I installed these slip-ons tonight on my Softail Slim S, and everything went fairly smooth until the baffles came into play.

I've had these slip ons on my FatBoy and they were so loud that the neighbors complained. So, I bought the quiet baffles to replace the open stock baffles.

The stock baffles came out without any issue, but putting in the quiet baffles with all of the fiberglass, even with the tricks from this forum, was a complete nightmare. Once I got them installed, the bolt hole didn't line up. I did everything I could to twist baffle to line up, but it just wasn't happening.

After the hammering that took place just getting these baffles in, is there a chance they're going to come out without the screw in place?

 

Squirt a little WD-40 in there. Then a stiff piece of wire hooked into one of the holes. It is a tight fit with the 'glass on them.

 

I've tried everything I can think of, short of tapping the baffles back out again, to get them to turn. I might just let it ride to see if they loosen up or stay tight.

 

Did you wrap thin wire or tape around the fiberglass when installing them? That keeps the whole bunch from being to thick to smoothly go in and out. Remember, eventually the fiberglass will burn off to nothing. If you get them back out, you may try the baffles without the glass.

 

I wouldn't ride with them not held in by the screw. I just tapped mine around until I got it close, then used a driver to pry up or down on it to line up the holes. Once it's real close, you should be able to slide a small screwdriver or allen wrench into the set screw hole and move that around until it's centered.

 

I'm waiting for my baffles to be delivered. I hope I don't have this issue. I have been looking around and seen one guy rapped kitchen plastic wrap around them to hold the fiberglass in.......sounds like a good idea but we'll see.
Personally I wouldn't hit the road without them screwed in somehow.....it would always be in the back of my mind "are they going to come out and hit what's behind me"

 

I got mine fixed. It was only the bottom one that was giving me trouble. I wrapped the top one VERY tightly with packing tape and it just slid in. No issues. The bottom one, I attempted to use their wrapping and it obviously didn't go well.

I literally did everything I could think of to move that baffle and it just wouldn't budge. The only way I could get it out was to start over again and knock the baffle out from behind. To be honest, I had no interest in banging on the mufflers any more than I already had, so I took the lazy way out and just drilled another 1/4" hole in the muffler and baffle and bolted it together that way. I know it's not sexy, but the heat shield covers it up and it's rock solid now.

Don't judge

 

Mine came with plastic wrapped around them. I left it on and they slid right in.

 

Only one of mine was wrapped and it was very loose.

 

Both of mine were wrapped in plastic and they couldn't have been any harder to get in.......I finally got them in but I think I made up a few new cuss words. V&H needs to rethink it.
One other thing......the hole for the set screw was off just a bit and I broke the tack weld on the little nut on them when I tried to line them up with a punch......they might want to come up with some way of turning it once it's in. I'm not worried too much, mine are in so tight that if the set screw comes out they aren't going anywhere.