Well,
I just installed my new, replacement Flowmaster axle-backs. (I had a set of the defective first-run batch) Wow! What a difference! No more buzzing and ringing! They are a bit quieter, too...so I guess that when one of those baffles come loose, the noise-cancelling properties of the muffler's design repidly declines!

That was great of Flowmaster to replace these after this much time has passed. I guess it's a special consideration, since it was such a broad-range execution flaw on their part. If these hold up, I will definitely order from them again.

-gambi06

 

Congrats, that is great news. I like it when a vendor stands by their product like that. If you want customers to come back you have to suck it up some times.

 

I have had my Flows for 1-1/2 years now and praised them as my baffles had stood firm. That is until last week.

I called Summit Racing (where I purchased them) and was promptly told since they were out of warranty there was nothing they could do for me. They did however give me Flowmaster's number.

I was greeted by a friendly customer Representative that knew exactly what I spoke of. (I would hope so after so many failed)

I faxed them a copy of my receipt and am expecting a new set within a week or two.

So as long as the new set holds up I will still praise Flowmaster and their customer service now as well.

 

Sooooo... what's this about Flowmasters self-destructing? I have had my flows for over 2 years. Should I be concerned?

 

Early production runs from '05 had a construction flaw, in which a number of people have experienced the welds on the internal baffles breaking, and turning the baffles innto musical instruments, so to speak. lots of buzzing and ringing. Mine happened to do it right at 1500 rpm, 3000, 4500, etc. that frequency really got 'em singing. (And not in a good way!)

Now, they supposedly have extra bracing inside. If you haven't noticed anything by now, you are probably fine.

 

I've had my Flows for about 4 months now and my driver's side will buzz at about 2000rpm until they warm up, 5 - 10 minutes later, then they seal up and sound normal. I just hope they don't get worse!

 

347strokin,

It could be your clamp is not quite tight enough. I though I might have had a bad set. They were quite for the first 3 - 4 months then the noise started. I tried rapping on the case to hear the rattling sound typical of a loose baffle but didn't hear anything. When I checked the clamps, the driver side was loose enough to allow the muffler to move a little (twisting motion). I just repositioned the muffler to straight and re-tightened the clamp, using some WD-40 to lube the threads a little to get it nice and tight. That was over a year ago (and about 20K miles) and they've been "noise free" since.

Others have had better luck switching to better clamps than provided by Flowamster...