Best Aftermarket Exhaust for a Ford F-150?
If you want a little more rumble out of your F-150 without the drone and obnoxious noise, here are some ideas.
Now, we aren’t exactly claiming to be psychics, but we do know one thing about you, loyal reader. You like Ford trucks. And like any good enthusiast, this means you probably like your trucks to serenade you with a nice little rumble while you’re driving around. And in terms of aftermarket exhaust systems, you’ve got plenty of choices. Which is why Ford Truck Enthusiasts member ghunt headed to the forums seeking advice on the perfect setup for his Ford F-150.
“I feel like the only thing this truck needs is a little more volume. Been looking at some aftermarket catbacks, but damn they are expensive. I want something with some rumble, but not too loud. I want to be able to let my truck warm up outside on cold mornings. Also, if you guys have done catbacks that remove the factory resonator, does that affect the noise inside significantly?”
Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long before the responses flood in. And it appears that plenty of folks use Borla products on their own Ford F-150.
“Borla Touring with the side exhaust just like stock is what I have on my 2016 Lariat 5.0,” said GABAR “Very high quality, a little deeper sounding and just a tad bit more volume than stock at idle. And it will not disturb your neighbors. It does wake up when you really get on the gas and it has zero drone while cruising. Just a nice deep and smooth sounding exhaust.”
“^^This,” adds johnday. “I have the S Type. A little louder, but not over the top. The more you run it, the better it sounds. I have noticed that on my 3.5, it seems louder than the one on my 5.0 did. Zero drone as noted. Costly, but you get what you pay for. My next truck will have Borla as well.”
Magnaflow also gets quite a few votes. At least from the eligible bachelors of the group!
“I went with Magnaflow on my ’16 Ford F-150 5.0,” says Drew1295. “I went ahead and deleted the stock resonator and changed the exit location to in front of the right rear tire instead of behind it. Nice and quiet at idle but when you get on the pipe she screams! Yes it has a little drone inside the cab. But I’m single with no kids so it doesn’t bother me at all.”
In the end, the OP decided to go with a mixture of parts in an effort to save money and meet his original goals.
“You might have the same kit I just bought, it’s a Flowmaster American Thunder knockoff dual system. I decided on the 18” Jones Max Flow for the pipes I ordered. Found it on eBay for $48. So hopefully I’ll have my whole exhaust put together for around $350, aside from a few extra clamps I may buy.
Also, I got the eBay exhaust kit on Friday. Looks like a pretty decent setup but I haven’t unboxed the whole thing. Hopefully it’ll go on alright when it comes time for installation. The muffler that comes with it, I’m pretty sure is just a single chamber (10 series equivalent). No way I could run that thing.”
But unfortunately, things didn’t go exactly as planned.
“Well I installed my exhaust today with that Jones MF2288. Much louder than I was expecting and a fair bit of drone at 2,000 RPM, so that sucks. I already ordered their biggest SI/DO muffler (5″x10″x22″ long case) to replace it, hoping that will tone it down enough to make it more livable. I can’t imagine how loud this would be with the Flowmaster knockoff that was included with the kit.”
So it looks like at least for now, it’s back to the drawing board for this Ford F-150 owner. But we’re curious to know – what exhaust setup are you using? Head over here and let us know what you have and how it’s working out for you!
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