Hi guys,

Just wanted to let those of you know that might have questions about modifying your 2v V10 exhaust system for better performance.

First thing I did was change the factory muffler out for a Magnaflow.
I was not all that happy with the sound. Sounded like a V6 ! Probably should have gone with a larger version of that Magnaflow for a deeper tone. Gained about 1/4 mile per gallon, so not much of a gain there. Also had a custom "Y" pipe made to try to get rid of the exhaust flutter, but not successful, still fluttered.

Second try was a more radical change. I put a set of 37x12.50x16.5 in. tires (Military OZ by Goodyear) on my truck and wanted a full size spare to fit under the bed in the factory spare location. That required the moving of, or in my case the removal of the tailpipe.



Working with the exhaust shop, we cut the muffler off and just ran a 3 in. straight pipe a little ways back and angled it over and down, so that it exited just forward of the passenger rear tire/wheel at a 45 deg. angle. Painted it with black high-temp BBQ paint.

Sound is a little louder at idle, noticeably louder upon acceleration, but not too loud. Sound is only a little louder at cruising speed. To put into perspective, it is still quieter than my 1973 Trans Am. What it does sound like is a diesel with a modified exhaust!

Best part is, I can now get a full size 37 in. spare up underneath the bed and I still have at least 3/4 in. space all around tire! I carry a second spare in the bed of the truck. I work out in an area where two spares is necessary.

Steve in Tucson, but out in the Wild West !

 

Some pics of all that would be nice.

 

Here are two pics of the exhaust mod.
First is the side view of the pipe and it's exit point......


Second, is the pipe and how it looks under the truck..........


Note: No muffler. Sounds like a modified diesel exhaust.

A little loud upon acceleration, but not as loud as my 1973 Trans Am !
Little bit of drone @ HWY speed, but not bad.
Will report on gas milage later.
Main purpose for the mod was to make room for a full size 37x12.50x16.5 spare, which can be seen installed just beyond rear dif.

Steve in Tucson

 

Spare tire location modification to accept a full size 37x12.50x16.5 spare tire/wheel.

Remove bracket on pass side to stop spare from hitting factory exhaust.
Remove factory exhaust.
Install straight pipe from cat back and bend to exit forward of pass rear tire/wheel.
Cost $80.00

First is a side view........


Second is a view from underneath.........


Third is from pass side looking aft.........


Fourth is where the spare butts up against the receiver hitch......


There is about 3/4-1 in. room on all sides of tire from hitting shocks, or sides of receiver hitch.

Steve in Tucson

 

What did you do to the Y pipe?

 

My truck is a 2000 and there was no factory "Y" pipe. I think it was called a "Rams Horn" design and it fluttered like mad at 1800-2000 rpm. Quite loud. Could hear it above the hum of the 37 MTRs ! Sounded like a turbo pop-off valve going off continuously !

Had a custom "Y" pipe made to get rid of the "Rams Horn" and it still fluttered, but not quite as loud. Removing the muffler has all but eliminated the flutter noise and moved it to 2000-2100 rpm

Was it worth it ? $60.00 for custom "Y" pipe, not much of a difference.

What I am saving money for next is a set of Doug Thorley long tube headers. I think these are the only long tube design available for the Ford V10. Shorty headers are a waste of money, and that is what Banks, JBA, and everyone else makes. You spend nearly as much money and get little, to no benefit. The long tube headers will move the torque setting to a higher rpm range, but the increase in power is really good. The other huge benefit to the DT long tube headers is that they are made with a very heavy 14 gauge tube wall thickness and they are ceramic coated.

I have a set of 14 gauge long tube headers on my Ramcharger and they are nothing short of amazing. Because of the heavy 14 gauge tube thickness and the ceramic coating the under hood temp is the same as factory and you almost cant hear them. Power gain was about 25-30 hp on the little 318.

Steve in Tucson

 

Couple more trips down south to the "job site," so the report on gas milage is still not complete, but I have an idea where it is going to be.

In town, driving around Tucson, my milage seems to be about the same, maybe a little worse. I was getting 10.5 to 11 mpg before the last modification to a straight pipe, but now it seems to have fallen to 10 to 10.5 mpg.

Highway gas milage is still not determined. My trip to the "job site" has some flat highway, but also mountainous highway, which kills the milage. That portion of driving is yielding about the same milage at 12 mpg.

Did one small trip about half way to Phoenix and back and that got me 15.5 mpg.

I am measuring this gas milage by actually tracking the miles and how much gas is consumed.

One thing I seem to notice is that I have lost a little bottom end torque.

I am thinking of installing one of those "hot rodder" open pipe valves to partially close when running in town and open when running on highway, in an effort to boost the torque?

The experiment goes on.........
Steve in Tucson

 

Update on exhaust modification............

The straight pipe experiment is a "no go."
Lost too much bottom-end torque and gas milage dropped noticeably and I got a bad drone at my highway speed, 65 mph. It is also a little too loud for my taste. Where I work, down on the USA/Mexico border, quieter is better!

Put the Magnaflow muffler back on, just after the catalytic converter, so that I could keep the exhaust pipe exit just forward of the passenger rear tire/wheel. Weird thing is, now it is quieter with a shorter exhaust pipe? Got the low range torque back and the gas milage took a big jump upwards. My first full tank of city driving resulted in just over 11 mpg, which I have never gotten before.

Work trip into mountains is soon, so will report on that ASAP. Will post photos soon as well.

By the way, the Military 37x12.50x16.5s are doing very well. These are great tires, and the price is right. Bought 3x sets !

Steve in Tucson

 

At first, I wasn't too thrilled about the "V6" tone of the V10. But it's actually kinda gown on me. Conversations are easy in the cab and it's just so dang quiet going down the road. All my buddies were totally thrown off by how quiet it is.

 

OK, after fighting with Photobucket for awhile...........

Mavic19, this newer exhaust modification is almost as quiet as factory !

Here is an image, with the muffler re-installed, looking aft................

You can see how close the muffler is to the catalytic converter, about 14-18 in. behind it, with a very short tailpipe that exits forward of the passenger rear tire/wheel. Very quiet and strange that it would be that quiet with such a short pipe! Note the 37 in. full size spare in the factory spare stowage location !

Here is an image looking forward...............

The exhaust shop was able to hang the whole thing in place with little to no problems. The muffler is a Magnaflow, sorry lost the part number, but you can see the size. What I like about that brand is that it is a through pipe, you can see right through the entire length, and it really cuts down of the high pitch sounds, leaving a nice deep tone, and a quiet one at that.

No drone at any RPM and now almost as quiet as factory, with better than factory performance at higher RPM and that good factory bottom-end torque. Gas milage jumped back up, in fact the highest I have ever gotten with city milage, about 11 mpg. HWY milage seems to be near, maybe better than the peak 15.5 mpg I got before. I put 19K on the truck the first year, and 17K the second year, so even a 1 mpg increase means something for me !

Now, just got to start saving money for those Doug Thorley long tube headers !

.............and a tuner kit !

Steve in Tucson

 

Just did the math on the savings I COULD HAVE HAD, had I done this from the beginning.................

Scary !
I could have saved just over $1,000.00 in the last two years just on gas !

I hope someone can learn from my trials and tribulations !

Steve in Tucson

 

It is good to see a muffler shop that actually knows how to weld...Those are some big "hoops" they look great.

 

Latest trip down to my work site on the USA/Mexico border in Arizona, yielded an average gas milage of 13.2 MPG. That was about 205 miles in that trip. Only about 24 miles are flat HWY, the majority of the rest is mountain HWY and about 60 miles of off road/dirt road miles.

I am a "little more" happy with that result !

Need to get paid to do a trip to Phoenix, which is all flat HWY, to see where the MPG is on that, but I am betting it will be about 15.5 MPG average. Tucson has an elevation of about 2600 ft. where I live and Phoenix is about 1000 ft., so have to average that trip. That milage would be good for this beast, which I nick-named "Moby Dick."

Funny thing is, you can feel the difference in power due to elevation, when you get to Phoenix ! You can also feel the difference in heat !

Steve in Tucson

 

Where did you find the 16.5" rims?

 

Found the wheels on craigslist > sites

Bought four from one guy and got really lucky about 5 months later and found two more that matched. Those are Centerline Wheels and long out of production. Got lucky !

There is a problem with all 16.5 in. dia. wheels you will find for the 1999 and up 8 on 170mm stud pattern. They are 10 in. wide and that 37x12.50x16.5 Goodyear Military OZ tire is built to go onto a 8.25 wide wheel.

You can get Humvee wheels, which are 8.25 in wide, converted to the newer Ford stud pattern, but they are really heavy, as they are made of steel. Wheel and tire weight is the worst kind of weight you can have on any vehicle, as it takes more energy to get it moving and to stop it from moving than any other weight on that vehicle. In other words, light aluminum wheels will give you better acceleration and quicker stopping times, as well as better gas milage.

Now, if you are looking for 16.5 in. dia. wheels for other vehicles with the old universal 8 lug pattern (older Ford, GM, & Dodge), or other stud patterns such as 6 lug (GM & Toyota) or 5 on 5.5 in. (Ford & Dodge), you are in luck. There are some old aluminum wheel sets still out there, and some are in the 8.25 in. width. There are also some wheel companies making steel wheels in the narrower width as well.

I am on the hunt for a set of 16.5 in. x 8.25 in., 5 on 5.5 in. stud pattern wheels for my 1984 Dodge Ramcharger, to start running those Military 37's. Those really are great tires.

Below is a photo of my Ramcharger with the 15 in. wheels.......


Hope this helps you.........

Steve in Tucson
If it is American, I like it !