i have a buddy that welds.. is the best way to do it cut the stock muffler off and weld the new one on? or get a full catback? or would there not be a difference. my truck has 2.5 pipeing... also is there anything else we can gut or cutout and put a straight pipe in to make louder aka cats thanks
Mike

 

anyone?

 

I think that if you only put on a muffler the sound will change more then the power levels. I would go with a
Magnaflow SIOS or SIDO this will give a nice sound and give a seat of the pants performance improvement. It just depends on what you are looking for performance or just sound, and no it won't help gas milage mine didn't.

 

Hi 04F150PA, there have been so many exhaust posts lately I think everyone is getting exhausted with them...
Sorry, no sleep last night...

I would just call around to any local autoparts shops and non-franchise muffler places and get some solid prices. I supect you can get a muffler the right size to put in your self for way under a hundred bucks.
Being able to weld is a handy thing here, but there is welding and there is exhaust welding. I don't do exhaust welding, but I have an arc welder, bottles, etc. Exhaust is delicate work.
If your buddy does exhaust pipe welding, then he should be the guy you ask, as he will know his abilities and where to get the best deal.

Please don't tamper with the cats. Enviromental factors aside, the PCM in the truck wants them, there are sensors that need them, and huge fines if you are caught. Besides, they don't cost you any noticable power. The newer cats are pretty good design, unlike the old bean cats.

Anyone who can weld E-pipe can put a straight pipe in. It will be pretty loud. The guys that say they are not all that loud are deaf. Straight pipes sound like straight pipes...

You might do a search under straight or exhaust or magnaflow and get a lot of info.
Chris

 

thanks alot for the reply. i am really looking for sound and power improvement. to get both i will need a full catback? also where is the best place to buy them.. i want the loudest best sounding catback with best performance. but not ear damaging.. thanks alot for the help
Mike

 

Go simple, go cheap. Get a local shop to put a MagnaFlow 18 inch inplace of the regular muffler, leave the the tail pipe you already own. It's big enough to flow more exhaust than you make. Usually costs about 100 bucks, louder than stock, not as loud as some of the Catback systems.

Thing is, on the 4.6, you really don't get any advantage on the 3-4-5 inch pipes. You don't spit that much exhaust. I have used an 18 catback and while it sounded great, it was annoying on light throttle up hills. I live in a hilly area, so it really wore thin almost at once.

I had the shop swap it to a 24 inch mag, and I am very happy with it. No one mistakes it for a stock exhaust, it roars when I nail it, but you don't hear it over the stereo on anything but steep hills.
On passing someone, then it gets their attention.

So with the stock size pipe and an 18 it should meet your requirments, as it would be a tad louder than what I have, and a tad quieter than a complete catback with the same 18''.

You might stop by a couple of local shops, they are cheaper most places than you might expect, and talk to the guys. I am not talking about the chain muffler shops. They make a living selling you stuff you don't need. I mean that exactly. There is little profit in a basic muffler, so they have to sell you extras up the wazoo.
A local performance muffler type place makes most of his bucks on elaborate and custom work, but puts on mufflers, etc. as a sideline.

You know the place is wrong when they start suggesting things. You go in and tell them you want a bit more sound, and no loss of power, and if they start talking 2-3 hundred, you are in the wrong place.
This is a quick simple job.
Chris

 

Hes right. The area I live in is eat up with backwards *** rednecks that think a converter is this big evil thing and if you cut it off you get 100 extra horses. Our highschool auto-tech teacher proved on a dyno that you dont lose enough power to notice it. Go to El-Cheapo Exhaust, have them cut it off behind the cat, Y-pipe, pair of cheap glasspacks and some shiny tips. Legal & Loud.