muffler eliminated, that's for sure.

[AlexWV]

When I first got my truck and took a look at the exhaust, I was happy to see that the muffler was clamped in and was thinking that putting in the muffler eliminator would be a piece of cake.



Well, putting in the muffler eliminator was a piece of cake but getting the muffler out turned into a chore. Basically, the pieces were not going to come apart. I had read about people cutting and was hoping I wouldn't have to do that. But I did.



If you are going to do it, you may as well just head under there with a saw to start with and save yourself some effort.



The stub of 4" that comes out the front of the muffler and goes to the cat is long compared to the stub at the back and you can get at it easy. I cut that one and dragged out the muffler and tailpipe together. Then I cut the rear stub. Doing that one under the truck would be difficult. And it is short so you need to get close to muffler so you won't cut the tailpipe at the same time.



Before I cut anything, I removed all the hanger supports. Then I used some tie downs to support the muffler. After cutting, I slowly lowered the muffler which was still attached to the tail pipe.



I will say you can accomplish this job in an hour easy if you do it that way. I wasted at least an hour trying to wiggle out the tailpipe before I decided I was done with wiggling and ready for cutting.



The muffler is now eliminated in more ways then one. I was going to keep it in case I had to put it back for some reason. Now it will go to recycle or whereever dead mufflers go.



PS. The muffler weighs 29. 6 pounds.

 

[DaveK98]

Where did you get your pipe to put in to replace the muffler (link)?



What benefits beside being louder? Lower egt's? More HP? What?

 

[FAST4DR]

Project took me two days, albeit in the middle of doing other things and had to cut off the first day to head for a meeting.

I concur, though. Sawsall and an angle grinder are a MUST for this. I had to make some slit cuts in the flange on the exhaust to get the straight pipe (between cat and muffler) out. Also, had to trim approximately 6-8" off of the rear section to get it to fit right, too, which was fine... since the cut I made on the rear of the muffler was, well, a hack job to say the least.

Now that its all done, though, I must say that I am very happy with the sound now and the turbo sound now - blow off valvish- is nice.

With the AFE2 and addition of gauges, I am now done... for a few months.

 

[smenard]

Are you experiencing any drone with this set up?

 

[FAST4DR]

I have no droning at all.

 

[Tomeygun]

When I first got my truck and took a look at the exhaust, I was happy to see that the muffler was clamped in and was thinking that ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Now it will go to recycle or whereever dead mufflers go.



PS. The muffler weighs 29. 6 pounds.

FWIW, my current exhaust setups uses ALL band clamps... The best thing in the world



I have taken off and reinstalled my system countless times, And will NEVER go back to using those ring/crush clamps, yuck!!!!

 

[Heavyweight]

Tomeygun, is there a website for those clamps you list! I know Jegs has something like those as well. TX in advance...

 

[DaveK98]

Guys, can anyone help me with the novice questions in my previous post.....

 

[Morse]

I just got home from having my muffler removed. . Let me first start by saying I love the way my 95 sounds with a straight pipe. . My 05 doesn't sound the same at all. . I have drone at mid throttle pretty bad. . You can actually feel the exhaust from the seat of your pants. . Not like the 95 at all. . This really surprised me. . I replaced the entire section from just before the cat to just behind the muffler. . Cat was taken off as well. . The sound has a raspy, tinny sound as well at mid throttle. . I'm hoping the sound will change a little when the hot OJ gets here. . Maybe I'm hoping too much. .



I know people ask this all the time, though new products are always coming out. . Who makes a good straight through 4'' muffler that will still be a on the loud side, though cut down on the drone?? Help will be very appreciated. .

Thanks. .

 

[JCleary]

Some people think the Banks muffler is too loud, I think it's just right...

 

[Morse]

On a good note. . This sounds completely crazy, though I pay attention to the little mileage computer all the time. . It was saying 14's and 15's in town. . After the cat and muffler delete, my mileage computer was saying 16 to low 17's on the way home... Did others see this?? Those things are never correct, though it should be equally off every time. . It was nice to see the 17 up there wrong or right. .

 

[NLamke]

Where did you get your pipe to put in to replace the muffler (link)?



What benefits beside being louder? Lower egt's? More HP? What?

Muffler delete kit

http://198.104.149.53/CoastalData/showdetl.cfm?&DID=30&Product_ID=1510&CATID=1



Can't help on the rest as I haven't done this, but hope the link helps.

 

[FAST4DR]

A few comments:



Morse - Make sure that there are no leaks. A raspy sound usually means that. Even with open DP (had to drive it home for one night) I wouldnt say the sound was raspy. I think you may have a leak somewhere.

Also, I have noticed better mileage on the OHD too. Will test it out when we tow to the race this weekend.





DaveK98 - I got my testpipe and straight through muffler from dieselperformanceparts.com

Great guys to deal with.

 

[crobertson1]

I went for a ride in a straight piped '04 (not an '04. 5) today and it sounded raspy too. I would love to know if an '04. 5 with the cat still in place, but the muffer deleted, would sound raspy or not. I didn't really like the sound. It sounded good at low rpms though. Anyone eliminated their muffler but kept the cat?

 

[Morse]

Would a dynomax bullet muffler that is 4'' in and 4'' out straiaght through with a 16. 5 total length and 14'' body possibly be enough to clean up the sound a little. . Tinny sound and drone??

 

[FAST4DR]

The muffler section you are replacing is actually offset, so you cant just use a straight piece. No sense in reinventing the wheel, as there are choices already out there. With no cat and the new muffler - I retained stock tip - I have a nice sound - just a tad more than stock.

 

[Cattletrkr]

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a 4" straight thru design, offset muffler from a "local" manufacturer. They a huge manufacturer and this is going to be kind of a one-of-a-kind special deal. The muffler is a 30" glasspack. I had their 26" unit on my '01 but I've got room for the 30" on this one. I'll let you know my impressions after I tow next week. 26" glasspack runs $65, offset to fit onto '04. 5. 30" will be a few dollars more, mine maybe even a little more 'cause I need more pipe due to previous foul-ups on my part.



The sound from the 26" is awesome. One of my previous foul-ups was one of those on my current truck, got it free so what the heck. Didn't like taipipe dragging so factory eventually went back on. Sound was awesome. Little loud towing, but bearable. I'm hoping the 30" won't be quite as loud towing. If anyone has heard the DPP replacement muffler, this one should sound pretty much the same.



If everything works out well, I'll maybe look into some sort of a group buy. I doubt the price will come down any as it's already way below anyone elses, but who knows.



Edit: These mufflers are all aluminized. I don't think they make anything stainless.

 

[Morse]

I cut the whole section holding the cat and muffler off at one time in one peice, then replaced it with one long piece of 4''. .



Are the summit diesel mufflers any good??

 

[AlexWV]

I left the cat on. Some people said they liked it with the muffler off and cat on. Then they took off the cat and didn't like it anymore. So I decided to try it with the cat on first and see.



Sounds good. No drone and cruising around 65 you can't really hear to much in the cab with the radio on. It is plenty loud enough outside when you step on it. I am not going to remove the cat.

 

[CStansbury]

Ah-hah, thanks AlexWV, that's just the report I was looking for. I will try the Geno's pipe and keep the cat. I'll have to do a before and after video and post it here for future reference.