Wrangler Exhaust Accessories: Extra Components to Preserve Your System

One of the quickest and easiest mods you can do to your Jeep exhaust is fit it with heat wrap. Heat wraps are used to trap heat within the exhaust pipes with a specialized wrap. This upgrade costs next to nothing and is a great way to increase horsepower and give the engine bay and undercarriage an ultra-rugged appearance.

Benefits of Heat Wrap: Heat wrap is mostly meant for header application. The heat being kept within the headers allows the exhaust to scavenge more air from the cylinders during the exhaust cycle.

This will help improve power output by reducing the amount of spent fuel left behind in the combustion chamber during the rest of the engine cycles. It also works to reduce the amount of residual heat put off by the exhaust in the engine bay. Bringing down engine bay temperature is also beneficial to performance and reliability.

While you were removing your Wrangler’s factory exhaust system and installing the aftermarket kit you picked up you may have noticed the factory muffler shields went with it. Exhaust systems put off a lot of heat and managing that heat is incredibly important. The mufflers are big wide areas where heat can build up and this is what muffler heat shields are designed to address.

Benefits of Heat Shields: As heat builds up in the mufflers, they will begin to heat up whatever is in the immediate area. The point you are most concerned with is the floorboards. Hot floorboards are undesirable for many reasons. With heat shields on the muffler you are preventing the floorboards on your Wrangler from heating up and you and your passengers from having to deal with the effects.

The starter serves an incredibly important function. They just so happen to live right next to the headers of a Wrangler. As the headers build up heat, the starter will begin to feel the residual effects. A starter shield is used to keep the starter safe from this heat that is put off by the nearby header.

Benefits of Starter Shields: Starters tend to be a bit fragile and overheating them is the sure fire way to destroy them. Heat wrap on the starter will work to help you avoid this issue. It’s a simple fix to boost reliability while you’re off pushing your Wrangler to its limits.

Wherever heat wrap is present you will want to use a silicone coating. Silicone spray is used to put a layer of protection over the wraps you are using to prevent heat from damaging parts and performance. Its barrier prevents oil, water, and other intruders from reducing their effectiveness and also works to increase the lifespan of the wrap itself.

When you lift a Jeep a lot of the geometry of the parts underneath the rig is affected. The exhaust is of no exception to this problem. Once you stretch up to a 3-inch lift or higher, the Y-pipe may run into the driveshaft.

Exhaust spacers are used to increase the clearance between the driveshaft and the exhaust to prevent this from happening. It’s something that you may not expect to have to do, but it’s something you cannot afford to let go unaddressed.

Unless your friends spend a lot of time under your Jeep the exhaust tips are the only part of the system they are going to see. This is why you need to make sure you have a fresh set of exhaust tips that let the world admire your personal touch.

These units also work to compliment exhaust notes at the rear of the vehicle. The right combination of tip design and pipe diameter with a subtle twist on the pitch will go a long way for custom builds.

A legendary mod for exhaust systems are cut-outs. These units are fitted to the exhaust system of your Jeep and allow you to run an open exhaust on command. They work by placing a butterfly valve that will either direct the exhaust through the system or directly out. They can come in either mechanical or electronic configuration.

Why You Need Them: Exhaust cut-outs allow you to transform your Jeep at the flip of a switch without violating the law. Factory emissions require you to run an exhaust system in order for your Jeep to be street legal.

Aftermarket kits do work to increase flow which increases power but are still not as free-flowing as an open exhaust. This switch from an exhaust system through the cutout will increase sound quality and power output as if it were magic.