Welding vs Bolting Your Car Muffler Welding vs Bolting Your Car Muffler

Fitting a car muffler is one of the best ways to give your car some much needed extra power and make it sound like it's running smoothly. A car muffler is used to reduce and tune the noise of an internal combustion engine. Mufflers are fitted in line with the cars exhaust system.

Advantages of Fitting Car Mufflers

Installing a muffler in your car will help to do much more than just reducing the sound emitted from the exhaust. Mufflers are also able to improve fuel economy, engine performance and will also make your engine last longer. A hot dog is a smaller type of muffler that can be fitted to produce large sounds.

Installing Mufflers

Installing a muffler is often seen as a task for professionals only. It is actually possible to fit a muffler to your car yourself just as long as you have the right tools. There are two main methods of installing a muffler — welding or bolting the muffler on. Either of these techniques will work, but which is the best option and why?

Welding Car Mufflers

Many people think that welding the muffler onto the exhaust manifold provides a much more professional finish. Welding the joint will create a much stronger bond which will be longer lasting. This will also prevent leaks from the exhaust system if it is done properly. There are, however, various problems with welding a car muffler.

Welding is a specialist skill that few people are able to master. If you're not an experienced welder then it will be near impossible to create an airtight seal all around the exhaust. This is why many people are considering using mufflers which simply bolt onto your cars exhaust manifold.

Welding mufflers is difficult and something for which you will need specialist equipment. This means that not everyone can do it.

Bolting Your Car Muffler

A much more popular technique for fitting car mufflers is by bolting it onto the exhaust manifold. This is a very popular method of installing a muffler because you don't need to worry about purchasing any specialist tools. Bolting a car muffler on is very easy if you follow the few simple steps below:

  1. Jack up your car so that you can gain access to the underside of your car. To be safe it's a good idea to put a spare tyre under the jacked up wheel in case the jack fails for any reason.
  2. Place the new muffler into place and make sure that the joints are tight and secure.
  3. Lower the vehicle.
  4. Start your engine and listen for any leaks-if there are any loud noises that you wouldn't expect then this is probably caused by leaks.

Advantages of Bolting a Muffler

There are lots of advantages to bolting your muffler on. It's much easier and as long as the correct seals are used there's no reason why it can't be as successful as welding a muffler. Bolting is ideal for anyone who is trying to install a new muffler at home.

Mufflers are important parts of your cars exhaust system. They are often neglected but you should start paying them the attention they deserve. Mufflers also require regular maintenance to stay in top condition.

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