Hey all,
got a '78 F150 Ranger 4x4 SWB with 400 and 4 speed. Almost all stock except for a couple minor things.

My truck has been good to me the 4 months I've had it, never failed to start or go or anything I absolutley love it.

However, I am not satisfied with how loud the exhaust is. I like the deep sound it makes but I find that most guys especially on here have some sort of exhaust. Whether it be a flowmaster, glasspack, whatever, almost all the 6th generations have some sort of exhaust.

My current setup is true duals going into 2 newer midas mufflers. No cats, headers or anything like that. It sounds great but its just not the volume my young heart desires.

I thought about a flowmaster 44 or something similar but that would make me sound very similar to alot of trucks I see around me. So i thought for maximum volume I could just take the current mufflers off.

So my question is:
Are true dual straight pipes a good idea? I would like to have some pros and cons mostly geared towards the mechanical aspect of true dual straight pipe exhaust. I know they will be loud and my neighbors will loose sleep over it but oh well.

Does anyone have any input or suggestions for me reguarding straight pipes? All is appreciated, thanks!

 

straight pipes sound crappy on any stock motor...only big horsepower motors sound good without mufflers, even some of those need at least race bullet baffles to sound decent....if you dont want flowmasters because everyone has them, get a set of magnaflows, they sound badazz and not as many people run em on street vehicles...

 

The factory exhaust manifolds are a bottleneck to to your current exhaust setup, i'd invest in a set of headers first, then go from there.

 

Straight pipes are a terrible idea, especially with stock manifolds. It doesn't sound good, in or out of the truck. It may also violate local ordinances in your area. At the very least, your neighbors will not like you. And even if you yourself end up liking it, everyone around you will just find it annoying.

 

I thought the 351m and 400 had a decent exhaust setup as opposed to the FE, no? On another note, there is no motor that sounds so good as a GM Detroit diesel with straight pipes singing at 2100 rpms pulling an irrigation pump, sounds like its screaming 10,000 rpms. Part of the reason I'm getting hard of hearing ;(

 

Like SwokcOffRoader said, straight pipes don't really sound good on a stocker, especially a 400M. Technically, straight pipes will reduce backpressure on your engine. Which in turn can either increase or decrease torque, depending on the setup.


If you want to see what straight pipes sound like, look at this.
Blue truck, no exhaust - YouTube

My 250 was similar to yours, 351M stroked to 400, with goodies. This was true dual straight pipes that ended underneath the cab/bed gap. The video doesn't really show how freaking loud it was.

IMO, don't bother with straight pipes. doesn't really sound that good.

 

3x with headers.. instant seat of the pants HP and a nice burble.

Don't give the local constables a reason to pull you over. Even with a pair of race bullets it makes it appear that at least some effort was put towards noise attenuation. I went with Moroso Spiral Flows... no fiberglass to degrade and and they're fully welded.

Ya'd find a large rock embedded in your windshield if ya ran straight pipes in my neighborhood. Muhahahahah....

 

I have straight pipes on my 78 ford with a 400. I like how it sounds, but it is rather loud. Overall, I'm happy with them though.

 

I second the rock comment. What is it with just wanting to be loud? If you want people to look when you go by put the time into making you truck look good not sounding like crap.

 

I had straights on my 77 w/460 which was not stock and it sounded really good, everyone who said anything said it sure sounded good but boy was it ever loud!! I ran them for several months, even got pulled over once and they never said a thing about my exhaust, just said I should slow down a little is all. Run them all the way to the back and the noise is behind you, but everyone else will hear it.. your choice

 

i have headers on my 400 and 12 inch cherry bombs and the exhaust is about perfect. you can still have a conversation at cruising speed as it is very mild but once you crack it down she has a hell of a cackle. you don't need a reason for the local police to pull you over.

 

Glasspacks are CHEAP, and sound great on these old Fords, I have had a set on my 1973 for atleast 10 years and even if the fiberglass is gone, it probably is by now, they sound awesome and basically you would have a legal straight pipe exhaust

 

Thanks for the input everyone. So it seems that the straight pipes are not a good idea. I will look into glasspacks and the magnaflows.

Also open to any other exhaust info/suggestions.

Thanks.

 

I was in the same boat as you a few weeks ago. I got my truck, and I didn't think it was loud enough. It had true duals off of the manifolds with no cats going into some no name cheapo mufflers. So I decided to cut them off...... it was insanely loud. Not good loud, it didn't really sound like a beast of a truck or like I had something under the hood, it just sounded like an old beat up truck with no mufflers. So for the time being, I went to advanced auto (or parts america in some parts) bought 2 dynomax (thrush) glasspacks for 16 bucks a piece, 2 exhaust clamps and some muffler hanger material and they were on and sound great. It's a temporary fix for me, until I get funds for headers and flowtech warlocks, but it works, sounds good, and you don't have to blow your speakers to listen to music. Also, with a stock or near stock motor, you will lose a LOT of bottom end. I know when I put my glasspacks on my power and acceleration was ay better, the truck was a new beast. So, your truck will indeed be slower with the new torque curve, it will be insanely loud, making you look like a chump....LOL 30 bucks at the parts store and you have a halfway decent sounding truck with more than likely a little better acceleration. Good luck to you sir.

 

I had stock manifolds on my 351m with 2.25" exhaust and cherry bombs. it sounded decent but i installed headers, 2.5" pipe and new cherry bombs and at idle its nice, mild cruise is good. but when you open it up and go its ungodly loud.

it will wake the dead at wot. im actually looking for some new mufflers soon. looking at moroso spiral flow muffler or some magnaflow mufflers. being loud all the time gets old after awhile. especially in my town, of 3100 people and very small if i open it wot i can be heard miles across town.