help choosing a muffler
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Cross-Country
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 91
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help choosing a muffler
all righty guys here's an easy one... 96 351W, looking to get a muffler, a loud one. i don't have the funds to get new headers and i really don't want to take my cats off. that being said, what would be a good muffler that could make my truck sound good? i have already been looking at Flowmaster's Original 40 series but i really don't want to overlook something else that might be comperable to FM's 40 Series. Anyone have any preferances?
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,182
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From: Gateway to the West
Anything BUT Flowmasters would be my personal suggestion. Have no use for their products. They have the longevity of a fruit fly in my experience. Wouldn't ordinarily be this vehement about an opinion but I've seen their stuff rust through inside of 9 months. Hardly seems worth the money to me. There are plenty of stainless options and high-quality good-sounding aftermarket products out there. MY suggestion would be to research this at length. Gibson, Bassani and a host of ther exhaust manufacturers have high quality exhaust components out their that sound "good" without sounding like The truck is gonna blow up if you romp on the accelerator too hard. A question with a subjective answer will always yield a bevy of opinions though, so take mine for what its worth.
Last edited by greystreak92; Aug 13, 2006 at 04:21 PM.
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 8,542
Likes: 5
From: Louisiana
I agree, don't go with Flowmasters.
They are to expensive, and I personally don't like the way they sound.
The smaller the muffler, the louder your truck will be.
I kind of like magnaflow, and their stainless steel mufflers are cheaper than flow masters, and sound alot better.
Just put extra pipe for the space the small muffler doesn't take up.
They are to expensive, and I personally don't like the way they sound.
The smaller the muffler, the louder your truck will be.
I kind of like magnaflow, and their stainless steel mufflers are cheaper than flow masters, and sound alot better.
Just put extra pipe for the space the small muffler doesn't take up.
Senior User
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 138
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wanna go cheap and alil rumble? how bout a $16 cherry bomb. personally i run headers 3" pipe into flowmasters with "H" pipe out the sides and it gets yer attention. never had problem with flowmasters and they have been in the mud and coved with mud for a long time. chrono4's right Whack the cat.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 372
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From: Paola
When I first got my '96 I cut the exhaust off right after the cat and it was still quiet. If you want it to be loud you're going to have to get the bassani y pipe.
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Elder User
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 656
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From: Houston
I love my flowmasters. Go with that. I bought a single high flow cat 3" and continued the 3" into the flowmaster and out. It sounds great and improved my performance.
Now with that said, I guess all brands done right would be good. On this site you will get alot of opinions.
Now with that said, I guess all brands done right would be good. On this site you will get alot of opinions.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Gateway to the West
Originally Posted by chrono4
With your cats on there, its never going to be "loud"
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 257
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I agree with grey on this one. I had a high flow cat w/o a muffler and it was so loud that I decided to add a muffler to the system b/c I was starting to get headaches after a few hours of driving (and this is while cruising, not to mention the noise level while accelerating). I added a straight through magnaflow for $50 from one of the sellers on e-bay, and it is still very loud. With the muffler placement so close to the cat, my truck kind of sounds like an old muscle car because the exhaust sound is really tight and controlled, not sloppy like some trucks with the cat banged out and chopped off after that.
