When I was shopping for exhaust, I decided to go with one of Magnaflow's bolt-on cat-back systems because of the high quality and fit/finish. I was initially a little dissapointed in the sound level, but it broke in pretty quickly and got a little louder. I've had the system (15749 SIDO) on for about 5k miles now. I've always kind of wished for a louder sound, but not at the sacrifice of sloppy welds and crush-bent pipe from the muffler shop!

I had a friend drive the truck for me the other day so I could hear it from outside, and I was in shock! I never would have guessed that it would sound that good! It was every bit as loud as I'd like, with a deep, bassy tone. I've heard Flowmasters on these 2v 5.4s and don't like the whiny sound near as well as the deep growl of my Magnaflow!

As quiet as the exhaust is in the cab, I assumed it would be quiet outside the truck as well--WRONG!

I now have a newfound love for my Magnaflow and highly recommend it to anyone who wants a high quality product with excellent fit and finish, along with a deep growl that is quiet inside and loud enough to turn heads outside!

Just thought I'd share for those of you who have never heard a Magnaflow from the outside. Try it. You'll like it

 

Put my Magnaflow on a week ago, quite impressed. Good quality and sound.

 

What size muffler did you guys get? 5x8 or 4x9?

 

Glad to hear about your Magnaflow. I'm debating on using either Magnaflow or Flowmaster. Does your truck have the 4 cat set-up?

 

I put the Magnaflow cat back system #15821 on my truck, not sure of the muffler size, but is much smaller than the oem. Just from my research, from this site and mfg sites, it appears the Magnaflow is the way to go with the F150, I guess with the summer coming and more travel time, I will get a better handle on the performance aspects of the system.

 

Go with Flowmaster

 

I think almost all of the complete systems from Magnaflow use an 18" muffler. From my expereince, the SIDO setup gives much more sound, too.

I much prefer the sound of my Magnaflow to a Flowmaster on a 5.4, not to mention quality, fit, and finish of the product. Flowmasters do sound nice on some applications, but they sound whiny with a V-10 quality on these 5.4s.

Just my opinion, though.

 

Reason the Magnaflow is so much quieter on the inside is because of the muffler actually having sound deadening material in it. Flowmasters don't have any sound deadening, they just use baffles (which block flow) to cancel the sound (as well as ruin exhaust velocity). This works fine for reducing sound out of the tail pipe, but much of that exhaust sound beats around in there like a drum and goes through the thin steel muffler casing to your ears.

Magnaflow mufflers, on the other hand, actually reduce the sound level, not cancel it. This not only preserves the tone of the engine, it also mellows it out a little. The added benefit to this is less sound makes it to the cabin. I personally, hate exhaust drone on the freeway and am really happy with my setup (18" muffler, SISO).

 

Great thread hearing from experienced owners!

My Magnaflow #16617; SI/DO same side exit, in front of tire, is on the UPS truck as I write this. Unfortunately, I'm at work and won't see it til tonight, thats if the UPS guy doesn't drop it off at the office where I live. If that happens, I won't see it til Wednesday- LOL

I've been waiting for this for a couple weeks now as it was on back-order.

When I do get to install it, I'll take pics during that time and post 'em up for y'all...

 

Put my new exhaust in about 2 weeks ago and love it!!!

Magnaflow 14" DI/DO w/ X-thru 2.25 true duals and 3.5X22" SS magnaflow tips.

When it was first fired up I was also disappointed with how quiet it was.
But its true!!! They do get louder after several miles.

Nice deep mellow tone at idle and wicked but not too loud at WOT.

As far as low end torque?? I got some noticable GAINS.
Thats right folks, GAINS.

 

ditto the GAINS!

 

Forgot to mention that. I've had aftermarket exhaust on almost every car/truck I've ever had and this is the only system I've ever noticed performance gains with.

 

So did UPS get it to ya undamaged?