Straight-Piped 6.0
Straight-Piped 6.0
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 149
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From: tampa florida
with the muffler removed it is quiet on idle and when you get on it sounds great.i drive by a long wall everyday on the way home and it sounds awsome.I had a muffler shop remove mine and intall a piece of pipe.it cost me about $40. 
Former Vendor
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 4,362
Likes: 3
From: Hendersonville, NC
I have mine straightpiped. I used a hog system. I have a short wheel base supercab, and i ordered the kit for the long wheel base crewcab. This allowed enough pipe for a muffler delete. It sounds fairly normal at idle, besides a nice little whistle 
It has a nice jet roar mixed with the growling of a strong v8 when you get on it, but it is not an obnoxiously loud noise and is very tolerable. Inside the cab, it is not much louder at all.
It has a nice jet roar mixed with the growling of a strong v8 when you get on it, but it is not an obnoxiously loud noise and is very tolerable. Inside the cab, it is not much louder at all.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 394
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From: Eielson AFB, AK
I just straight piped mine the other day...MMMMMM... Uber sweet! Like everyone was saying, sounds evil when it starts boosting, nice whistle, but when you romp on it, that Throaty V8 sound is everpresent! God it's friggin sweet!
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Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,314
Likes: 4
With all due respect...
it just depends on your "sensitivities"
I had my Ex straight piped for about 6 months....
and around town, at idle, at 50 to 60 mph (or more) for less than a 1.2 hour was NICE !!!!
But once you ran for hours @ 90 mph on long trips.... the droan GOT to me...
just too much "noise" after a while...
My solution was to get the inexpensive, but nice turbo back for $325 - problem resolved - the "noise" is now behind or out the right side and the long drives are great !
YRMV !!!!
it just depends on your "sensitivities"
I had my Ex straight piped for about 6 months....
and around town, at idle, at 50 to 60 mph (or more) for less than a 1.2 hour was NICE !!!!
But once you ran for hours @ 90 mph on long trips.... the droan GOT to me...
just too much "noise" after a while...
My solution was to get the inexpensive, but nice turbo back for $325 - problem resolved - the "noise" is now behind or out the right side and the long drives are great !
YRMV !!!!
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Senior User
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Eielson AFB, AK
Your right JD. It's all one's personal preference. Some people like the straight pipe sound, and some don't. But, try it out, if you don't like it, then your local muffler shop should be able to weld in a muffler for ya, no probs! 
Post Fiend
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 5,324
Likes: 1
From: Denton,TX
Not to pick (but I will ), but straight piped means that there is nothing in the exhaust system but exhaust pipe. If you remove the muffler you still have a cat on your truck, therefore it is not really straight piped. In order to have a straight piped exhaust system you would need to remove the cat. Unless Ford stopped putting them on the 6.0, every current vehicle sold has one. My truck didn't come with a cat from the factory and the muffler was retired a long time ago.
), but straight piped means that there is nothing in the exhaust system but exhaust pipe. If you remove the muffler you still have a cat on your truck, therefore it is not really straight piped. In order to have a straight piped exhaust system you would need to remove the cat. Unless Ford stopped putting them on the 6.0, every current vehicle sold has one. My truck didn't come with a cat from the factory and the muffler was retired a long time ago.
Former Vendor
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 4,362
Likes: 3
From: Hendersonville, NC
Originally Posted by johnsdiesel
Not to pick (but I will ), but straight piped means that there is nothing in the exhaust system but exhaust pipe. If you remove the muffler you still have a cat on your truck, therefore it is not really straight piped. In order to have a straight piped exhaust system you would need to remove the cat. Unless Ford stopped putting them on the 6.0, every current vehicle sold has one. My truck didn't come with a cat from the factory and the muffler was retired a long time ago.
), but straight piped means that there is nothing in the exhaust system but exhaust pipe. If you remove the muffler you still have a cat on your truck, therefore it is not really straight piped. In order to have a straight piped exhaust system you would need to remove the cat. Unless Ford stopped putting them on the 6.0, every current vehicle sold has one. My truck didn't come with a cat from the factory and the muffler was retired a long time ago.
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,414
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From: stoneboro, pa
Originally Posted by johnsdiesel
Not to pick (but I will ), but straight piped means that there is nothing in the exhaust system but exhaust pipe. If you remove the muffler you still have a cat on your truck, therefore it is not really straight piped. In order to have a straight piped exhaust system you would need to remove the cat. Unless Ford stopped putting them on the 6.0, every current vehicle sold has one. My truck didn't come with a cat from the factory and the muffler was retired a long time ago.
), but straight piped means that there is nothing in the exhaust system but exhaust pipe. If you remove the muffler you still have a cat on your truck, therefore it is not really straight piped. In order to have a straight piped exhaust system you would need to remove the cat. Unless Ford stopped putting them on the 6.0, every current vehicle sold has one. My truck didn't come with a cat from the factory and the muffler was retired a long time ago.
it says there in my papers..."48 state-no cat" but its there and "punched out" nowhehei think a gutted cat helps the sound on most vehicles. it acts as a resonating chamber, i think. my truck sounds a little nicer than the ones ive heard w/ the cat just taken out. more throaty
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,314
Likes: 4
I guess the definition of straight pipe is all in the eye of the beholder :-)
I too did the muffler delete (if we must be PC here :-) WITH the cat...
It was loud without the turbo whine since I "believe" the downpipe has a resonator in it....
After my ears became numb from the drone, I put a turbo back exhaust on WITHOUT the cat and drove it for a few weeks -
TO ME :-) it was much betta than the muffler delete... but the turbo whine was still a bit too POWERFUL !!! again - for me :-)
To quiet the whine down some (and be cat legal) I had the cat put back in and that's where it's been for about 4 months..
Still has a stout turbo whine, but is not too ear splitting a whine - just enough to sound like a turbo jet fighter taking off !
But to each his own... too loud to one may be too quiet to another !!!
you just have to try the different combinations...
And ALL my "testing" was done in an Excursion... a superduty without the "cab" over the whole tailpipe may react completely different !
I too did the muffler delete (if we must be PC here :-) WITH the cat...
It was loud without the turbo whine since I "believe" the downpipe has a resonator in it....
After my ears became numb from the drone, I put a turbo back exhaust on WITHOUT the cat and drove it for a few weeks -
TO ME :-) it was much betta than the muffler delete... but the turbo whine was still a bit too POWERFUL !!! again - for me :-)
To quiet the whine down some (and be cat legal) I had the cat put back in and that's where it's been for about 4 months..
Still has a stout turbo whine, but is not too ear splitting a whine - just enough to sound like a turbo jet fighter taking off !
But to each his own... too loud to one may be too quiet to another !!!
you just have to try the different combinations...
And ALL my "testing" was done in an Excursion... a superduty without the "cab" over the whole tailpipe may react completely different !