Magnaflow catalytic converter. Any good? Potential issues?

Hey everyone. I am in process of replacing exhaust as I come across deals. As of now I only have a borla cat back exhaust. Looking to change out the cats now. I have found a great deal on magnaflow catalytic converter. I see lots of conflicting info about magnaflow cats. Some say junk. 3yr life, to 10 plus years! Also, this is a HM cat, am hearing causes issues with obd2 or computer system. Sensors and whatnot. Sooo, does anyone have real life experience with magnaflow cats and can confirm quality and compatibility? Is it worth nearly 700 dollars for a magnaflow cat? Should I put that money into something else? I eventually want everything changed out to stainless. Just can't afford all at once.

 

We have had mixed luck with Magnaflow direct fit cats (and most aftermarket cats for that matter) as far as fitting without modification and not setting a P0420/430 in a few thousand miles although we don't do alot of cats on Toyota stuff so your milage may vary.
I would say if yours are still functional and not setting codes leave them alone.
While aftermarket cats tend to be much cheaper than OE they just aren't built anywhere close to OE standards, they seem to just have the bare minimum conversion efficiency to meet federal emissions when they are new but often deteriorate pretty quickly and start setting codes. If you are in a non-emissions testing area you can often get away with sticking a spacer under the rear O2 sensors to keep the codes off providing the converters are at least still partially functioning.

 

I completely agree with you, in that i shouldn't replace the cats if they are still good. Are high flow cats really necessary for a borla exhaust? Is the performance/ sound that much better than oem? Also, the deal i am seeing is magnaflow, drivers side pipes and cat. I am into in swapping out the pipes to stainless.. I like 350 worth it just for the stainless pipes? Maybe retrofit an oem cat?

 

My experience has being good. All 4 cats are magnaflow including the manifolds. Ive had no issues with them being on the truck for over 2 years. Only issue was the oem manifold gasket didn't seal. I used remflex gasket worked good.

 

Unless you are doing forced induction there isn't really much to be gained with a high flow exhaust system, heck many people run superchargers with the stock intake and exhaust although in that case there is some gains on the table to be had.