$1,500 to spend

[thomasduncan]

My other half has been gracious enough to part with $1,500 for an early birthday present for me.



I want to do an exhaust system, something louder than stock and probably 4 or 5 inch. I would like it to be stainless steel if the price allows. I was thinking Bully Dog or Banks.



I also would like to do something for better fuel economy ie chip or programmer. Could you all please give advise before my wife decides to come to her senses.



If you you could give general prices and anybody that gave you good deals or was great to deal with, that would be great.



Thanks in advance



Tom

 

[oneshotkyle]

magnaflow turbo back 5 inch 500. 00 or less

smarty 685. 00



and you'll still have money to play with.

 

[JFlagg]

magnaflow turbo back 5 inch 500. 00 or less

smarty 685. 00



and you'll still have money to play with.

With the other $315 he should buy some self control, 35" tires with a Smarty on stock auto transmission comes to transmission not lasting very long. Keep the Smarty down low, you should be OK though.

 

[JohnCooper]

With the other $315 he should buy some self control...

Or at least some guages!

 

[ENafziger]

Well, I know you said you wanted a replacement exhaust; however, if you're looking to get the most from your money and just want a little better sound, you may consider a muffler delete, or maybe a performance muffler, such as an Aeroturbine, or MBRP.



Others suggested a Smarty, and that would be a great choice as long as you can use self control, and only run lower levels to save your transmission.



I didn't see an intake listed in your signature. You may consider an AFE Stage II or similar to help with the airflow on the intake end; I believe you will find that without a highly modded truck, you will see better results from air intake mods than exhaust mods.



Finally, guages are a very good mod to consider doing... at least EGT and Boost.



Muffler delete or performance muffler <$150

Smarty ~$675

Intake ~$400

Gauges ~$275



This will put you pretty close to your budget, but should make great improvements all the way around! --Eric

 

[Cochran]

I agree, don't waste it on the muff. Buy a kit from mbrp and put it on yourself. Buy the band clamps from napa don't use the crush clamps if you ever want to get it apart again.



I like the edge Juice with additude. I have tried the smarty, it gives a lot of low end power with a LOT of smoke. I think the edge still has the "edge" on the high end. And It comes with an EGT guage built in. On the fly control is nice too.



I like the volant intake. It is not as expencive as the AFE and comes with a box to keep the air as cool as possible. Be sure to get the primo filter.



Save your pennies for a transmission upgrade you will need it.

 

[sevans16]

Exhaust

I put the turbo back 5" MBRP system on my 05. The drone was too loud for cruising. I then added a resonator which did nothing. I finally added a Donalson semi muffler which did the trick. Sounds great outside and pretty quiet inside with windows up. Has a really deep sound. I can e-mail pics. I don't know how to post pics yet. It lowered e/temp and mileage went up around 1mpg.

 

[Cattletrkr]

Go with analog gauges first. Even if you don't go nuts with power, they look cool. I prefer the dash mount over the A-pillar or the overhead mounts. A-pillar would be my second choice.

I loved the sound of my truck with the cat in place and a flow thru muffler. I've since changed it, but with the cat was better. I never tried a delete pipe, but with the cat I don't think it would be too bad.

Intake with a full replacement tube and then pull the silencer ring. Make that sucker sing!!! the BD X-intake seems to be the most reasonable price for an AFE PG7. If you want to save some $$$, do your own cold air mod to the factory box. I would have done that if I hadn't swiss cheesed it before I read the how-to article in TDR. I think the parts came to something like $18. Add in a replacement filter and you're under $100.

Depending how many gauges you put in, this should leave you with more than enough to get a chip/programmer of your choice.

 

[CTD 600]

Just straight pipe it.

 

[jnelson]

Really good sound cheap is a magnaflow glasspack. Leave the convertor on. Gives a good throaty sound with no resonance in the cab. Add a 5 inch chrome tip for the added look. Around $150. 00 insatalled.



Edge/Attitude gives you performance, gauges, turbo timer, warning alarms, defuelng etc. . $850.



You can get a good intake for around $400. 00.



The above is what I did to my wifes truck. I am very pleased, and so is she.

 

[berman2000]

I have a 2006 ram crew cab, here is what I have:



S&B air intake $200. 00

Flo pro 5" 409 stainless $500. 00

Ats arc flow air intake $415. 00

Predator 4 module $450. 00

PPE excelerator $450. 00 (set on performance only)



love it!

 

[jltcasper3]

Genos muffler elimination kit

Smarty

Guages

Intake

 

[pipeguy]

MUF delete



TST R49 (with guages in)



AFE stage 3



and a glacier pusher pump kit





Then save for a trani build (or clutch if a 6er)and a smarty



Oo.

 

[Blue Ox1]

Check out the Silverline system, I got my 409 stainless system for $ 385 sounds good and went on easy

Joe

 

[RonCar]

MBRP muffler replacment or muffler elimination kit (cheap and easy)

PSM intake, W/cool blue or torque tube (cheap and easy)

smarty

guages

 

[CHolman]

His is a 2003 so he doesn't have a 4" turbo back so here's my 0. 02...

Exhaust, I like the MBRP or Diamond Eye

Intake, I have the AFE stage II but a bit pricey

A MUST if you have the two listed above SMARTY!!!

That SMARTY with those big ol' tires will give you good bottom end power to get them rolloing... That's what I would do...

 

[JDelOlmo]

Eliminating the muffler will just change the sound, or will the fuel economy change for the better?

Kind of curious!

Jose

 

[RWPor]

how do you like your ats transmission, how long did the first one last? I like the suncoast valve body and ats trans