2017 Dodge Challenger SXT - Mostmint #45

[MostMint]

Within the past week I spent some time on the rear drivetrain/suspension.

One of the rear hubs had free play in it (was on the LR in the crash). I also discovered a small piece of the plastic inner fender that was apparently rubbing on the RR tire. Removal of the rear shocks did not uncover any obvious problems so I won't know if that is fixed until I driver it next.

It took probably 3-4 hours to replace the RR hub and both shocks. At least half of that was the hub. I left the halfshaft in and did not disassemble the suspension. This adds complexity as there is not much room to reach the bolts. The rear hub looks like it has a rectangle shape pattern but really the top 2 bolts are a little closer together, which I learned while installing it.

I plan to quiet this thing down with some mufflers, so I went to work gathering some info. The exhaust pipes are 2.25" OD. I have a pair of Flowmaster knockoffs that are 2.25" ID. I'm a little concerned these are going to be too loud, but they will be better than straight pipes that are on there now. I have a pair of Flowmaster 50 series that I could use also, though they are 2.5" ID. The knockoffs are short enough they would fit in the back where the stock resonators would go, making for a much easier install. The 50 series are longer so it seems likely they would have to go underneath and require a lot more work to fit in. I have one other option - a rust free Charger exhaust that came on Rachel's car - its about 3 1/2" longer than the Challenger system, but I think that is in front of the muffler so it might be an easy adapt. More to come on this.

The other silver one still on the high shelf

[MostMint]

Went to work on exhaust. Decided to put the 2.25" Flowmaster knockoffs in back. Cut the welds to remove the muffler replacement pipes on the car (recall prior owner had converted it to all straight pipe) and started fitting in the mufflers. The knockoffs will fit back there but they had offset inlet and center outlet which put the outlet in a bad spot. I was ready to pull the trigger on a new pair with offset outlet, but before I did I though maybe I should check Facebook Marketplace.

As it turns out there was a used complete cat-back Flowmaster American Thunder series system available for $100. These kits are over $900 new. It was in Painesville so BP acquired it for me. The seller said the wrong kit was sent for her 2023 Challenger R/T, so the installers made it work, but in the end she didn't like the sound. She also threw in the stock system. Both systems had been cut when being removed.

As it turns out the kit she had was from a 2014 Challenger not the 2023 Challenger. The part # she provided said it was 3" pipes which confused me for a bit, but with a little digging on the Holley site I was able to figure it out. This system has 2.5" pipes which I liked a lot better for the V6. Flowmaster offers a kit for the V6 which has 2.5" pipes which helps my confidence this is good size for this application. The difference of the older kit is how the exhaust tips work. This kit has ball type tips which would fit into the stock tips, whereas the newer kit would have dual outlet tips on both sides.

In order to fit this kit to the car, there are two issues - adapting to stock downpipes and exhaust tips. The downpipes on the car are 2.25" OD and the inlet for the catback system is 2.5" ID. My plan is to shorten these a bit and install an adapter. I was able to locate stainless steel adapters to fit both ends. I'll address the tips once the rest of the system is installed so I can see how tailpipes align with the openings in the bumper cover.

The other issue is reassembling the tailpipes since they had been cut just past the muffler. Unfortunately in addition to the band clamps the installer had put several welds in to hold the pipe in place in the muffler. At first I was fairly critical of the installer, but reading the install instructed from Flowmaster I learned they actually recommend this to keep the system from moving. I took the time to grind those off, and re-align the separated pieces. These are currently with Kurt to get welded back together.

The mufflers in the American Thunder Series are Super 40. I expect them to still be loud but hopefully interior sound at cruising speeds will be a lot better. This is the exact same system on Rachel's Charger so it'll be interesting to compare the sound between the V6 and V8 through the same system. There are mufflers that can be a little quieter in same dimensions as a fallback option.

[MostMint]

Flowmaster exhaust has been installed.

At the front end of the cat-back system, I trimmed off some of the pipe so I could install some 2 1/4" OD to 2 1/2" ID stainless adapters, since the system is 2 1/2 and the factory pipe is 2 1/4". Factory pipe is 2 1/2" and it steps down to 2 1/4" for the join. The 2 1/4" end was a bit loose fitting so I slotted the adapter just like the stock exhaust so it can compress a bit and tighten up.

Kurt welded up the tailpipes - undoing the cut that was done on each side to remove from prior vehicle. Also had to weld up some cuts at the back end of the tail pipe. Looks like a ball socket back there so there was some grinding to smooth out the welds. I'm holding out hope I can install stock exhaust tips.

The install was fairly straightforward after all the up front prep work. I had to bend the rear brackets about 1/2" forward to get the bracket bolt to line up.

The fit is pretty good. The only issue left is the ball socket on the end of the tailpipe is about 1.5" too close to the bumper cover. I don't have the stock exhaust tips right now so I can address this later.

It sounds better though I won't really know until I drive it if these mufflers are doing what I want.

out with the old straight pipes

the 23 Challenger has baffles in exhaust that are solenoid activated

23 Challenger stock resonators

[MostMint]

Today I had some time so I went to work adjusting the driver door window. It was a simple matter of removing the inside panel and raising up the window on the track just a bit.

Also took a minute to get a picture of the exhaust in back as it sits right now:

I've also had a couple opportunities to drive the car with the new exhaust. The sound is sooo much more refined than the straight pipes. I think this will do what I want and make it easier to carry on a conversation while driving. If not I still have the option to change mufflers to Delta Flow 40's

[MostMint]

With the mild weather we had a few weeks back I had a chance to drive the car on an hour trip in the rain.

The passenger wiper clicks every time the wiper moves from the down position. It wipes fine but I'm wondering if the inners of the wiper have a crack or something.

The rear suspension is still not right. It almost feels like bump steer. I'm not certain what is wrong yet but the leading candidate is the sway bar, since it is the only part back there that has not been replaced. I'm guessing its a little bent and putting a preload on one side.

Yesterday I had it out of the garage and snapped a couple pics. It's not clean but I always like the contrast against the snow on a sunny day.

[MostMint]

Made one minor fix - the wiper clicking was resolved by replacing part of the wiper. There is an adapter that connects the wiper to the wiper arm and fortunately the wipers from the parts car had the same adapter.

With the weather starting to break I drove it a couple times last week. With that the car has crossed 1000 miles since I got it.

[MostMint]

Had a little time last week so I started looking into the rear sway bar. I jacked up the car and disconnected the left side from the knuckle. With both rear wheels at maximum suspension travel the bolt had almost no tension on it and the bolt hole in the stabilizer link basically lined up with the attaching point on the knuckle.

Putting the car back on the ground uncovered put the now unattached sway bar at least two inches low on the driver side.

Further inspection finds a noticeable difference in the gap between the chassis at the bottom of the inner fender and the rear sway bar.

I decided to drive it without the stabilizer link on driver side. I kept the passenger side one on the just to keep the sway bar from slipping down while driving and rubbing on the suspension. Now it pretty much drives like there is no rear sway bar. I am not 100% sure this is the problem but it does not seem to throw the car as much on uneven surfaces.

The question is what to do next. In order to remove this bar the rear subframe has to come down. I have to decide if I want a stock swaybar, one from an R/T or other stock bar, or an aftermarket. I also have to weigh the additional effort of completely replacing the whole subframe (removal is probably 50% of the work) to eliminate that as a variable. Literally all the other rear suspension parts were wrecked and while the subframe looked OK its possible a small amount of damage is messing up the suspension in some other way. The front subframe was like $200 so its not a big expense. I'm still contemplating....

I took the car for a hour + each way trip to a poker game, and to my surprise it averaged 28 mpg. I thought that was pretty good for a 3800 lb 300 horsepower car with less than spectacular drag coefficient - the marvels of VVT and electronic engine mgt systems

And finally - when I bought the Flowmaster exhaust it came with a stock exhaust also. Yesterday I was able to sell that exhaust for a little more than I paid for both systems, so the Flowmaster system is free.

[MostMint]

I made some cosmetic changes. Most years of Dodge Challenger have the Dodge badging on the back and the Challenger badging in the grill. In 1971 it had the reverse. The 70's versions had Challenger badging on the front fenders as well, sometimes Dodge badge on the hood, sometimes Dodge badge on the decklid as well.

Before

Since this car was missing all badging when I got it, I wanted to put something in back. I decided on the classic script Challenger badge a while back. Yesterday I made it happen

I had planned to get the classic Dodge badge for the grille but did not locate an OEM replacement. I did some searching looking for a good Dodge emblem. Plan was to grab one off a minivan or a Nitro or something at the junkyard, but then Rachel's car was in for front end repair, and they left the Dodge emblem on the console, and I was able to test fit it to the car.

To make this happen it soon became apparent the entire front bumper cover needed to come off the car, as there was no access to the back of the grille to remove the Challenger emblem or bolt on the Dodge emblem.

With the 2017 Challenger emblem out of the grille I had a debate about which Challenger emblem to put in back, but in the end the vintage won out probably because Rhonda liked it better.

[Basement Paul]

Nice subtle upgrades!

-BP

[MostMint]

Made some repairs on the passenger door. There is a gap between the window and the seal which I addressed by removing the outer seal and adjusting the metal a bit. After that I removed the interior door panel to reinstall the the sound deadener/water barrier I forgot to put in when I was reassembling the car.

I also added a Dodge decal on the back of the spoiler.