Merry Christmas everyone!

The salt finally took its toll on my exhaust system. The muffler hangers rusted off, causing the tailpipe to crack at the back of the muffler. So, I'm in the market for a new muffler/tailpipe or maybe even a cat back system.

Looking at the Ford parts websites it seems the OEM replacements are in the $500-$600 range.

To my fellow 5.4L 2V owners -- what have you installed on your trucks?
Anyone have any good luck with an aftermarket kit? I'd like stainless steel and I'd like something that's not obnoxiously loud. I'm certainly good with some better-than-stock exhaust notes but I don't wanna wake up the neighborhood!

If possible, some short video clips of the exhaust sound to go along with the suggestions would be awesome!

Thanks in advance,
Jason

 

Audio clips soon.
Classic chambered exhaust SB3030
Love it. Not ss though.

 

The Gibson in my old truck was quiet but sounded good. I'll see if I have a video

 

Was barely louder than stock in

 

Gibson shorty stainless headers, magnaflow replacement cat, borla race muffler with single exit. Everyone i know says my truck is just right, i like it but im probably gonna go louder and duals again. Ill get a clip today for you

 

Thanks for the replies. Reps sent to everyone except acf6, it says I gotta spread it around before I can rep you again.

acf6 - that sounds pretty good to me. Did you have any complaints about that system? Was it a direct bolt-on fit with no mods? A Gibson system is on my short list.

SuperDutyScaler - I'm anxious to hear how the Borla sounds on yours. The Borla system is also on my short list. The price tag is the only thing keeping it off the top of the list. But, its 304SS so I understand.

Here's my top three right now in no particular order. Thanks again guys!!

2004 FORD F 250 SUPER DUTY Gibson Swept Side Exhaust Systems 619652 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

2004 FORD F 250 SUPER DUTY Flowmaster Stainless Steel Force II Exhaust Systems 817345 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

2004 FORD F 250 SUPER DUTY Borla Touring Cat-Back Exhaust Systems 140050 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

 

Im gonna PM you with another option.
Mike

 

It fit great, 0 complaints...bolted right in. I had the stainless duals. It seemed to get surface rust kinda fast but it was stainless so im guessing it wouldnt have rusted through for a long time. I just run aluminized exhaust on my diesel now and this one is 2 yrs old and it doesnt even have any surface rust on it yet

 

Thanks for the feedback!

Interesting to hear about the aluminized. Do they use alot of salt in CT?

 

Oh yeah, they use a ridiculous amount of salt and my truck is out in every storm. My bed just started to bubble through on the sides...but somehow the $350 aluminized exhaust still looks fine.

 

This is very interesting, and a good data point. I've been ignoring aluminized but in some cases I could buy two aluminized sets for one stainless. If aluminized would last on the order of 4-5yrs I'd consider going that route. Good to know of one case its holding up in the salt.

Thanks again!

 

flowmaster is nice but rots in less than 5.....id go custom or at least gibson stainless!

 

Thanks again guys.

 

Sorry so late, PM'd you some stuff

 

Just an update to close the loop on this...

Given the urgency of getting this fixed (winter!) I didn't spend alot of time researching this and I ended up just ordering the Borla kit from Summit. After a week of low temps and snow, I was lucky enough to get a dry day in the 40's today so I got it installed.

It fit pretty decent, but I did have to cut ~1" off of the front of the tailpipe to allow it to slide far enough into the muffler so the hanger would line up, but otherwise it was pretty good. The front pipe and the two muffler hangers lined up fine, but the tailpipe missed by ~1".

I took a bunch of pics and I may do a quick write up on it at some point.

I haven't taken it on a long drive yet, but first impression is that it isn't much louder than stock.

Thanks again to everyone for their input and advice!