I did it. I broke down and spent $30 whole bones on a new exhaust system. Not really a new one, but a change of the old one. I had the muffler removed.

This is the way to go. The truck is not as loud as I thought it would be. You cannot tell anything different at highway speed. It seems to resonate under hard acceleration around 2500 rpm and disapears above 4000rpm. (Sounds like a sport motorcycle on steroids) It has a nice rumble at idle. I look forward to seeing the results when I tow. The stock muffler is so restrictive, This has to do some good.

 

...And you drive a what?...

Could you make a sound clip?

 

I'm itching to do the same, I'd like the full report when you tow. I understand it rev's a little quicker, but I'm curious if theres any torque loss? (When are we having a Dyno Day? somewhere in Texas?) Any flutter before or after? I've got 23,000 miles and runs strong, tows well.
I can only think of the benefits of doing such a simple Mod. Hope it doesnt void my Motor Warranty, thats another story I guess...

 

Well, I did the same thing when I first got my truck. I had the muffler removed at the local exhaust shop. IT did help it rev faster, with little or no loss of torque. However, I COULD NOT STAND THE SOUND!!!!! It sounded like one of them little rice cars with the 5 inch fart pipes. I hated it.

Sooooo, I replaced it with a Gibson cat-back system, Which is basically the same sounding as stock with little to no performance improvement. I screwed up however and was too cheap to get the stainless, and after only 1-1/2 years of no winter driving, It is starting to rust. I may try a Borla soon....

 

The guy who did my exhaust said that he thought that it would be much louder than it is. My wife couldn't tell that it was different at all until I raced the motor at idle. He said that it all depends on how restrictive the cat is. Maybe the cat on my '99 is more restrictive than the later models. This would explain the lack of noise. I'll let you guys know how it performs under a load.

If you perform this mod and don't like it, just have the shop place a high flow muffler in place of the pipe. Anything is better than the school bus muffler that comes on these trucks. I've wanted to perform this mod for a while and after discovering this form, I convinced myself to do it. I can't believe I waited this long.