Hot Rod Forum banner

FLOWMASTER's??????

14K views 42 replies 14 participants last post by  pittbull7934 
#1 ·
I just purchased an exhaust system for my car, and paid for flowmaters. I crawled under the car and did not see the stamped flowmasters logo that has been on the other sets of flowmasters I have owned in the past.

Do all flowmasters have their name stamped on them? I could not feel the stamp on the top side of the muffler either.

I want to know for sure before I make accusations of the guy who installed my mufflers.
 
#3 ·
Barn Owl said:
It is only stamped on one side, so make more sure that it is not on the top before you make a fool out of yourself down at the shop.
So to keep me from making a fool of my self, what do you suppose I do? I felt the top side of the muffler and there was no stamp.

Should I cut the muffler off? Cause I don't like that idea.
 
#6 ·
Both are good ideas, it's just on the two other cars I have had with Flows one was on top and one was visible but it was easy to tell on both cars, there was a flow masters stamp in the metal.

Yes it does say flowmaster on the recipt. And in my opinion I paid for them.

A little bothered by this situation, not to mention that I drove the car for a day and all of the flange bolts came loose, and 4 of the nuts got lost. So I had to throw some lock washers (on all 6 bolts) and new nuts on the flanges.
 
#7 ·
This happens all the time. I`ve seen more than one guy say he got flowmasters when what he really got was the cheap copy cat of the flowmaster. Every FM I ever seen has the name on the case. The cheap copy cats have nothing on the case. Many exhaust shops pull this scam, you pay for flowmasters but you don`t get them, instead you get a cheap copy that sounds almost identical. This one moron I seen out of town paid for flowmasters and the guy installed glass packs, and the owner didn`t know the difference and I didn`t have the heart to tell him how bad he got took.
In the world today the rule is what you don`t know can hurt you.
 
#8 ·
DoubleVision said:
This happens all the time. I`ve seen more than one guy say he got flowmasters when what he really got was the cheap copy cat of the flowmaster. Every FM I ever seen has the name on the case. The cheap copy cats have nothing on the case. Many exhaust shops pull this scam, you pay for flowmasters but you don`t get them, instead you get a cheap copy that sounds almost identical. This one moron I seen out of town paid for flowmasters and the guy installed glass packs, and the owner didn`t know the difference and I didn`t have the heart to tell him how bad he got took.
In the world today the rule is what you don`t know can hurt you.

Yea I have I'm a little paranoid about paying people to do work on my cars because of some jerk mechanics that took me when I was a kid, Which is a huge reason why I do 99 percent of the work myself but also check any work I have paid for.

Like I said I have had 2 pairs of flowmasters on other cars and they had the name stamped on them.

The funny thing is the guy made a point to tell me they are not cheap knock offs, which instantly raisd a red flag for me.

The funny thing is that I wanted Borlja's and he insisted I go with flows, cause they are cheaper and last longer. I wish I would have just went with the Borjla's
 
#9 ·
I don`t think there is a borla knock off, hence the reason why he wanted you to go with flow copy cats. I wouldn`t take this, I would take a few guys with me and return to his shop and tell him flat those aren`t flowmasters and either you compensate the extra money I paid you or you replace the crap on there with flowmasters. Because if your reciept says you paid for flowmasters and that`s not what`s on there then you have a case in small claims court. The cheapy mufflers also act like flowmasters in a way, as when flowmasters break in over a month`s period they sound different than they do when new. However, the cheapy jobs also change sound, they get louder and louder as time goes on, within a year they`re alot louder due to the internal flow directors have rotted out and the sound is different. My nephew has these mufflers on his truck and they are way louder than any flowmaster I ever heard and if you listen to his they sound like straight pipes as that`s all they really are since the internals have rusted out.
 
#10 ·
DoubleVision said:
I don`t think there is a borla knock off, hence the reason why he wanted you to go with flow copy cats. I wouldn`t take this, I would take a few guys with me and return to his shop and tell him flat those aren`t flowmasters and either you compensate the extra money I paid you or you replace the crap on there with flowmasters. Because if your reciept says you paid for flowmasters and that`s not what`s on there then you have a case in small claims court. The cheapy mufflers also act like flowmasters in a way, as when flowmasters break in over a month`s period they sound different than they do when new. However, the cheapy jobs also change sound, they get louder and louder as time goes on, within a year they`re alot louder due to the internal flow directors have rotted out and the sound is different. My nephew has these mufflers on his truck and they are way louder than any flowmaster I ever heard and if you listen to his they sound like straight pipes as that`s all they really are since the internals have rusted out.

Yea, Thats the plan, Once I am 100 percent positive they are fakes, I was panning on confronting him about it, i don't want problems, but I have no problem paying a good exhaust guy to put in real ones in and suing him for the additional cost. It's bad business, and the sad thing is that He was recomended.
 
#12 ·
Double and triple checked my mufflers, he actually installed one seem up and one seem down so I actually can see both sides of the muffler, I also molested the tops of both mufflers (the part I could not see) twice, and guess what? there is no stamp on either.

I called the guy, and he swore up and down that they are flowmasters, said some types of flowmasters don't have their name on them.

I Called the flowmaster tech (again) and he said that the exhaust guy is lying. It looks like I will have to pay to get real flowmasters put on it, and sue him for that cost.

This sucks, but I am not letting this slide, I am really peeved

The flowmaster tech said he is going to call the guy to inform him he is mistaken. But beyond taking him off of their authorized dealer list there is not any more they can do.

If anyone knows of any reputable exhaust shops in SAN DIEGO, CA please let me know. The place this happened to me at is Jack's Mufflers on University ave. So, please do not recomend them.
 
#13 ·
Just to satisfy myself, I just crawled under my car (it's on ramps, or no way :sweat: ) and there the stamp is right next to the seam along with what looks like a part number. Mine are 50 Series plus I knew that they were FM's because I took 'em out of the boxes myself and welded up my own exhaust.

Dave W
 
#14 · (Edited)
Whew!

http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/index.php?page=60

Above is the link to flowmaster's site.

Well a phone call from the flowmaster tech to the exhaust guy "educated" him on the fact that if it does not say flowmaster, it is in fact not a flowmaster.

He prompty called me and told me that his distributor told him they were flowmaster's and that he called the distributor and they swore up and down they were flowmaster's

With that said, we made an appointment for him to put the proper mufflers on next week (he has to order them, and I am assuming from a different distibutor).

I am glad I did not have to make any threats of any kind and it appears it is going to be handled in a positive way.

Thanks for the help,

Dustin
 
#15 ·
Irelands child said:
Just to satisfy myself, I just crawled under my car (it's on ramps, or no way :sweat: ) and there the stamp is right next to the seam along with what looks like a part number. Mine are 50 Series plus I knew that they were FM's because I took 'em out of the boxes myself and welded up my own exhaust.

Dave W
I've tried welding (I have never been taught ANYTHING about welding) and I seem to just melt stuff. So I have others do it for me

;)
 
#18 ·
matt167 said:
I bet he was knowingly getting flowmaster knockoffs and blaming 'his supplier' is just a cover cause he got cought
I think that might be a good guess, he was mighty nice to me when he called me trying to sort things out.

If he was telling the truth I hope he tells flowmaster his supplier is selling FLOWMEISTER's and not the real thing.

I guess at this point I just hope to get what I paid for.
 
#19 ·
I have a muffler shop I have recommended for years, but I heard something today that I need to check out about him. There is also a new shop, that I heard the same thing about. This newer shop I have not used as yet, so the complaint could be legitimate.

I also have not ever seen a Flowmaster muffler without "Flowmaster" embossed on the casing.

It is very sad, that the world we live in, has changed so far into cutthroat business practices. We should all get what we pay for, but there are times I have been sold 'cheap' imported knockoff parts. I refuse them, and demand the premium parts I have ordered.

My 'motto' is Quality and Honesty, and I try to live up to that every day.

I am sorry to read you got "took" Dustin. I hope it will be taken care of properly, and hastily.
 
#20 ·
carsavvycook said:
I have a muffler shop I have recommended for years, but I heard something today that I need to check out about him. There is also a new shop, that I heard the same thing about. This newer shop I have not used as yet, so the complaint could be legitimate.

I also have not ever seen a Flowmaster muffler without "Flowmaster" embossed on the casing.

It is very sad, that the world we live in, has changed so far into cutthroat business practices. We should all get what we pay for, but there are times I have been sold 'cheap' imported knockoff parts. I refuse them, and demand the premium parts I have ordered.

My 'motto' is Quality and Honesty, and I try to live up to that every day.

I am sorry to read you got "took" Dustin. I hope it will be taken care of properly, and hastily.
Yea, i can see why exhaust shops do this, they want to be the cheapest guy on the block, and very few people actually check to see if there mufflers are what they wanted.

I can see however like a good mechanic, a good honest exhaust guy could do very well for him self. I am fine paying for what it is I want.
 
#21 ·
My nephew just stopped by and he said the copy cats are called "Pro Sound"
He told me he took them off as he got tired of them. He took a walk in the junk yard and found 2 flowmasters and had them welded on. A friend of mine did this same thing, he found 2 laying in the junk yard, paid $30 for them both and walked away smiling. Since the guts in a flowmaster almost never rots they all sound close to the same when broken in.
I took the flowmaster off my 4.3 V6, as it sounded like a swarm of angry bees. I went back to what I know and love since my youth, a turbo muffler.
FM`s sure sound great on V8`s, not so good on V6`s.
 
#22 ·
DoubleVision said:
My nephew just stopped by and he said the copy cats are called "Pro Sound"
He told me he took them off as he got tired of them. He took a walk in the junk yard and found 2 flowmasters and had them welded on. A friend of mine did this same thing, he found 2 laying in the junk yard, paid $30 for them both and walked away smiling. Since the guts in a flowmaster almost never rots they all sound close to the same when broken in.
I took the flowmaster off my 4.3 V6, as it sounded like a swarm of angry bees. I went back to what I know and love since my youth, a turbo muffler.
FM`s sure sound great on V8`s, not so good on V6`s.
Up until recently I have been less than thrilled about going to the junk yard.......now I love it! New parts just laying on the ground, or right there easy to take off. And they are dirt cheap.

I could not find an after market dust/inspection cover for my 700r4, found 3 on the ground at the junk yard last week, paid 50 bux for all 3, and I brought home a starter with me as well, thats less than what I paid for the dust cover from JEGS and this one works, and I have extras! Never thought to look for mufflers! great idea, we have 4 chevelles!
 
#24 ·
I have a set of turbo mufflers on my 305 with hooker long tubes and this thing sounds and runs good. I have a bone stock 305(headers, edelbrock carb) on a 86 silverado and im very satisfied with horsepower and gas mileage. I can smoke tires all the way through first and chirp tires into second and the turbos are totally awesomne sounding but when I get an extra 185 bucks im headed to my local muffler shop for the 40 series flows
 
#25 ·
I got to see his project car today, and it is a beauty, very nicely done. I hope he can post some pictures of it, for you all to see. Beware, the pictures may not do it justice.

After a few quick tune-up adjustments, it sounded as awsome as it looks. Very close to his power expectations, and I have a couple more thoughts on how to harness more power out of it.

Stephen
 
#26 ·
Yeah it's my suppliers fault. BS that's scab work plain and simple. All the shops around hear are the same way. I try to do EVERYTHING myself, now I know how to rebuild trannys and rearends.

Just for a reference my buddies dad has a newer dodge caravan with 42,000 miles on it. While it was still under warranty the dealership told him the reverse pump was out of it and needed a complete overhaul. (He lost reverse only). What a bunch of **** a quick peak underneath and you could tell the trans was not pulled. And the insurance companies know no better.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top