i went to the local shop yesterday and got a quote for 260 for y'ing off before the muffler and putting fake straight duals on with 4" ss tips. then he said 20 extra for "true dual", and 20 more for a ballance pipe. so 300 all together for true dual with no muffler(stock cats), with 2.5" pipe all the way to 18x4 SS Magnaflow tips(15*) at 45's out back. and when i was in the shop, they had an f150 with the same set up and it sounded good. so i'm gonna go with true dual but my questions are:

1) he says they dont have mandrel bending, is this a big deal or not?

2) is a balance pipe (h-pipe/X-pipe) needed?

3) which would be better, X or H pipe?

thanks

 

If the pipe bending is smooth it will be alright. Dont get crimp bent.

Yes

X pipe would definitely be neccessary to retain your low end torque because true duals is going to rob your low end power.

 

so would it be better to do fake duals or do true duals with and X pipe. i wasnt aware that true duals robbed low end power, i thought if anything it'd make it better.

 

(1) - YES, go someplace else

(2) - YES

(3) - I think the H-pipe sounds better but either one will help your truck loose some rasp I've always been told that the H-pipe wil be a bit better for low-mid RPM use while the X-pipe will be better for mid-high RPM range - but I am not 100% - Pat did an X-pipe on his truck and he claims it helped all the way thru the power band

go for the true duals with the balancer, 2.5 pipe is the largest you should go until you get to the tips

 

fyi- run dual exhaust in 2.25" tubing and it WILL NOT KILL your tq down low- been there, done that

 

the problem with goin someplace else is that the only other place around here is an off road shop that charges about 700.

wouldn't going to a smaller pipe be more restrictive than stock? i'm not sure i like the idea of going with smaller than stock pipe?

where would be a good place to get an X pipe for cheap? and i read somewhere on here that the pipe has to be the same length or the passenger side will create vacumme to the drivers side???

 

smaller pipe maintains velocity and will retain your low end torque

run 2.25 pipes then run some 3x18 inch tips and no one will know

 

ok, well i think i am goin to get True Dual 2.25 pipes with an H pipe and no mufflers, but with 4x18" tips. i'l probably go with 2.25 instead of 2.5 because i do a little bit of towing every now and then and would like to keep some low end. then if i get tired of it being to load or poping too much, i will through some mufflers on it. i am trying to get the exhaust done and find what i really want before i get my Gryphon, so i might go through a couple different setups....

also, if i do 2.25 and get a CAI and Programer, will the 2.25 be too small???

 

No, it will not be too small, it will work good with that setup. I had that setup once it was my favorite out of all 8 exhausts I had.

 

It shouldn't be a problem, but I chose 2.5" pipes for the better sound, and the availability for more modification. My truck feels real close to how it was stock without the rear cats and the 2.5" duals X piped. I think 2.25" sounds horrible, which really aided me away from going with that size...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktbmwjv9qEI

 

you can't compare 2.5" single exhaust to 2.25" dual setup,use x pipe as close to original y pipe location as possible,using an x pipe balances the two for unequal length fyi,my van weighs ~9klbs, i tow my mx race trailer ~5000 lbs every weekend, tq retention /gain is a must for me, i gained low end tq with my setup from my oem 3" single setup, seems everyone is an expert on exhausts here, funny thing is not 1 individual has explained to me their knowledge on items such as :static pressure, velocity pressure, total pressure, static regain method , etc......

 

AHH.... you are from Trenton, IL. I am priginally from Carlyle and I know exactly who you are talking about that will charge $700 for the exhaust. I had exhaust put on there about 5 years ago. It was crap. I will never go back again. I highly recommend Brandts in Highland... but I am pretty sure that is who you are talking about going to in the first place. The owner is a friend of my Girlfriend's family and is by far the most trustworthy exhaust guy you will ever meet. If you want to try another place... go to JJ's in Nashville. He also does a great job but doesn't like to do true duals for some reason. he can be convinced with a little extra cash.

 

Yes, Carl's welded my flowmaster mufflers and h-pipe on my mustang and charged me 140 for 4 welds and 2 foot of pipe. Brandts is where i got the estimate from, they do good work, and i have heard of people going to JJ's.

Tonight though i got to thinking at work, and i dont want to be like every truck in my town. I took a drive tonight and 9 out of 10 trucks i saw had load duals and 45's. i'm thinking im just gonna get a nice sounding, no low end hurting, mpg increasing???, muffler and put it in place of the stock one. much less of a hassle, and save my money for something else.

 

I will be honest with you.... I have tried that approach before. You will put on the performance muffler in place of the factory muffler... then you will really like it for about a month or two.... unfortunately you will then decide that you really want dual exhaust and wish you did it in the first place. That is pretty much what happened to me when I replaced the factory muffler. I would just go all out the first time.

 

yea, but on the other vehicles i've had, i had a load exhaust, and i got tired of it and just wanted it to be quiet again. if i just put a muffler on it, it wont be super load, maybe a 50 series.