Here's what I have: previous owner removed the cat and mufflers. I have a 3 inch straight pipe coming off the y-pipe. Around the front of the bed area, it splits into dual 2.5 inch pipes, then on out the back.

Needless to say, this truck is LOUD.

I'm not looking to do a bunch of exhaust rerouting. I just want to quiet this beast down some by adding a muffler. Which option would give me the best combo of sound and performance-

a) a single "3-in, 3-out" muffler installed in the 3" pipe section
b) dual "2.5-in, 2.5-out" mufflers installed in the dual 2.5 pipe sections
c) a single "3-in, dual 2.5-out" muffler to replace where the pipe splits to duals

Any recommendations for cheap mufflers would be handy too. I plan to replace the entire exhaust at some point in the future, so I want to do this as cheap as possible. I'm not looking for passenger-car quiet, but I have to get rid of the ohmygod loudness. It would be nice to hear the radio at highway speeds...

 

What motor??

 

Oh, the 5.4

 

I say get a 3" in and dual 2.5" out and weld it into place. That seems like a HUGE exhaust though, thats what I have on my V10

 

I thought it seemed big, but thats what is on there. I have no idea what was there from the factory, but I have to get tires, so I have to work with what is there for the exhaust for now.

 

stock is all three inch from they-pipe back, put a good three inch muffler, and no not Flowmaster. And put 2.5" tailpipes if you want or just a three inch single exit. There are a ton of single exit three inch sound clips on Youtube that shows a Ford sounds just as good with a single three inch instead of twin 2.5's. Plus its cheaper that way

 

also Cherry Bomb has some great products now, their R&D team is really designing some nice mufflers that flow ten times better than Flowmasters plus they sound wwaayy better too!

 

Ya don't have to worry about me buying Flowmasters. I never cared much for the sound of them. Besides, this is just a cheapie project to quiet the truck down- I plan to re-do the exhaust later this year (after I put new tires on and buy the Excursion). So I'm looking at spending roughly $50 or so.

Summit Racing has a 3-in/dual 2.5 out muffler for $26.95...
Summit Racing SUM-638270 - Summit Racing Street & Strip® Race Mufflers - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Also, my local Advance Auto can get me the same configuration in a Thrush for $39.99...
Buy Thrush Welded Muffler 17661 at Advance Auto Parts

I don't know who makes the Summit muffler or what it sounds like, but I've used Thrush before, so I could live with it for now.