I'm trying to get a little pep back in my rig (05 F-150)after I put bigger tires on it. Is there any real diffrence between putting a good aftermarket mufler in place of the factory one versus getting an entire cat back system?

With my last truck I went with a flowmaster clone and turn downs but that resonated too much for me. If I just replace the muffler I'm going to leave the rest of the stock pipe in place. Hopefully that will get some of the resonance out of the cab.

Also, what's the going performance muffler right now? I'd like to stay away from glass packs.

 

few things. cat backs will be around 500-700 bones. u can get a good muffler (borla, magnaflow, dynomax bullet (had to say it) or any other straight through mufflers for a good price and have it welded to your liking with the tip(s) of your choice. if your going SISO u want 3" piping. if your going duals ull want 2.5". basically ull save some cash by buying a muffler and tips and having it fabbed to your choice. definately stay away from glasspacks..thats like slapping your truck in the face (if it had one). ur stock piping is probably 2.5" so u can get a 2.5" inlet outlet muffler online (summit racing, ebay, performance pedder)

 

i had dynomax bullets for a while good flowing but very loud they only quite the exhuast 3-6 Db *so they claim* so i went with a real muffler to get back some of my low end TQ and get some scavging i went with the dynomax Ultra flow welded stright threw sounds good but not to loud and i got my low end TQ back. Ultra flow welded from adv autoparts is about 120 bucks each but money well spend IMO. the ultra flow stainless steel is the same muffler just made out of SS instead of aluminized steel *ive never had an aluminized muffler rust on me* but the SS runs about 150-170 because its made out of stainless.

the thing i love about dynomax is they back there mufflers up BIG TIME! 90 warenty of if you dont like the sound/ performance send them back dynomax will refund you for the mufflers and the ultra flow welded and ultra flow stainless have lifetime warentys on defecs on the muffler. not to mention they flow 1300+ CFM!!! stock is about 250CFM and flow master 40 or 44 i forget is about 450-500CFM so they move alot of exhuast gas.

i should work for dynomax hahaha

 

i actually feel that my dynomax bullet gave me a little boost off the line..more than my 22" magnaflow. i love the sound of the bullet, but the drone is the cab is getting to the point where i need to get the sound proofing sheet installed. i love the sound outside tho. so does everyone else

 

bullets sound awesome but the drone killed me as i had true dualed 3" bullets with no pipeing after them and the exhuast ended right under my floor boards....holy drone bat man. but my truck sounded sick! still sounds pretty good with the ultra flow welded. quited it down a lil more and doesnt drone nearly as bad. prob wont drone at all once i finsh my exhuast *lightning style exits on driver and passenger side* cant wait i need a bronco 33gal gas tank thoe.

 

well ive got a single 3" bullet ran single out the side b4 the rear tire and the drone is real bad

 

yeah im hopin these ultra flows along with running 4 tips out the sides before rear tires will deff cut down on the drone i hope. it has to be an improvment over exhuast ending under my feet lol

 

ya the turndown is terrible. i dont like the sound of them either.

 

what turndown? haha my exhuast just stops at the exhuast outlet. no turn down and no more pipe after. i had my frist really cheap exhuast i cut off my Y-pipe and put turn downs on my rear cats. that wasnt to bad. the true dual 3" bullets had no turn downs either and holy crap. open headers didnt even drone that bad!!

 

If you have the cash, go with the trual duals and xover DIDO Magnaflow muffler. 2 1/2" pipes should be fine for an N/A motor. The sound is amazing and it will give you a little extra oomph in your truck. There are no kits out there so you'll have to have it fabricated.

Make sure to exit out the rear or behind the wheel and get the muffler as close to the rear axle as possible. Otherwise you'll get the dreaded cabin drone migdaddy mentioned.

Don't expect any sizeable gains with any "cat back" system unless you go with a DI/DO configuration. You might pick up 10-15 RWHP if you're lucky.

 

once i move my gas tank im going to run lightnign exits out both sides before the rear tires with my dynomax ultra flow 2 1/2" true duals. i dont plan on getting any major gains maybe slighty more power down low because i have a full exhuast then. and im really hoping for alot less drone. just need to get my bronco tank and move it to the back to finish my exhuast

 

Well... I went with neither for now. I had the muffler cut out and just had straight pipe welded in its place. It's a little loud and crackly but for 45 bones I'll try it for a little while.