a V-92 resonator is very mellow, not harsh like a straight pipe, ran a resonator for years on a 8V-92 @ 600+ hp everyone was happy.
Difference between knowing and guessing.
Dave - just curious - do you have any direct experience with Bernd as a basis for this opinion?
Dave has passed away RT Geezer.