I have a 1997 Ford F-150, 4.6L engine, and it really sounds like a Prius of the truck world. Everything on it is stock, and I want it to sound like the old 70's trucks, or at least a bit louder than it is now. Any tips?

 

Magnaflow, glass packs, or a personal favorite of mine would be the flowmaster 40 series. A lot of people frown on flowmaster with its chambered design, which to each his own. I don't care much for magnaflow but they have a pretty good tone to them also. All in all, anything along those lines might do you some good. Good luck on your decision. Keep us posted on what you go with!

 

now this may sound dumb, but how do I know which one I need? I'm confused with the center out, dual out, and all that stuff

 

It refers to how the exhaust enters and exits the muffler. 1st 2 letter reference the entering configuration and the last 2 letters reference the exiting configuration

SISO>>>= Single pipe entering or In the (SI) and single pipe exiting or Out (SO)

DIDO>>>= Dual In and Dual Out

SIDO>>>= Single In and Dual Out

the Center In is referring to the pipe location on the muffler, Center not offset to the left or right of the entering side. the DO stays the same >>>>Dual Out

so on and so on

 

OBX-r of Magnaflow magna pack. Both sound ronchie when you step on it.

 

I have the same engine, depends what your looking for if you want the loudest obviously a straight pipe no cats and dumped somewhere would be the loudest but if you want that deep rumble you will need an exhaust I have a 44 its not that loud but it has a really nice sound and no cab drone noise. I'm thinking about taking out my cats to make it sound a little better, if it goes well I will be sure to update y'all but thats if you haven't chosen your own path.

But the best options im telling you flow master or magnaflow.

 

I had both the flowmaster 50 american thunder and the super 44 i believe and when I went to magnaflow I got much better fuel mileage. The I went to OBX-r and got even better sound and same improved fuel mileage. The reduced fuel mileage and flowmaster has been that way accross the board on every vehicle I have owned. Started with flowmaster and switched to magnaflow. I guess I didn't learn the first time...lol This is my first set up with the OBR-r and couldn't be happier. Just a bit of my personal experience, food for thought. The difference in my rock crawler was almost 50% less peddle going down the freeway...I will never touch flowmaster again. Lesson learned.

 

i had the very same truck you do with the 4.6 same year. and had the same problem, lamiest sounding v8 in the universe. i went with straight pipes. one 3" diameter pipe, sounded beautiful. great rumble sound didnt pop and wasnt annoying. and its cheap. trust me i dont like super loud exhaust systems but on that motor it sounds great do it and you will not regret it.