I am new and I am ready to spend some money, but wisely. If you buy an aftermarket exhaust that is made for your specific year, engine size and all the other stuff, why is the piping any different than stock? I crawl under my truck and look at the exhaust and it does not look that restricted. I can understand the muffler itself and the headers, but the cat-back systems seem to be pricy with the only difference being the muffler.

 

Pipe size is usually bigger.

 

Don't forget too that a lot of the aftermarket systems are mandrel bent tubing instead of die-bent. That means no diameter loss in the bends and no kinks.

If your truck is newer (not listed in the post), you're not really going to be able to do anything to the headpipes (from manifolds to catalytic convertors) anyway.

I guess I really don't understand the whole theory behind changing to a bigger exhaust when you can't change the initial 3 feet of pipe.... Kind of like, why put a 4" exhaust on a PSD when the up-pipes to the turbo are only 1.5" diameter?

Oh well.

Cody

 

I agree, but getting rid of any restrictions you can is better than nothing.

If the truck is new, there are other ways to improve flow. The factory Y pipes on most gas vehicles are pretty restrictive and can be modified to flow much better, giving as good or better gains as a good cat-back without messing with any emissions equipment. Using both together can be a very good way to improve flow overall.

 

I guess if I am going to spend all that money on headers and new y pipe, it would not hurt to bite the bullet on the cat-back.

 

you could always put long tube headers on your truck and go to a shop that can do exhaust and they can do a full headerback exhaust. you just give them the muffler you want put on it or the catalytic converter or whatever you decide. it shouldnt cost anymore than $350 which is probably what a flowmaster or gibson cat-back cost. hope this helps

 

I actually called around and the cheapest I found a muffler shop to do it was $195. That price only included a Flowmaster with hooking up to stock piping. If he had to change the stock exhaust it would be a little more. I just will more than likely just buy the cat-back and be done with it.