Gonna start working on the exhaust. Looking for opinions on stainless vs aluminized. I really like the JBA sound and they offer both types. The stang will never see the winter and will see rain occasionly. So what are peoples opinion on both now that you all had them on your cars for a while now.

Also, thoughts on the flowmasters too. Durablity over the past years or so.

Thanks

 

Stainless will last forever essentially

Even with your car not seeing winters, there is a lot of water vapor present in your exhaust, so moisture will collect in your mufflers over time, and they can deteriorate.

My take... if you're keeping the car forever, get the stainless, if you plan on trading/selling it in in a few years, get the aluminized

 

Aluminized is crap. It will rust away regardless of winter or rain. There are always weak points at welds and such where it will start to rust. I also think the inside does not get coated very well.

Stainless will last almost forever. Even here in Ohio exhausts last an amazing lenght of time. Once the OE stainless exhaust is changed to aluminized, it's gone in a few years.

 

The Magnaflow cat back system I just purchased is polished (mirror finish) stainless. Other than a little blueing at the hotter section, it looks as good as new after 3 weeks. Stainless should last a lifetime, not like the Flowmaster american thunder on our 93 coupe. It lasted approx 3 yrs before being replaced by Borla stainless, however I am now concidering converting every car we own to Magnaflow. Just don't know how to convience the wife to get under there and clean & polish the system.

TDS

 

Stainless is the way to go. You will want to stay away from JBA's "stainless" though because they don't use 304 stainless. I had a set of them and they had a nice glaze of rust within a week. I can't imagine what they would have been like if I had left them on there. Go with a manufacturer that actually uses a good grade of stainless.

 

Aluminized exhaust is OK if it's all you can afford, but its not worth the money in the long run. Its usually warranteed not to 'rust through' which means that some surface rust may be present, but it shouldnt develop holes. Unfortunately, if any scratches or gouges are made to the surface of the metal, the aluminized finish gets scratched off and the pipe will rust.

ALso, the mufflers usually rust out within a few years, and you will have to replace them or buy a new system, because trying to remove the rusted mufflers can do some damage to the pipe. I would spend the money on a quality exhaust system and save yourdelf the hastle of dealing with it again. If you look around, you can find a good deal. I paid $400 for my stainless Magnaflow cat-back, compared to $300-350 for an alumnized Flowmaster system. It was well worth the extra money.

 

I bought the JBA axle backs on the 24th of June. Here's my experience so far: Installation took about 3 hours. Things went smooth when I realized contrary to the instructions they don't "slide" onto the hangers, the hangers have to be removed. This is because the intake side is over an inch longer than the stock mufflers. This also pushes the muffler back so that it's actually twisted. So I take it to a shop and they end up triming a half inch off the pipe on the drivers side so the JBA will fit. The JBAs aren't slotted like the stock mufflers so the clamps didn't do anything - could still "wiggle" the drivers side even after torquing the clamp. Had the shop go ahead and weld them on. <- That was two days ago. Today I've got a rattle at around 1500 rpms. Maybe something is loose? Hanger? Crawl up underneath and tap around and narrow it down to inside the passenger side muffler..... I pull out the invoice (going to call them tomorrow) and in capital letters at the bottom reads: ALL PARTS ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND JBA OFFERS NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES ON PARTS. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PARTS IS WITH THE BUYER. - JBA Performance Center.
?????
That's my two cents, I'll keep you updated if you're still considering the JBAs

T

 

Thanks for the info on the JBA's. I am on my second set of Flowmasters, and they are junk, IMO. They have just started rattling/buzzing, just like my first set did. I have an offroad x-pipe & a 5-speed, and other cars with similar setups have had rattling Flow's too. What I don't get is that Flowmasters are designed to handle high horsepower engines, and all this other racing endorsement crap, but their mufflers can't handle a 300 hp naturally aspirated motor?? Anyways, I am looking at Corsa's, or possibly Edelbrock, just to be different.

 

Quite the contrary with me, I have JBA's and didn't have the tools to install myself, so I took them to a local exhaust shop and they had them on for me in less then an hour. I got to watch the guy work the whole time, and he had no issues whatsoever. Fit perfectly fine for me, they sound awesome and no leaks or issues so far.

I don't drive my car in the winter, and these ones I got for a great deal and wanted to try something different then what most people have, so I thought I'd try them out. Besides, most enthusiasts I know like to switch up their exhaust to try something else before they need replacing anyways, so it doesn't bother me that they are aluminized.

So far, so good.

K

 

Talked to JBA "Performance". They were friendly, said I would have to go through JBA "Headers" but to bring it by first and let them take a look at it.

Stopped by the shop that did the work last week on the way home and the guy who worked on it said the passender side muffler definitely sounds like somethings broken loose.

Now I've got to break loose from work for a morning to cruise down to San Diego.....

Rondosa - don't get me wrong, I LIKE the JBAs, look and sound (throaty/just somewhat louder than stock). The fit has been an issue. And by that It's become a lot more than a 1 hour install.

T

 

Bummer on the JBA's, I was leaning towards them. Is the FRPP stainless?

 

Bummer - I hope you resolve the issue. It's the first time I've ever heard of someone having such problems with the JBA's. Like I said, I/the shop had 0 issues with them. Hope it works out.

jdruid, you not going for the JBA's becuase they are aluminized? I thought they now came in stainless too?

k

 

FRPP Stingers/Borlas are T-304 SS, if i recall correctly, but the Maremont/Supreme Performance/FRPP GTAs are only T-409 SS and carry a 90 day warranty.

I wouldn't touch aluminized exhaust with a 10 foot pole, especially not for a nice car like the Mustang GT.

 

bassani 304 Stainless =

 

The JBA's come both ways stainless or aluminized!

 

I really like my Magnaflows, Quiet at idle but have a nice throaty sound when you get into it.

 

some people will buy a bunch of billet dress up items but won't spend the extra dough on a quality exhaust.

Buy a stainless exhaust unless you want to buy another muffler in a few years.

 

T-304 SS is definitely the way to go. It will out last the car that's for sure

 

If you can swing it, always go stainless. I've had aluminized system on 90gt forever now, but the car sits in the garage and only drives 3000ish miles MAYBE a year. If it was any more, or had to sit outside, would be stainless.