I looked through the muffler thread but I'm more curious as to what cat backs people are running and sound good? My exhaust ends after my cat because it litterally fell off after I bought the trucj and my cat is bad and I'm sure the 02 sensors are bad aswell so pretty soon I will be replacing the cat and sensors and I want to go with a cat back so my exhaust will be basically new minus the manifolds. I started looking at the Flowmaster American thunder cat back but have heard stories of them rusting out in a few years and I don't feel like dropping $400+ on a system that won't last so ov started looking at the summit racing special cat back and a heart throb cat back aswell. What are you running?

 

I have the same exhaust as you at this point. (I.E. None.) I have repaired mine a couple times, but, at this point, all the pipes are just to rusty to re-weld. (again...) I am just going to redo the whole thing, starting just in front of the cat, running a 3" pipe, muffler, tailpipe, in the stock location. I don't know what muffler I want to use yet.....

Best bet is to check out youtube for exhaust videos. Find one that you like the sound of, and go with that.

 

yeah the no exhaust sounds terrible and smells about the same as it sounds, plus my cat and pipes before the cat have holes drilled in them so it sounds even worse and it's driving me up a wall anymore lol. Iv been looking into exhaust videos but was just wanting to reach out to the forum and see what the members are running and like

 

I personally hate Flowmaster mufflers but their tailpipes are decent quality. I had a Flowmaster 50 catback system, dual tailpipes, 45 degree exits. Muffler damn near rusted off but the pipes are still in good shape. Still using them with my Carven actually.


I like the Magnaflow systems, just about everything they sell is quality, just not enough volume for me. I know several people that like the Gibson systems and they seem to be pretty good quality.


I have videos on Youtube of Flowmaster 50, 14" oval magnaflow, no muffler, and Carven R Series if you wanna hear several different setups.

 

If you're into attracting negative attention by being pointlessly loud you'd hate it, but the Gibson Swept Side Single makes me very happy. It sounds like a truck ought to sound, in my opinion, and flows very nicely. I get one very narrow range of maybe 100RPM in which something in the system hits resonance if the engine is pulling moderately, but it's not really all that harsh on the ears and doesn't land near any of the speeds I maintain so it just comes and goes without being obnoxious. For all I know it's the cat singing and wouldn't be noticeable with the quiet stock muffler. Otherwise, there's no drone. It's nicely audible in the cab but not enough to make you turn up the radio -- from the outside, you can really hear it when the engine buckles down and gets to work.


Mine was a bit louder than that, perhaps because I plugged in a Magnaflow cat at the same time. With the headers on now the tone is deeper and a bit louder, but not the sort of a noise that would keep a man single for the rest of his life. The wife finds the exhaust note pleasing, but she digs the truck so is biased in favor of it.

I'd never even consider a Flowmaster, personally. They're designed to make lots of noise rather than to get the exhaust out efficiently.

 

I love reading this. People that understand that make me happy

 

If I was going to drop the money I would go Y pipe to a single in and out high flow cat then probably just a thrush turbo to keep the price down and dump it underneath. I almost have that right now (hollow stock cat) but it smells a bit gassy. Maybe will do the magnaflow cat someday.

 

Always happy to do my part to make the world a happier place, man.

 

I've never understood the hatred for Flowmaster. I had a DeltaFlow 50 si/do put on in March of 2005 and not only is it still on and works great, it improved power and mileage. Later in 2009, I put a Magnaflow Cat on and it only lasted until 2015. Had to replace it last summer. In fact, the Magnaflow 4" SS tips on the pipes have weathered worse than my Flowmaster. Whenever I decide to replace it, the exact same Delta 50 is going on.

 

It's amazing to hear such differences of opinion on various manufactures. You would think quality is about the same, whether they rust out fast or not.


The major factors are the state you live in, meaning weather. If you live in a snow state like I do in Nebraska, the salt used on the roadways reeks havoc,.....on all metals, including of course exhausts.


Another factor is your driving manner. A lot of short driving, like shopping, leaves condensation sitting particularly in the muffler, can rust our quickly. This is very harsh on engines as well.


You can drill a small hole in the muffler at it's lowest point, so water can drain out.


Anyway, I'm also researching exhaust cat-back systems for my 4.7 2000 Dakota. I really don't care for the cackle/raspy sound when the engine revs down, so I prefer the turbo mufflers.


Since I drive my vehicles until they die, I'm considering a stainless system. Like from above, I like the Gibson, Heartthrob and Dynomax.


One that's expensive,.. but has high quality and deep sound, is the Borla.


Here's just one video.