I had to replace the muffler on my 2007 Arctic Cat 500 Standard after only 300 hours. This works out to close to a Buck an hour muffler expense. I think that there is a design problem here in that the steel muffler is attached to a lead gasket causing an electric reaction which causes the muffler to corrode prematurely. The dealer asked me if I had taken the bike through water, duh, yeah wasn't I suppose to? Anyone else noticing premature rusting? This is a realatively new muffler attachment design.

 

Looks worst than it is, did you tap with a hammer? My muffer looks rusty but still has lots of life by the feel of things.

 

Mine survived 3 years and I ride it a lot on a saltwater beach. It eventually rusted through and I patched that. Then the baffles rusted out inside it adn the were rattling really loud and it was constantly blowing chunks of insulation out o fit. It was also putting off more heat than ususal.

I replaced it along withthe exhaust pipe and I paid $280 US for the pipe and muffler. Aftermarket stainless steel is even more $ than that and they were slightly louder which did not want.

I was told, after the fact, that if I took it to an auto parts store I might be able to cross reference it with a lawn tractor muffler. They are less than $100 each! Iam going to look that way on my next one.

SJ

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I still think that the lead gasket in the newer models that is the cause of my troubles. I ride short distances everyday and sometimes have to cross a highway that uses road salt in the winter. The muffler guys wanted to rig something up for me for $250 and I will go for it next time. Here is a link to a picture of my muffler with only 1,500 miles on it:

http://netforever.org/Muffler.jpg

 

I Have a 2008 Arctic Cat TRV500 Aprox. 200 hrs Ive already replaced my Muffler not because of rusting but because it Carbon up causing my Quad to Stall when Idling, Maybe Mufflers On the Cats have issues?

 

This a is a topic i've pondered alot over the years and with aftermarket options i've come to the conclution that all Manufacturers should offer at the very least as an option to get with FlowMaster or some other exhaust manufacturer to build a stainless steel exhaust system that's warranteed for the life of the atv , most all the manufacturers at least offer this type of option on the street bikes they sell ; some even offer them as O.E.M equiptment on some brands at least they did on the 2007 Honda VTM 1300 street bike my brother bought in 2006 !

I guess it's the extra cost of these stainless steel exhaust systems , but i still think that they would sell if they offered them on atv's ; i've been lucky on the three brand atv's i've owned and have never had to replace a muffler on my 86' Honda TRX350FM Foreman 4x4 , 1993 Suzuki LT4WD 300 KQ and my present Arctic Cat 400 FIS Auto 4x4 ; but i don't have the hours are mileage of the 2 previous quads so i don't have enough seat time on it yet to really give a fair comparison !

But it does apear to be all in all in better shape than the other 2 at the same hours i had on them at the same time as the others , but if i had the option at the time of my purchase of the AC 400 i would've been willing to pay the extra cost for the stainless steel of a FlowMaster or even a Suzuki/AC O.E.M. option if they had offered them ; maybe if more buyers would call the manufacturers and Dealerships and let them know that there are enough buyers willing to buy a quad and pay the extra cost for these exhaust they would do something about this issue !

Just my $0.2 cents on this subject at least !................

 

Wow!!!! That was a rusty muffler. Do you ride/trailer on salted rodes in the winter? I have 1000 hrs on an 03 honda that i use for commercial snow removal and herbicide spraying. Does not even appear rusty. Lucky you changed that or you could have recieved the nick name 'rusty butt'