i want to upgrade my ride and want to start with a preformance upgrade of the exhaust or intake. i am leaning towards starting with an exhaust upgrade. what is out there that you guys reccomend? i have the 5.4 screw i dont want a loud exhaust just better preformance and maybe a tougher sound when i get into the throttle but i dont want something that growls in the driveway. any suggestions? thanks

 

Go with 2.5" dual catback magnaflow exhaust, this was the first mod I did on my 99 f150 with a 5.4L v8 although mine is 3" which is a little too open. The tone is perfect when its idle you could hardly hear it, just a nice low purring rumble but when you stepped on it then it got a little louder but not grungy still smooth just a really loud purr....It got a lot better when I had the cats cut off and gibson headers installed, but before I did that my second mod was an air intake, when you do this I would recommend the volant because its the only true cold air intake it comes with a box that mounts to the factory hole in the fender well all others like the airaid I have just suck in warm engine air because they dont have the cold air box.

 

Start with you intake.

When you "get on it" you'll hear it more than an exhaust (since you want one that doesn't growl ) since the intake is in front of you.

I had just an intake on my 03 Expy just so I could hear it when I opened 'er up! I've since added a mild muffler (Flowmaster 70) and the intake is still louder (to my ears) than the exhaust when I get on it!

Intakes are easier to install in your driveway, too.

 

If you wana do the Exhaust 1st just get a New muffler and keep you stock pipe it's 2.5 i've tried the Flowmaster did not care for the sound i replaced it with a AeroTurbine 2525 and what great sound and 1.5 mpg incress

 

The best mod would be a tuner (Superchips, Diablo, Xcalibrator, etc.). You'll see the most response from that. That is what gave me the biggest HP and throttle response increase. Then look at the intake (I would recommend K&N - no recalls!) and then take a close look at the Banks Monster exhaust. Good Luck !!

 

what will the service guys at the dealership say about the cold air intake. will it be a warranty issue? also i read the thread on here today recomending the magnaflow muffler. i think i might read up on that one. just because of a tight budget right now i was thinking about just replacing the muffler and adding a volant cold air kit later maybe. thanks for the input guys.

 

I went with the Borla exhuast, SIDO and I love the sound and I noticed a little more giddup after installing. I then added the Superchip 1714 tuner and the airaid intake. Can't say how much the intake helped but the tuner is awesome. Definitely start out with the exhaust the a tuner and then decide if you even need to do the intake.

 

Just keep in mind the downside to the tuners is you'll have to go to a higher octane more expensive gas to get more HP. I'd say from my research is an entire exhaust system is a waste unless you go with a Supercharger or Turbocharger. If you're just going with an intake, simply replace the muffler with a higher flow muffler like Magnaflow. I put one in and it does give the engine more pep and torque. It also gives it slightly better MPG. The flowmaster is mostly for sound and would be too loud for what you want. It can potentially also decrease your HP since it is not as free flowing as the great Magnaflow.

 

i just got the gibson extreme muffler with duals.... sounds good.... i think its not as loud as stock in park... but has a good low end growl... i love the system.... im about to get a kandn air intake!

 

Not arguing but I am running the 87 octane tune and there is definitely more horse power. Not as much as the 91 premium tune. I have the superchip tuner 1714 and I read the HP numbers for 87 octane vs 91 on another site but can't remember what they were.

 

Here is the deal:

The 87 octane tune gives virtually no real power increase. What it does is make the throttle more sensitive and increases fuel at WOT. So, when you're not at wide open the throttle is more sensitive and the throttle lag is gone so it feels like more power. When you are at wide open throttle the 87 octane tune dumps more fuel and that's where you see the slight power increase (at the expense of fuel mileage).

Essentially, you do get more power with an 87 octane tune, but its at wide open throttle only (where dyno tests are made).

 

On this truck, the intake is more of a problem than the exhaust. A cold air intake will give you more noticable improvement than a typical exhaust mod.

I wen't with a Volant because it comes with a complete filter box, not just a three sided air dam setup... less intake.

Regarding exhaust, you've got a 2 1/2" exhaust system on the front end, so a cat back is not going to give you any meaningful gain over a good flow through muffler. I put an AeroTurbine 2525 on a couple of weeks ago. I like it. It's the most open muffler I've seen and yet the sound increase is moderate.

Although I've messed with performance tunes in the past and may on this truck, I don't agree with the tuner hype that is becoming more frequent. Tuners are not where you start, nor are they for everybody. The only trade off on intake/exhaust mods is basically noise. Everything else is a gain... more power, better mileage. With tuners there are a variety of tradeoffs, more expensive gasoline, more potential for operating issues, questionable improvement in gas mileage. Basically, they deliver more power, but at a higher operating cost. If you don't absolutely need the extra ponies, why would you go there?

Enjoy.

 

If you are going to go to the trouble replace the whole exhaust with mendrel bent stainless tubing. Despite the factory tubing being 2.5" it isn't stainless or mendrell bent, you'll get more HP and better sound.

 

Don't waste your $$$$ on a cat back or duals if your not pushing more then 360 RWHP you will not see any real gains
I would go intake, Exhaust then your Tunner if you still feel the need for speed i've done a lot of research and i used to be the manger of Monster Garage and got a lot of input from some the crew on the show Hope this Helps
2004 Screw

 

thanks for all the input guys. i think ill go with at least a muffler swap and the volant cold air intake . from there it all depends on how much i overpayed uncle sam this year!! anybody have any input on whether the dealer gives a rats a$$ about the cold air intake under the hood? are they gonna try to void a part of my warranty or something? sorry i'm just paronoid as this truck cost a pretty penny as youknow, thanks