Well after extensive research done last night I called up and had the Magnaflow muffler installed in my 04 Lariat s/c. I was going to do it anyway, but I found this article on Google that tipped me over the edge along with all the other great reviews:
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Curt Hogan Jan 1 2002, 10:42 am show options
I agree with skp, the performance mufflers that are available today
are very well designed and built and they create a great performance
upgrade to most any vehicle. My experience in this field is
considerable in that I have owned and opersted a Muffler shop for 20
years. I have sold & installed products from Dynomax, Xelerator,
Magnaflow, Flowmaster, Borla, Gibson, Flowpro, Pacesetter, Bullet,
Edelbrock, Hooker and Spintech just to name a few. I have information
for anyone interested in about any exhaust product you can imagine. I
have created an internal design visual comparison in Wordpad of most
of the performance mufflers disscused here. If anyone would like to
see this comparison, drop me an email and I will email it to you. By
the way I own 4 performance cars and 3 late model light trucks and I
am often asked what I use on my own vehicles. The answer is Magnaflow
for all out performance but I do have 2 with Flowmaster because I like
thier tone.
Curt
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Anyway, I am estatic about this decision to say the least. I called this morning and the only one that could squeeze me in was AA Exhaust shop. He charged $160 (with tax) for the muffler and install, which I'm sure anyone can get lower by shopping around, but I wanted it now and he's a small business owner that did a great job. At idle the muffler is quieter than stock (and btw, don't understate the stock sound, it's pretty good for stock). When you accelerate you hear a great truck sound rumble (but not obnoxious) yet mellow tone. At cruising speeds the muffler is quiet similar to stock. And this is with the shorter Magnaflow as he did not have the longer version in stock. But what pleases me the most is the performance. There is no doubt I'm getting better torque from take off and a bit more hp. It's too early to tell MPG increase because I made the mistake of resetting the MPG computer. I should have left it alone as I was getting 15.3/15.4 in city very consistantly. I'll report what it settles into later this week. The truck engine loves this new muffler and so do I!!!!!!!!

 

Was that muffler a direct fit or did he need to add pipe?? Is there a model number for the muffler?

 

Went to there web site, Magnaflow.com and listened to a F150 harley, and that's the sound I want. No authorized dealer in my area, so guess I'll call the local shops and see if they carry them. I think you got a good price too. Glad you supported the small business guy's. Good choice dude

 

The stock muffler is humongous. It's long and weighs about 35lbs. The Magnaflow he put on was smaller so he had to add a pipe. The part # he used was 11236.

 

I have to amend one of the things I said above. At idle the muffler sounds quiet inside the cab. But while walking around the truck at idle the muffler definitely has a louder "throaty" type sound than stock. I guess one way to put it is it sounds like a real truck! By pure coincidence I had a whole bunch of errands to run today, so I did get a little feel for where the MPG might settle in. Right now its oscillating between 15.8 and 16.2 MPG. It'll settle in over the next several days and I'll give a final number later on this thread. However it works out it appears I may not loose MPG and get a better response from the truck.

 

You put a steel muffler in the middle of stainless steel system. Most likely the added pipe was steel.

 

After more than a week of my normal city driving my MPG has finally "settled in" at about 15.4/15.5mpg. This may be due to the Magnaflow or maybe the engine is still "breaking in" at 7,900 miles. I suspect the Magnaflow has something to do with it. That's not a huge increase, but I also believe I'll see the results better on highway driving. Anyway, I'm still pleased with the new muffler and am going crazy wanting to do more mods to the truck!!!

 

That sounds just right. I'd also like to kill that sewing machine sound these stock trucks have in mine.. I want the stainless version because at the end of my lease(when I sell it) I don't want to be reinstalling the stock muffler.. Figuring nobody will mind a little healthier sounding truck and I'll give them the stock muffler at the same time.

I've looked at the Magnaflow web site and found the muffler they installed under yours. How much extra pipe did they add to yours? I see they have longer mufflers. I'm wondering if they one that will fit without adding pipe? I know, I'm lazy, I should just go measure the stock muffler, but there's an inch of wet slop on the ground right now.. If you know offhand....if not, it's not a big deal, but I think you've sold me on that muffler.. Now I need to see if my my exhaust guy can buy them.. He used to be Midas, but went on his own...

 

Yes. The added pipe is 13" long and he did a great job on it. He only had the shorter Magnaflow muffler in stock, but there are longer versions available. A co-worker of mine has an 05 XLT F150. We went to lunch today and he was thrilled by the sound of the truck at take off and during acceleration. He wants a "meaty" sound to his truck but not one that will wake the neighborhood. We drove around with the radio off for testing. He spent the afternoon calling shops to see if they had the Magnaflow in stock. The Magnaflow website has sound clips of the muffler. Great tone.

 

Toreador,

What about the sound on the highway? I am leaning toward the Magnaflow, but am concerned about ruining the nice, quiet truck we all love and cherish.

Thanks!

 

When cruising on the highway it's no louder than stock. Even at acceleration the sound is not that loud above 60mph. One thing to remember is the longer muffler will have less sound than the shorter one I had installed. Best bet is to go to the Magnaflow FAQ page (they should be paying me cause I sound like an advertisement!!). I'm real happy with this one but will give more information when I take a longer highway trip.

 

Did you consider a catback system? Did you choose to replace only the muffler merely for the sound? And the reduced costs? That's an option I hadn't considered.

 

Sounds like sweet set up!!

Does the sound and rumble similar to Borla Exhaust ??

Thanks!
YOMAN!

 

No I did not consider a catback because really unless you supercharge or turbocharge they don't add anything. I didn't replace it just for the sound, but that's a benefit IMO. As far as to if it sounds like the Borla, I sure don't know but the sound clips on the Magnaflow website are very accurate to what it sounds like.