Just out of curiousity...

I was thinking of toying around with the exhaust on my `03 7.3L. I was thinking of running straight from the cat back. Anyone have any personal knowledge on this on the difference in noise? I know it will be quite a bit louder. I just don't know how much - does anyone else?

I have an 88 5.0 that I straight piped from the cats back with 2 1/2". Will it be that loud, or much louder. Don't do a lot of towing, mainly freeway flying. But when I do do towing, it's about 11K#. That should be an interesting noise!

 

Just do it. I am straight piped from turbo back and exiting in front of the back tire and I love it. You can really hear the turbo and sound is only loud when you mash it!!

 

My '02 no longer has a muffler If you want send me an email and I can send you the same sound clip someone sent me when I was thinking about doing this.

Rich

 

my wife 00 is the only time you notice it is when theres a wall on your right side and your standin on it

 

I believe by 03' they had installed a more restrictive muffler than my '97 came equipt with (which was a stright-thru design). If you plan on leaving the cat on there, it will be louder, but not too crazy. I dumped my cat, went 3" to a Y- pipe and duals out the back. Has a nice tone up to about 2000 rpm's. after that the trubo really spools and it starts to sound like a slead pulling rig!! Hope this helps some! good luck
-Robb

 

Ive never heard a diesel with no cat and/or muffler. Does it sound good or would it sound better to have preformance exhuast? I want to find a cheap and easy way of making my truck louder and have more power. I dont really want to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive exhuast. What sounds best for the least amount of money?

 

The turbo is a pretty good muffler in itself. It will be much quieter than the 5.0 was.

 

I just today finished installing a straight-pipe system from the turbo back on my '97. It's a Tymar 3"-to-4" downpipe, and 4" straight from there to behind the rear wheel. I replaced the stock system, which included a cat. Inside the cab, it's not much different, but the sound coming from the end of the pipe is the wierdest thing I've ever heard. The turbo makes it sound like an F-16, and the exhaust tone, while throaty, varies from just a little louder than stock to something like a WWII radial-engine fighter with the throttle to the wall. If you've ever heard an F4U Corsair fly, then you'd have a pretty good idea of what I'm trying to describe. Bear in mind that I've only heard it from inside the cab with the right rear window down, so it might sound quite a bit different from the side of the road. I haven't decided whether I'm happy with it yet, but the more I drive it, the less I think about putting a muffler on it. It did make a noticeable difference in power response, since the turbo spins up faster. Don't know if this'll help much, but I swear every time I romp it I think of that Corsair.

 

If you are going to gut the muffer, you might as well gut the cat too. In the cab you can't tell the difference, only when you pass somebody or go by a wall can you hear your exhaust being louder. After I put on a 3" downpipe, I gutted both the cat and muffer on my stock system and feel, for now, that it improved my performance. Later, when money is available, I'll go bigger.

 

http://www.milchman.us/nomuffler.wav

 

how sweet the sound!

 

Ooooooooh Yeeeeeeahhhhhh!! How sweet the sound! I am 4" turbo back (no muffler, no cat) and exit before the pax wheel. The truck is louder, but it's certainly not offensive.

As someone above said, DO IT! DO IT!

 

I'm about to have a 4" turbo back exhaust installed on my '96, with a performance muffler. Is there much, if any, advantage to just forgetting the muffler on a 4" system? If a 4" straight through muffler is about the same as no muffler then I'd rather have it be a touch quieter so I don't bother my neighbors......if it would be much louder at idle, at speed I don't care.

 

Mine is straight-piped from the turbo back. I also recently added the K&N FIPK. I can really hear my turbo whistle. It sounds like a jet engine when I step on it I have a 4" exhaust as well. It is kinda loud but not horrible compared to other 7.3's with standard exhaust systems.

I recently discovered I have an exhaust leak just aft of the down pipe. I took it by a Mieneke (sp?) shop and they said they can't legally touch it because it doesn't have a Cat.

 

Yeah, that K&N really makes the intake side of the turbo audible, very sweet, I too have that.