I got it today. It was drop shipped directly from MBRP which is located in Canada. I won't be able to install the exhaust until this weekend because I'm heading to Savannah to get drunk...I mean celebrate St. Patty's Day.

Initial impressions: The whole system is well put together and the finish is amazing. The tip on this system is freaking huge and very shiney! The only thing I don't like about the system is that I had to cut the extension pipe (as directed by MBRP) to the proper length. They actually tell you how much you should cut off. I couldn't cut it myself, so I took it to a local exhaust shop who did it in 5 minutes for me for $5.

I'll take some pictures on Sunday before and after the install. I'm also going to see if my digital camera can take some quick vids. I'm not sure though.

 

nice dude. Pimp posted the same thing about his with regards to the cutting of the mid pipe. don't suppose you have a couple bucks and a dyno in the area so we can finally get a graph?

 

I do have 2 local places to get that done. I might try to get it dyno'd just so MBRP gets a little bit more attention as another option for our trucks. Although, I'm not expecting too much as far as gains....however I think with a properly tuned truck, the exhaust will work out perfectly. Right now I'm looking for excellent fit/finish and a great sound. Damn truck is way too quiet!

As far as cutting it....it's not a real big deal. I mean MBRP tell you exactly how much to cut off, but I'd still prefer to just bolt it right up. Oh well, no biggie...it's one simple cut.

Slick you want to pull the trigger on this so bad don't you?

 

I am having the SI/SO mbrp getting installed next week at Troyer's It's going on the dyno too But I doubt my numbers will help much because I'm also getting the AF1 3.5" installed along with the Dynatech long tube headers and high flow cats I will post the numbers when done though

 

Sweet....keep us posted...I'd still like to see the final numbers.

 

yeah i am. i'm itching to pull the trigger, but like anything, i want to make sure i'm getting my money's worth. i don't want to drop $400 just for the truck to sound a certain way. i'm not a huge fan of the way maganaflows sound, but if it makes power, then that'll probably be what i go with. let us know what your results are!

 

I wouldn't really like having to cut but not sure it's to big of a deal. I have a Crew cab and 6.5 box, no cutting was necessary, went right on perfectly. So in they end it's just the same kit for both configurations (obviously cutting needed for the 5.5' box). Luckily it's not the other way around. That's the main thing that lead me to MBRP. No one was making an application for my size truck. Mbrp did, I bought it, sounded great and...............well........now I'm looking further into getting tunes for the truck. Thanks mostly to this thread.

 

are yousaying that you're looking into getting tunes because you noticed a loss of power?

 

In my opinion the 3.5 MBRP is the best looking one out there. I don't think the 3.5 would too big since its after the cats and the y pipe(as far as back pressure and torque go). If I was in the market for a si/so I'd go with this kit.

 

Slick,

I guess that was sort of an indirect comment of intent on my part. Not really my intention but I'll answer your question. In part, yes. Like I said, in my personal experience with this system on my otherwise stock 2006 5.4 F150 (save for a K&N drop-in) I feel I have lost some performance. I feel like my passing capability has diminished some. It's only based on how it feels to me, but hey we know how our trucks feel. As far as dynos and all that, it's just not my language. But I'll take a chance on sticking my inexperienced foot in my mouth this far......I'd be very suprised, based on my trucks performance, if there were any type of gains (paticularly noticeable ones) made by putting this system on a stock truck with no other modification. I'm prepared to eat crow. And it's hard, at least it was for me, to relate to another person's results on a particular product that were further enhanced by other modifications. You just couldn't get an apples to apples comparison.

Now, I said "In part, yes". This is what I meant. I know that whether I had this exhaust on or not that there was some serious potential to be unlocked through the use of custom tunes. I mean you only have to visit this site 5 minutes before that become obvious. So, I can't say that I wouldn't have considered tunes anyway. It's always been sort of a money issue, sort of a "honey" issue if you know what I mean. But this whole thread combined with what I'm personally experiencing now with my truck is just magnifying the "need" to reconcile what I perceive as lost (power) and the "want" of unleashing the hidden.

So in short, I've had a quick introduction with Bill and I'll be looking further into his Gryphon product with his custom tunes.

Please understand, I had a heck of a difficult time deciding on my exhaust for the same reasons that have been posted here, I don't envy your position. I'm telling you what I experienced as a basic consumer....I'm definitely not trying to sway you in any direction.

Good luck with it

 

Ok, I'll get pictures up tomorrow if I can. I installed this system tonight and got finished up as it was getting dark out. Total install time was less than 1 hour. I did the install by myself and my truck has less than 1000 miles on it, so that made it easy to get the stock system off my truck.

Ok, so from my initial impressions before....the finish of this system is amazing! The fit once everything is tightened down is awesome as well. There is plenty of room between the exhaust and the spare tire, so that is not an issue. The whole system fits perfectly into place once you get everything tightened down and moved into place. I also have to say that the massive polished tip sticking out the side is just frickin sweet! I didn't like cutting it to make it fit my bed, but in the end, MBRP makes it easy by telling you how much to cut...if I can do it, it shouldn't be a problem for anyone else. My one complaint about the whole setup....the second exhaust hanger from the Y pipe is weird for this pipe. It's a U clamp that fits around the pipe and is really there only to keep the pipe from moving around too much. Usually the U clamps are used to hold 2 pipes together. I guess I'm being really stupid about that, but I'll take a picture tomorrow to show you what I'm talking about. It doesn't hinder the exhaust, and the exhaust sits perfectly and doesn't move....I guess I'm just not used to seeing that.

Startup: A very nice, deep grumble. No other way to describe it. Once it settles down to idle, you get a slight grumble, but nothing annoying or loud to a point where it sounds like @ss.

Acceleration: Again, a very deep grumble....it is a deep sounding exhaust note, but a clean sounding one at the same time. Take the "clean" sound of the Magnaflow exhaust, but give it a deeper tone. When you step on the gas, people will definitely hear your truck, but again, it's not an annoying *****ty exhaust sound.

Crusing: This exhaust is pretty quiet at cruising speeds (45-60mph). There is NO drone what-so-ever. You can listen to the radio at normal levels and the exhaust will not drown it out. The only time you know the exhaust is there is when you step on the gas.

Deceleration: This is something I have to get used to with a automatic transmission....there is very little sound during deceleration as well. I'm used to decelerating with my Cobra, so this is still system is still very quiet compared to that.

Power impressions: I will be adding onto this over the next couple of days. I only wanted to get the exhaust on tonight and make sure there were no leaks. When I did get on it, I noticed the truck seemed to pull slightly harder up top....nothing significant. Down low....I can't say yet, but I will comment on this throughout the week as I drive the truck more. I will say that if I do lose power, I'm still going to keep this exhaust because it was the sound I was going for on this truck. I think that no matter what, once I get an intake an tune for this truck, then the potential will be fully unleashed. Check back throughout the week for updates and pictures.

Ask any questions you want! Overall I love I this exhaust!

 

Nice post, I can't wait to get mine on next week

 

Ok here's some really really *****ty pics of the tip, just to hold everyone over until tomorrow when I can take some better shots. Yes I realize the pics are REALLY *****ty, but you'll have to deal with it until tomorrow.

 

thanks for the write up Bionik.

the tip looks like it angles slightly like the stock tip. does it, or is it just me?

 

Yeah it angles out just like the stock tip. I think it looks like it might be a little more than the stock tip because that tip is so frickin huge!

Morning drive this morning....I really have to try hard to get this system to drone. It's almost impossible to do that...so no worries about droning.

Power loss?....none. Here's my take on the power loss debate when it comes to exhaust systems. I made sure that before I put this system on, I really romped on the gas to see how the truck would react. I noticed that sometimes the throttle response was great and I would get a very small kick in the pants (you have to remember my last car was a 2004 Cobra, so the kick is small to me). Other times, throttle response wasn't as great and it would take a second for everything to kick in, or sometimes it didn't kick in like it normally would....kinda sluggish. So with that being said, I tried it out again today on my way to work. I noticed the same thing again with no seat of the pants power loss. I personally believe the truck will react a lot better once it gets tuned....no matter what exhaust you get.

Just my thoughts....