chardylo

Give me honest advice on these wheels. I currently have the 18 inch chrom clad wheels on my 08 SEL. I like the style of the wheel but just want something bigger. These are somewhat similar in style and I like the looks. They are $1,100 free shipping.

Here are some pics of tips I had installed a few weeks ago. I wanted something that would fit the bumper cut out little better. In my unexpert opinion putting a round tip on an half moon or oval cut out just does not fit!

These tips are 4 inch oval outlets. Got them from Autobarn.com for $40 delivered, and yes they are stainless steel chrome finish.

I like the exhaust tips...where did you get those?

 

Thanks!

you can find the tips on Auto Barn's website, both tips cost $35 (total not each) plus $6 shipping. And yes for all you skeptics, they are stainless steel chrome!

It should not be the same part #....Gibson's fault

Well this is just another reason why I recommend doing what I did. Save money and have a muffler tech build you a CAT system from scratch. Gauranteed to fit everytime!

eBay, I had them on my CX-7 until I got sick of them. They held up pretty well but as mentioned are noticeably fake. The same door handles are on the 04-08 Mazda3, 03-08 Mazda6, Mazda5, CX-7, CX-9, RX-8, 05-09 Mustang, Ford Fusion, Taurus, Flex etc etc.. any of those will work

I got these off the wonderful world of Ebay! You can only tell they are fake if you get up close to them and notice they dont quite cover the entire handle. If you stand back just a few feet and further they look like the real thing (atleast after 3 days).

Now that I have the cheap mods out of the way, it is time to start working on the larger picture, which requires the saving of some $$$.

That's worth looking into.......

Well since I just put them on yesterday I can not comment on durability. I can say that they feel pretty solid now that they have had a day to adhere to the handle. For $45 dollars, if they last me a year I guess it was worth it!

Ok all fellow Edge owners, I have marked off one of the mods from my list. Just installed these chrome door handles. Personally, I think they look great and really show off the chrome wheels when standing from the side.

If you have ever wondered what it would look like here it is!

if you really did no prep work, I would not worry about fade 1 bit, I would worry about it peeling or flaking off or coming off with minor road debris. if you seriously just laid down and started painting, there can be a ton of debris under the paint that can lead to the paint coming off. contamination and an unclean surface make for a very bad mix when painting. at a minimum, light sanding to prep the surface and then clean and then paint. and, if you did not paint the entire thing, yes even the top (which would mean dropping the exhaust from the hangers, which is petty easy and I assume you guy just used the existing rubber grommets) then the top of the exhaust is exposed metal, which could mean rust or contamination, which can mean it works its way down under the half-a-paint job you did. and, on the bottom of a car with road debris and water and salt (if in snow) paint prep would have been pretty important step... but to late now

 

as for the tips.. IIRC, the SEL had some basic steel tips while the Limited had something like "chrome rolled" steel tips?? but can't recall for sure.

Well I appreciate the technical input, but honestly I am not too worried about it. I did the exact same thing on my previous car, a 2004 Honda Accord EXL. I added dual exhaust and painted the mufflers black with a simple high heat black gloss paint. After 1 1/2 years I had only put 1 additional coat on it and that was only because the gloss had faded just a tad. I dont plan on taking the car to auto shows, so there is not much of a chance someone getting underneath my car and evaluating the work that was done. If it does "peel or chip", I will address it then.

Sounds pretty good, doesnt seem to be as loud as the Gibson.

Per that video clip of the Gibson and Flowmaster, my Mangnaflow is not as loud but a little deeper growl.

I like the black paint, looks really good... now lets hope it holds up over time keep us informed as I will be curious to see. did you do some good prep work before painting?

 

as for the tips, hmmm.. I like the stock ones off my Limited a bit better (which I 'think' are different than the SEL). the more elongated oval of these versus the taller circle of the facie cutout bothers my eye - bit of a gap at the top

I did not bother with prep work, so thank goodness I did not use the whole can. If it starts to fade I will just apply another coat. On the tips, I am not sure what comes on the Limited's but I thought they were the same as the SEL's but unsure. I was tired of looking at that small circular one hanging way beneath the cutout. With as low as they had the stock ones hanging, I dont know why they bothered doing a cutout. Anyway, I think it gives it a more flush look compared to before. But to each his own, that is why America is beautiful!!!!!

I posted it earlier but here is the clip a few days after install. It actually sounds a bit better now since everything is broken in, kind of opened up a bit more. The tech said it would.

 

http://s706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/ch...=SoundClip1.flv

Here is a new video without the background noise. This is with all mods complete. Magnaflow CAT system, 4 inch outlet oval exhaust tips.

http://s706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/ch...nt=VID00007.flv

Told ya you'd see the "rusty" muffler That looks really good. The oval tips fill out the cut-out in the bumper very nicely. Now all we need is a sound clip.

I posted it earlier but here is the clip a few days after install. It actually sounds a bit better now since everything is broken in, kind of opened up a bit more. The tech said it would.

http://s706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/ch...=SoundClip1.flv

Hey everyone,

Many of you may know a month ago I had a custom Magnaflow CAT system installed. Well about 2 weeks ago I got some high heat black gloss paint and did the muffler and piping from the muffler to the tips. I also wanted to find some tips that had a better shape and fit the cutout in the bumper better. I got them in the other day and had them installed on Wednesday.

Here are the pics after installation. They are 4 inch oval outlets, I like them. Let me know what you think!

Sand the metal, clean with alcohol and use a flat black spray paint that they use on wood stoves. This paint is much better than the zip boys high temp spray paint. You will have zero issues with rusting. The paint can be found at any fireplace shop or on-line.

http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5SA-8115

You may know I posted some pics and info regarding my custom Magnaflow CAT system. I recently applied high heat black gloss paint to the muffler and piping from the muffler to the tips. I did not go further back then that. I will say it still looks good after two weeks. I also added some new tips that I think fit and look much better than the stock tips based on the cutouts on our bumpers. I will post pics shortly.

Hi chardylo. :D Perhaps you misunderstood what I stated above, as I am not sure why you quoted my reply in your post. I simply stated as you just did, that an alignment should be performed after installing lowering springs. Hopefully you did not think I was saying something different?

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

My fault bbf, I was not debating your comments. I was debating an earlier one about having alignment done and camber correction.

You do have insurance right ? :P

Should have gone with larger tires, maybe a 265/55/20 and had a local shop change the factory speedo settings to adjust to the new size. Would have come out much cheaper. But again that is irrelevant now, but those with 20's or larger it could be preventive maintenance and reduce that nasty wheel well gap.

Hi Lex. :D Your buddy is 100% correct. If you want to do the lowering spring install correctly, you definitely need to have an alignment performed after doing the job.

 

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

I have some knowledge of lowering springs and how that relates to alignments and negative camber. Yes if you lower any vehicle regardless of the drop it is highly recommended you have an alignment done. What is not true is that any drop requires camber correction, especially in SUV's. Our cars are have significant gap from the manuafacturer and allows for such a drop without effective camber. Any drop up to 1.5 and probably even 2 inches would require alignment, but would not require camber correction.

I plan to buy 22x9.5in. wheels, 35mm offset, along with 285/35/22 tires. Also will be adding H&R lowering springs. Does anyone run a set up like this? Will it fit without rubbing? Or would it be better to run 265/35/22's?

Well I think that depends on one major component. How much are you going to lower? H&R makes several springs with different levels of drop. If you go with the standard 1.7 front and 1.3 rear, which tends to be the norm for our cars you should be fine with 35's.

I will say that with the lesser amount of offset with the wheels and width of tire (285) they may patrude further out then you may like. Just my 0 cents!

Im sorry i lied mine is 27% but its still a little off stock rear windows it makes a big difference

Here is mine with 20%. It is matching with the rest of the windows. I live in SC and passed many cops and they honestly really dont care.

The welds are going to rust, and that is not stainless steel, certainly not polished stainless steel. Stand 15 feet back from the rear of your car and tell me you cannot see the muffler.

You are correct, I did not mean to say "polished". It is not polished stainless steel but it IS stainless steel that I promise you. As far as seeing it, I have stood far enough behind the car when on the ground to know it is not as visible as you think. Stand 15 feet behind yours and you will see the bottom of the stock mufflers. There is not enough room to have it completely flush and out of sight.

As far as mpg goes, I have not noticed any "reduction" or "improvement". At least not by the tell tell mpg readout on the info system. As far as the welds "going to rust" sorry but we will have to agree to disagree with that one.

you mention a "high flow resonator"... I thought you just put your stock one back in?

No, I went with a high flow resonator. We tried the stock one and it just muffled it too much, kind of defeated the purpose of the whole thing.

Sounds good, do you know the part number of the new muffler?

 

thanks

Part number is #12368

yep, you can hear the difference loud and clear. sounds nice - good clip. can you give more feedback on the internal sound? "not overwhelming but is definitely heard" - would you honestly say it is an issue if it was?

 

BTW, where you at? a prison yard

Good one, no they are starting to build the new phase of the condo community I am temporarily staying at until my home 3 hours away sells. I took a new job and they put me up in a condo until someone buys the thing.

Inside the car with the windows up you can hear the growl but there is no resonance or drone at any speed. You can barely hear it at idle, but when you accelerate it is just a nice deep throaty sound but not loud and annoying.

Hangs too low, and whoever is behind you on the road, all they are going to see is a big ugly rusty muffler.

Thanks for your input, my response to this is two fold.

1. I can see why it may look like the muffler is hanging low, especially considering the photo was taken with the car lifted 7 feet in the air. I assure you standing behind the car you can not see it like you think.

2. The muffler will never be ugly and rusty, it is polished stainless stell and will remain that way from what I am told.

Here is the sound clip with the completed system. This is a Magnaflow CAT, 2.5 inch pipe, high flow resonator. Interior sound is not overwhelming but is definitely heard. Deeper and mellow sound!

http://s706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/ch...=SoundClip1.flv