i have the patriot shielded sidepipes, they look and sound great new, however the glasspacks burnout every every 6 months or so. so i have to get a replacement muffler. is this a typical problem with glasspack? maybe i should go with something else like flowmaster, that doesn't use a glasspack. any suggestions?

Glass packs are supposed to burn in after a few hundred miles. Thats where they get their sound from. I usually look for old sets of glass packs in the JY when i go, cuz the old burned up ones usually sound the best. If you dont like the sound, then i'd say go for a flowmaster or equivelent.

so i guess they're expected to burnout, and get louder. but there seems to be some disagreement whether they sound better.

i wonder if my engine is running to rich?

Any muffler that uses "glass" to get that "glass pack" sound or to help control the "loudness" as some people put it will in time blow out the "glass" and get louder. Not just the "glass packs" but a lot of the brand name systems also use glass and they will all get that "throatier" sound in time.....As for if that "sound" sounds better is just a matter of opinion...... same as anything..........not better, not worse, but just different.......

If it smells really strong of gas or the tips of the plugs are dark brown or wet then its running rich.

i'll have to pull a plug, i guess. i do get black smoke at times, and the tips of,the exhaust pipes are black inside, no cats. 9-10 mpg city driving. a gassy smell at times, but i couldn't say it was strong though. engine is a 350.

had a broken plug in one cylinder. looks like detonation. replaced plugs. exhaust is sounding much better now. gonna start using 89-91 octane gas from now on.