Well, I was driving today and I heard a loud muffled noise underneath my car. It turns out that the clamp/joint where the rear muffler pipe meets the intermmediate pipe is cracked and has a slight hole in the rear pipe. The stealership wants $350.00-$400.00 for a new Nissan one. I know the OEM's are much quieter than the aftermarket ones. But, I was wondering what's a good aftermarket brand muffler which is as good as the OEM, or as quiet as the OEM? Which ones should I stay clear away from? What do you guys suggest I get, or had experiences with? I'm not looking for performance, but at this point it really doesn't matter since I am in need of one ASAP. I don't feel like dropping that much money on a Nissan OEM. Thanks!

 

Buy a used stock one in the 5th Gen Classifieds.

 

going to a midas or some other muffler shop should be able to come up with a stock sounding replacement, probably alot cheaper than oem.

 

And much worse quality. ebay/5th gen calssifieds.. less than 100$....

 

Does your flange look like this:?





I had your same problem MIXX, and I replaced mine with a Bosal muffler.

It cost me 280 installed, and taxes in (CDN).

 

Wow! Mine doesn't look as bad as yours. My hole is much smaller but loud enough where I can hear it with my music blasting. It cost you $280.00 installed? Why didn't you just buy the part online and install it yourself? It's very simple. Just a few bolts to loosen and then re-install. Yeah, I seen those Bosal mufflers for about $118.00 shipped. How do they sound, and how long have you had it?

 

I'm looking for a front exhaust for my Max.

 

You forgot to mention that the rear has to be jacked up about 2 feet in order to wriggle the rear section off and on.

 

get the dual from custommaxima....be different

 

Thanks, but yeah, I just thought that it was a "given" whenever you work underneath the car.

 

hes looking for something stock, so no not different

 

Not for all cars. I've installed an axle back on a WRX and it could be done with the rear less than a foot in the air.

Have you actually tried swapping out the rear section of a 5th Gen? If no, then you will see what I mean when you try it without a lift.

 

I just ordered one from drivewire. Mine is completely broken off.

 

Yeah, I replaced one on my '95 a few years back. I just used a jack to give me clearance to the muffler. I didn't have to remove my rear wheel or anything. But, it seems my 2000 isn't anything different. This will be my first attempt on this car (hopefully, my last for a while). It should go smoothly, (I hope). But, thanks anyway.

 

Yeah, I came across that website after I had already ordered from Thepartsbin.com. Drivewire sells it for $8.00 cheaper. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Thepartsbin is closer to where I live, so hopefully it will get here sooner (as compared to Drivewre in CA). I will post after the results of the install.

 

[Not to be anti-new-parts, but] that can be fixed. Midas or one of these places should be willing to weld a new flange on - I guess it will last a year or two.

 

Not sure if this will help, but here's a thread Irish started when I swapped rear sections with him:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=422651

 

Thanks for looking out! Man, you were'nt joking when you said to jack it "high". I guess I'll be getting into a real treat putting it on. My '95 was so much easier to work on. It seems Nisssan doesn't want us working on our own repairs on our cars, so they have to make more things difficult. One thing, though....does the reason for being so high have to do with clearing the pipe thru the axle, or just to give yourself enough room to work under there? I guess it helps also working with two jackstands and taking off the rear wheel? Thanks!

 

That's exactly it. The closer you can get the muffler to point 90 degs downwards, the easier it is to get the pipe out of the "tunnel". We obviously didn't have that kind clearance, so it took some amount of wriggling to find the angle to get it free.

It also helps to have a towel or some cardboard on the ground so you don't scrape the muffler tips.

 

Can't you just replace those flanges with a 1-7/8" coupler?

 

I could have done that, but that requires effort, and energy...something that money can fix.

And that was probably 118 USD shipped right? Mine was in CAD. I probably paid more than I should have, in fact, I *should* have welded a sleeve on there, but that's a bigger issue, because i'm eventually going to go aftermarket from the headers back. I needed a decent fix in case I decided to wait a year for the exhaust...and this was the cheapest solution.

 

JB weld $5, or you can get SS Frankencar rear section for like 350.

 

Probably, if it's welded on there. But, who knows how long that will last. You'll probably save more money and hassle in the long run by just buying the whole assembly which will last a lot longer and have less problems.

 

Gotcha! I went cheap, too, just to get me by for the time being until I find something better in the near future. Just curious, though, how does your Bosal sound compared to the stock muffler? Thanks!

 

Thanks, Puppetmaster. You're definitely a big help. Yeah, now looking at what I have to work with I can see what I'll be getting into. Did you have to install new rubber hangers? Were they easy to slip thru/off and reinstall?

 

If only they were available right now.... I need one.

 

I'm still using my stock hangers. Not sure what shape yours are in, but I had no issues with them whatsoever. You can always go to NAPA or any other auto-parts store to get some new ones if yours are shot.

 

It sounds pretty much the same, if not quieter.

 

Or you can do what i did. Get a MagnaFlow muffler with custom resonator and 2 1/4 pipping. This cost me $450 including labor.

 

I had the same issue. My buddy works at a shop that does custom exhaust. He just cut the flanges off and welded new ones on. I watched him do it and was not that difficult. He said it was worth doing because the stock pipes are stainless and would last longer than if I replaced with after market.. He knows better .. he is in the business. just my $.02

 

The flange, is it tightened with bolts that I can take off? Or is welded or something, because I'm doing mine tomorrow and I'm not sure what tools I'll need.

 

Actually, the stock pipes are aluminized steel and aftermarket stainless steel will last longer.