I have to agree with you. My TT muffler gave up the goast about the 4th engine run. They local guys learned to have their mufflers welded shut with the OS engines that are much worse than the TT, the long bolt is smaller. Find a shop that will weld for you at a reasonable pice, should be $15.00 or less. Its worth the price to resolve the hastle. Will send Ace a complaint per your request. O.S. did not listen to their liner pealing problems, but did warrante them to a point. The Irving muffler is longer with the same type of connection, have had no problems with any of mine in 3 years. Just a matter of metal quality I guess. Unless we get into their pocket by requesting replacement as part of the warranty, the problem will probably continue?