rd_turbo

iTrader: (4)

I bought a used dual tip RB catback from a forum member in 2007 off a car which supposedly had 5k miles. It was unusually lound and raspy for a RB, but I got used to it and no one seemed to complain too much. I should have waited the 3 weeks for a new one...my bad. Last Fall, as I was driving on the highway, the car got noticeably louder and it's now reached an all time high level of nuissance. Has anyone blown one of these mufflers and/or has anyone attempted to repack them? Racing Beat didn't really have any suggestions worthy of consideration.

DaveW

I'm just guessing here, but from the shape of the RB DT muffler (I have one on my FD), I would say that it does not use packing, but uses baffles, like other mufflers of this type. Therefore, I would guess that some internal baffle has come loose or disintegrated. That would be impossible to fix without cutting the muffler open.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

I've noticed the few times I've spoke to RB on the phone, they've been pretty worthless about giving any real info.....anything that deviates from simply buying products seems to cause a mental meltdown on their end.

Kento

That is correct, the RB dual uses internal baffles, not fiberglass packing, to absorb sound.

The RB duals (at least the example that I have) are fairly high quality construction, and I'd be surprised if the muffler was coming apart unless the unit was abused for over 70K miles. Are you sure you just don't have some exhaust piping coming loose somewhere?

rd_turbo

iTrader: (4)

That's what I was thinking. I'm **** enough to want to open it now. If it wasn't for the fact that I want to throw a high flow cat in, I'd consider a resonated midpipe to see what effect it has.

That's been my experience also. I've had better conversations with the Ebay sellers that I've contacted by phone before.

I'm 100% sure that there is nothing like that going on. I've been under there a million times contemplating this and that. Standing next to the engine, it just purrs like a kitty (twins in parallel), but once you go to the back, all hell breaks loose. It sounds amazing driving under bridges at full throttle, but it really is annoying the rest of the time.

The fact that there was a dramatic change all of a sudden, tells me that the only thing it could be is something that might have disintegrated in the muffler. When I bought it, it looked great, but it's impossible to determine if it had the claimed 5k miles or 70k miles. It's the newer style RB cat back system. If I end up opening it up, I'll post some pics.