Anyone out there ever take their cats right off their lightning and run true duals.(with two mufflers and tailpipes exiting out the back)? Living in Saskatchewan there isnt very tough laws regarding cats and as long as you dont drive with a heavy foot everyday you will be fine. I have had many trucks with dual exhaust but until you take the cats off to me they are never loud enough to my liking. I previously had a 99 flareside with the 5.4l engine. I ran true duals(no cats) and chambered turbo mufflers and it sounded awesome. The other thing i am wondering is if I lose the cats will I lose a lot of torque or horsepower.

 

Stock exhaust manifolds to my catless midpipes to my Bassani cat-back mufflers, out the side like a true Gen 2 Lightning.

I don't think ANY Lightning owner would run them out to the back like you're suggesting. In my opinion it would look stupid on a Lightning, especially with the side skirt opening for the exhaust made specifically for the L.

As for having "true duals", the Lightnings already come that way from the factory. Some argue that because the OEM setup has one muffler, it's not a true dual, but it is.

Your question regarding a loss of torque is a valid one. Some guys have reported feeling a slight gain (based on the butt dyno) when they removed their cats, but it was the opposite for me.

I cut my cats off because I love the sound. I have to put a catted midpipe back on whenever it's time to smog my truck, and when I do I always gain a bunch of power back. But I can't stand how quiet it is, so even though removing the OEM catted midpipe makes me slower, I can't yank that thing off of there quick enough and put my straight pipes back on.

Stewart

 

I agree that running exhaust out the back on a Lightning would be a bone head move. Alot of guys have removed both cats and like it. I personally have a set of Dynathech longtubes with hi-flow cats and a Bassani cat back. This combo sounds insane and keeps me legal. The hi-flows will increase volume (not as restrictive) and get rid of 2 unwanted/ needed convertors.

 

Absolute KILLER combo.

Either Dynatechs or Kooks (can't go wrong with either header) to a Bassani is a fantastic setup. There's only one other setup that's better (in my opinion) and that's the complete JLP R setup.

Stewart

 

Agreed. Major headache to install though. IHMO

 

Aint they all, on these L's?? LOL!

It sure isn't like bolting on headers on my 5.0!



Stewart