I have done months of reading up on exhaust systems here and it seems that it all comes down to personal preference.

Here is my scenario- I have a '97 4WD with a 4.6. Yeah its only a 4.6 but I babied the truck, its not a daily driver, garaged it, blah, blah, blah... Its only got a hair over 60K original miles. Everything is still mint, so I put on a lift and new wheels a few months ago. Now I want to take out the stock muffler. When this truck is idling- you dont feel it running, worse yet- it sounds like a 6 cyl its so quiet.

So...after reading up, it sounds like the way to go is for a nice tone which most members say that a 14" Maggie will give me. I found a local performance shop that has the muffler for $87.50. My plan is to buy just the muffler and then after the muffler split into duals. So I need to add two custom pipes from the muffler to exit in front of each of the rear wheels.
(The way it is stock- the exhaust exits on the passenger side in front of the rear wheel now with no issues).

I dont want my truck loud enough so that the neighbors hate me. I dont want it to sound like a ricer that moding out a truck. I would like something like a mustang's purr- Since I have an 8 cyl, It would be nice to finally have it sound like one.
Whats your opinion of this set up? Will it give the 4.6 a nice sound or will it only be a tad louder that the original stock muffler? Anyone running a 14" Magnaflow on a 4.6?

 

Your two best mufflers would be either a 14" Magnaflow or a 14" Dynomax. I noticed a lot of poeple have the 14" and 18" maggies, so I decided to be different and get the Dynomax. The muffler is a single in single out, center/ center, and I'm running the pipe out before the passenger side rear tire. I'm having it put on first thing tomarow morning. Ill post back tomarow and let you know how it sounds.
PS. My muffler is a Dynomax ultraflow welded. The part number for the muffler is 17218. I also got a mean looking magnaflow tip from summit racing. That part number for that is 35170.

 

let me know how you like it

Hope someone here has a 4.6 with the 14" Maggie and can tell me their opinion

 

Just got my new exhaust on! I am really surprised, but happy. It's a completely different sound than my old super 40. The Dynomax has a REALLY REALLY deep tone to it. It sounds like low frequency subs. But has a nice aggressive tone to it. I did notice my truck seems a little quicker, it doesnt seem to hesitate anymore when I step on the gas. I've read that magnaflow is a little louder than Dynomax so its up to you. I heard a lot about low end torque loss with dual out, you might want to look into it a little before you do anything else. Definately dont get a muffler bigger than a 14" especially if you want the mustang sound. Ill put up pics as soon as I figure out how! Good luck!

 

sounds cool. I bet you cant wait to drive it again. Hopefully all the said advice about going with Magnaflow will make me happy with the sound -because right now I have an 8 that sounds like a Ford Ranger

 

haha yeah you should be happy with anything other than your stock muffler. As a matter of fact im going out to listen to my baby purr a little more right now. I put those pics up too. Hope I helped you out dude!

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?num=12700

 

Thursday Meineke is putting the Maggie and dual pipes on. The cost of the install (including bending the pipes) is $350. Good deal or expensive?

 

I'd say thats a good deal. I paid $80 for my old flowmaster, $100 for the old tips, and the P.O.S. shop that put it on charged me $375, And did a horrible job. Spent about $550 and ended up ripping it all out a year and a half later and put my new exhaust on. LESSON WELL LEARNED!

 

congrats on your nerw exhaust 05ThumpinSTX, have any audio clips or videos available? Thats exactly why I dont always go to the shops i'll just look for a trusting buddy who can weld it in nicely. What did you do with your old tips & what sizes are they and are they full T304 stainless steel made? If you still have them I might be interested in buying them if you are willing to sell them for a good price.

Les22 sounds like your gonna have a good setup. Might I also suggest getting your pre-cats ( or resonators some prefer to call them ) gutted out because those suckers are what really quiet your truck down. With a custom muffler it will still be a bit quiet until you gut those out.

 

Connecticut has a strict emissions testing program and I dont need the headaches of failing that. So the stock cat has to stay put.
Meineke called me. The install was only $275. I go pick it up tonight. Cant wait