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I installed a Thrush Glasspack today for the price of a pizza. Let's talk about why

10K views 30 replies 18 participants last post by  ohioviper 
#1 ·
Oh, and I forgot the elbow piping at Advance Auto in order for the Glasspack to stop attempting to bite terra firma, so there's that...yeah...

I've always been fairly shocked with the near unanimous decision among the Jeep community that a Glasspack has no place on a Jeep and is actually a disgrace, and I even saw an older comment instructing someone inquring about a Glasspack to "have some respect for their forefathers" out of shame that they would even wonder about slapping one of these to our pipes.

In my opinion, one of the most marvelous things about being a Jeeper is knowing that I can do almost anything I damn well please with my vehicle and I'll still always get the wave and return it with a smile. Isn't that wonderful? Knowing that we can craft our passion specifically to our liking and needs while still having the support of this entire community?

So in defense of the Glasspack (and unpopular customizations in general), here I go.

"A Glasspack is nice if you want to drive a ricer."

Ok, I get it. I was raised in a family of motorheads and surrounded by now classic cars. One of my earliest memories is popping wheelies in my dad's Roadrunner and sneaking to practice my shifting while he played cards. I understand that a lot of the elder Jeepers grew up with those cars and loved them. They heard them. They know what a 427 and a Hemi sound like. This doesn't mean they aren't the only ones and it also doesn't mean that they should automatically assume that young Jeepers just throw whatever they can in their rig in order to get some sound/extra speed (heaven forbid.) This doesn't mean that they don't truly understand or respect what the "purpose" of their vehicle is and should probably trade it in for a Lancer.

Thoughts/sentiments such as these are ludicrous. I built a CAI and installed it with hopes of gaining extra performance and mileage (not even touching this, irrelevant to this post.) I instantly loved the sound of my engine opening up and pretending sometimes that I have a turbo, and the butt dyno agreed. Was I happy that my Wrangler had found another way to make me even happier with it? Of course. I also was happy a few nights ago when I was going up a 40-45 degree dirt face and there was a noticeable spurt of torque when the CAI had to breathe hard extra hard. I traversed the face with less strain on my rig that in the days before the CAI. Is it a diesel? No. Did it help those front wheels pull a little more (does it matter how little?) Absolutely it did.

Back to the Glasspack. I have no misconceptions about the powerplant that lurks beneath the latches. I have a V6 with around 212 HP (personal estimate, shoot me) and 240 lbs of torque hauling around a lot of weight on planes that are frequently not horizontal. When I installed the Glasspack I was actually anticipating mediocre results. I was pleasantly surprised. The little muffler really does a great job of making my rig sound mean, aggressive, throaty, and far more powerful than it is - honestly, it has quite a touch of muscle, sounding slighty like a 327 with a quicker lope at idle/low speeds and howls pretty damn hard and throaty under full acceleration, and I am willing to share a video of this with anyone who is curious/skeptical. More than anything, though, this little Glasspack reminds me of the wild, unbridled fun and sound of the 3-Speed 304 V8 '75 CJ-5 which I almost purcased recently (there was a last minute, as in on the way to the bank to get the money, discovery of a serious mecanical problem which I had to walk away from.) You can call it a ricer, but a lot of those "forefathers" loved making their Jeeps scream. If my grandfather was alive today he could attest to this - my grandfather was driving a Jeep post-war wen he and my grandmother started seeing each other and she still talks to me about how wild and fast he got with that Jeep. In fact, got rid of it after he and my uncle were arrested for tearing up fields/keeping a small community awake all night...he was not yet even twenty years old. Next time we speak of our "forefathers", let's remember who they truly were.

Does any of this matter in regards to my perceived status as a Jeeper or lower my confidence in this community? Absolutely not. But I certainly feel like there is a decent who believe that it should and wish that it would.

For the majority of this post I've been discussing frequently scoffed at mods and defending their purpose/communicating my experiences and feelings. But to me, and this is the kicker, it isn't about the actual mods/what we put into our Jeeps, it's about the feeling we get from doing so. I'm not a fan of negative Nancies, but I tell ya what, this last month/6 weeks/maybe even 2 months have been really difficult for me. Today I walked outside, looked at my Wrangler, and decided that it was finally time for that tarnished, ugly, and just straight-up unsightly stock muffler to find itself deleted. I had not planned on this today, I knew down the road I was going to delve into some extensive exhaust work, but the weather was wonderful and as soon as I slid under the Jeep everything else disappeared. While I was doing this (and those exhaust hangers actually do live up to their reputation, Christ...anyway) the only thing I could think of was where my hands where going and what I wanted to do next with my Wrangler customization-wise. I thought about how much I personal would love to put on new headers and order Red Rock Crystal Pearl from State Auto and dress the engine up to match my paint. Sure, new headers may help with performance, but who cares what color your Jeep, much less your engine, is when there seems to be a permanent centimeter of dust on it.

If I want to color coordinate my spark plug wires, lines, etc after I do my headers will it ashame our "forefathers"? Hardly. For me, Jeep is so much more encompassing than most non-Jeepers could ever comprehend. Wondering if/Knowing that I could cross a small river on the side of an unknown doesn't come into the mind of a Malbu driver, and I strongly doubt that a Yaris driver ever thinks about their Yaris when they're not behind the wheel of it, and probably don't even give it much thought then.

Jeep - what's proper to do to our rigs, what isn't ok, what deserves scoffing, why the CJ was the last true Wrangler, why the unlimited isn't a real Jeep...Guys, none of this is what Jeep actually is. We put our time, money, concern for strangers we've never met but care for them simply because they share our interest in a vehicle, and so much more into this community and our Jeeps. But honestly, it isn't about what we put in, under, and above our Jeeps.

It's about what our Jeeps have put into us. It's about the fact that our lives are better because we can discuss this, we can share, and we genuinely care and help when we can and sometimes when we really can't/shouldn't.

So say what you will about my Glasspack (and honestly, after these pictures I'm about to post I do have a fair share of laughter coming my way, but we've all left parts at the store (probably all of us) and say what you will about Jeeps not being sports cars and that it's ridiculous for anyone to try and make a Jeep a sports car/ricer/whatever you feel is the antithesis of Jeep in your mind, but please recall that in the time of our forefathers Enzo Ferrari himself once said..."Jeep is America's only real sports car."


- Mat
 
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#3 ·
I just emailed them to myself and I'll have them up here in a second...also recorded some video footage that I'm going to attempt to have on Youtube by Monday. Congrats on the CAI...I really enjoy mine and have seen true benefits.
 
#4 ·
I'll admit that I had no idea what a "glasspack" is.

From wikipedia:

A glasspack is a type of automobile muffler in which the exhaust gas passes straight through the center of the muffler. The basic design consists of one smaller tube centered inside of a larger outer tube that is enlarged or swollen in the middle. The gap between the swollen part of the larger outer tube and the smaller diameter center tube is packed full of fiberglass, hence the name "glasspack".
Why would a loud muffler on a Jeep be bad? Is that design bad when submerged?
 
#9 · (Edited)
I read the whole novel... he installed an old school glasspack. Not sure where he got the idea ricers use them and the glasspack on his 3.8 or 3.6 sounds like a 327 Chevy or 304 AMC.

He never clarified what year.. so that's a mystery.

If the OP has a 3.6, he has a long road ahead trying to install headers and color coordinated spark plug wires.

I think someone has been dipping into the moonshine.

.
 
#8 ·
Since when are glass packs for ricers?

I knew plenty of guys who built competition towing rigs and most of those dudes used glass packs.

But I will say that, although I'm happy your happy, and I can appreciate your "doing whatever you damn well please." All your words and antecdotes don't mean a thing without a dyno.
I'm not saying that to be a dick. I enjoyed reading what you posted, which was very well formatted and easy to read, which is a nice change from having to decode the usual giant wall of text. Thanks for taking the time to write this.
 
#10 ·
A buddy had a glasspack on his CJ years ago and I remember it sounding great, but the JK engine is a different animal.

I was reading this earlier this morning while drunk and tired, it went something like the below....

Oh, and I forgot the elbow piping at Advance Auto in order for the Glasspack to stop attempting to bite terra firma, so there's that...yeah...ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
 
#12 ·
Will have clips after returning home today
 
#13 ·
I would not be surprised to see that power output declined with the glasspack installed. They're not at all for "ricers". They are more old school hotrod than anything. They sound nice on V8s, but I can't imagine that it sounds good on a V6 Jeep. Personally, I wouldn't want to deal with the noise while driving. If it ain't fast, there's no reason for it to be noisy. But as long as you're happy, that's all that matters.
 
#14 ·
Alright, alright. I wrote this having gone about 42 hours without sleep which lead to it's lengthiness and for that I apologize...I'd feel pretty ridiculous had I done this while drunk, but I'll play the sleep disorder card.

This is one of the many threads out there which demonsrate my frustration which I expressed (in length) in my post. glass pack legal or not????? - JeepForum.com

Also, HRPinDC, I like your little memorial to your Jeep in your signature, almost 100% gonna steal that idea.

I'm going to get my older computer out which has video editing software and compile the videos I've recorded together and then post that on Youtube...from what I've listened to so far, the quality of the recordings seems to be pretty low, but then again I prefer putting my spendin' money in my Jeep instead of something I'm just going to drop and break within a week.
 
#15 ·
Also, much gratitude to whoever added the "moonshine" tag...my great-grandfather ran 'shine in the Smoky Mountains during prohibition.
 
#16 ·
#20 ·
HA! Wow dna...just...wow. Good Lord. That got me pretty good. Working on video currently, will have it up ASAP
 
#22 ·
#23 ·
Oh, DNA, the '75 has the 304...I'm not saying they're identical or anything, just trying to keep the spirit of '75 alive. Respect, ya dig?
 
#25 ·
I actually think I will leave it there and rechristen the rig as "The Red Rocket." I'll keep a few extra glasspacks in the back every time I go off-road and just slide a new one on when one gets pulled off. That's a damn good soundin' fishin' boat...I'm into nautical stuff, so I'm definitely pleased if that's you're opinion...not sure I'd agree, but I can dig it, dig it?
 
#26 ·
The 3.8 doesn't sound too bad with those traditional style glass packs, the Pentastar sounds raspy and very shrill. Its a horrible sound.

I say traditional, because the Dynomax I have on my 13 is technically a glass pack, except the diameter is triple the "cherry bomb" style so there is a lot more packing.
 
#28 ·
I actually have the piping to correct the angle sitting in my JK...will take some shots/video when I have that done
 
#29 · (Edited)
Enjoyed the read, I to am not a fan of all the naysaying, anything that has to do with a jeep no matter how strange or different is ok. Bought one today and installing tomorrow, gonna put it right behind the Y union and run a turndown out to the side.
 
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