I'll preface my comments by saying I have used S&S parts for years and have never had any complaints. I do a lot of touring so the miles add up quickly and I have always found their products to be up to the tasks I give them.

That said, here we go...I have MK45 mufflers and have moved them over to my new bike. They have about 125,000+ miles on them now and they have gotten louder over time. They advertise that they have "Lifetime" muffler packing but I figured after 125,000+ miles and them getting louder that the lifetime was worn out in them. I purchased directly from S&S the 4.5" insulation that they say is the replacement, I even called them to confirm. https://www.sscycle.com/products/ins...n-muffler-4-5/

When they package arrived I saw that is looks nothing like the muffler packing inside of the mufflers. Since I had already removed the stock packing I had no choice but to install the new insulation. The mufflers are much louder, even with the full length Db reducers, than they were with the high mileage packing. I have attempted several times to contact their customer service by sending emails, called them and gotten no reply from them. I'm not expecting new mufflers and all I have requested from them is to discuss some way to remedy the excessive noise issue.

All of this to say, I have come to expect much better customer service from a company like S&S. I'm disappointed in that I am a long time customer of S&S and have never had any issues when calling them for advise and any questions I may have about products I am looking to buy and use.

I'll get a pic of the stock packing and the replacement so you can see the difference.

 

S&S is a sponsor here. Keep trying..That's not necessary here and won't help. Sure it's hectic this time of year..

They will take care of the issue.

 

That doesn't sound right. Let us know what happens. In my experience, S&S customer service has always gone above and beyond.

Surprisingly so especially considering the usual customer service you tend to get these days

 

first and foremost, are the mufflers straight through???
if so, loudness is not a function the packing handles, it handles the tone, that said, tone can and will be perceived diff from person to person.
if you look at the design, you will see that it is basically a sound wave cancellation of 180* ish out of phase waves. it is reflective cancellation as the wave passes through the perfs and reflected back into the mainstream.
as the wave travels, the reflection is changed as direction of travel changes going through the packing.
the animal changes if it is a blind baffle since the packing now act as a restriction and changes in direction suppresses the wave.

 

Been trying for a month and a half.

Exactly, never had any issues in the past when contacting them.

Yes, the replacement packing isn't anywhere near as robust as the stock packing. It also fits very loosely around the baffle and there is no way it can absorb as much of the 'flow' to deaden the sound.

 

All the mufflers I repacked had a wired wrapped around the packing to hold it tight. Are these different?

 

Yes, they are the packing rolled into a cylindrical shape and sealed. The baffle core slides into the middle of it and it fits loosely around the baffle. When you shove it all back into the can it goes in easily but doesn't get pressed against the core. I was going to wrap it tight to the core with safety wife but the material is so thin I didn't want the wire to cut into it and damage it.

I've had the cylindrical packing for my dirt bikes but it is a much heavier outer material and the media is much more dense as well. My dirt bikes get hot but I don't know if that packing would hold up to the HD heat.

 

packing should not be tight and if it is then it is designed that way and will alter the performance. a looser packing will widen the dynamic range and is designed to take the exhaust pulse and pressure.
on of the best home materials is stainless steel curly "Q's" or pot scrubber.
here it is experimentation, but remember that lower HZ are more powerful than high HZ.
that is why you hear the boomobiles quarter mile away or more, sure could use some heat seekers for some of the idiots. but then again the bass moves around the only two brain cells left so they cannot connect hence they cannot think!!!

 

I have MK45's on my 2014 Street Glide and have been trying to get a hold of S&S to get a set of DB killers or anything to make the sound a bit deeper and tone them down a bit. I've tried calling and leaving messages and emailing them but no one has responded. It does look like the packing you got is exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the info.

On a side note, has anyone tried using header wrap to loosely wrap baffles? Just a thought.

 

They’ve basically became a watered down performance option manufacturer.. more interested in bolt on doo dads these days. There Heritage was awesome. They wanted to go faster. They brought us high quality race products… All my bikes run S&S Carbs. But then they turned into a bolt on cash grab designer. When they made their terrible video about throwing drag pipes into the dumpster I stopped buying any of their products. I get my wheels from Ultima or Truet and Osborn now. I don’t buy their heads or pistons anymore either.

I love looking at pictures of all these historic race bikes that they built their reputation on…. You know, the ones with drag pipes on them. Maybe they do understand their clientele these days… cause it ain’t us hanging at the track. I guess their clients are the guys buying chrome cup holders and quiet exhaust so they can please all the PTA moms and HOA neighbors.