Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Straight-piping downfalls?

[WestTN]

load exhaust

LSmith, do you have a turn down exhaust tip? I did this with my old truck along with a Stryker spark arrestor in place of a muffler, exiting in front of the rear wheel. I had the tip turned straight down initially, but I had to rotate the turn down tip toward the rear because the bounce back from the pavement would deafen anyone in the cab. That cut the sound in the cab to less than half of what it was. But it was still louder than stock.

 

[kaptn]

:-{} You guys are FUNNY LOL

 

[jmeehan]

I really like my straight pipe with no resonator. No drone that I can hear, and at 70 on the freeways it's quiter then at 50 here on the island.

 

[LSMITH]

Dave, that was something else and blindness was the affliction if I remember the threat correctly :-laf :-laf :-laf



Craig, thanks for the offer but I am putting a 4" on WITH a muffler here soon as I scrape up a muffler.



West, no turndown, factory exit at a flatter angle (up closer to the fender) to cut bounceback. I am thinking about the exit for the 4" going straight out the back but I am afraid the soot on the tailgate and bumper would be a PITA. My truck smokes in hot weather, cool weather is not so bad but smoke can still be made in copious quantities down into freezing temps if you get on it.

 

[barbwire]

Hey Fellas: It was suggested to me to drop the factory muffler, and go to a straight through muffler. The factory muffler has a jog in it that would create more back pressure. I thought maybe this was sound reasoning, but I would like to know if anyone has had any expierience with a straight through muffler. Maybe it would be a good compromise!!!

 

[csevers]

I had stock exhaust with a glass pack muffler in it no cat or res and it was not much louder almost not noticable but it would flow a little more it depends what you are looking for performance or sound I wanted both so I put on my own system 4 and 5 inch pipe.



Craig

 

[pwr2tow]

Ray and Sticks,

How about while towing? Need to know, it will save alot of money over buying a 4".



Ron

 

[Mark Craig]

"O" back pressure IS OK!

Snowracer,



I'll bets what your Ford guy is talking about is the fact that some of the new 6. 0 ford's will set a check engine light if run with a "o" back pressure system. It won't hurt anything except maybe burning out the light. Our Ford 6. 0 system starts out with a 3. 5 inch down pipe and that eliminates the light problem.



I think what you've got is the same ole "bulletin" board rumour thing that starts all the time on various subjects etc.



I you like the sound of straight pipes enjoy, if not then get a well designed densly packed muffler and you'll enjoy the subtle rumble it makes etc. To each his own as they say.



Our system has been very effective in removing the drone as well if that's an annoyance to you when driving.



Mark

Diesel Performance Parts, Inc.

 

[Sticks]

Originally posted by ronsram1999

Ray and Sticks,

How about while towing? Need to know, it will save alot of money over buying a 4".



Ron

As far as I know, straight piping a stock truck is for aesthetics only. You may get a little faster turbo spool up, especially if you have an aftermarket air filter/intake, cooler EGT's (maybe 25*-75*), maybe even a couple of HP/#'s torque, but it pretty much falls into the "All Show, No Go" category. I doubt it will be anything you notice, I did'nt. You must have all three elements to make more power. More air in, More fuel, More air out.



Stating just from what I have read here on the TDR, for performance issues, a straight piped stock system will be more than adequate for 300hp and under modified trucks. Towing heavy up mountain passes is where a 4" system would be a good application on a stock truck, for EGT issues.



I have yet to tow anything, as my only trailer broke it's axle last year, and I have not gotten it fixed yet.



My $. 02.

 

[bighammer]

I really like my DynoMax on my old truck. Not much glass in it, mostly just a big open space, but the sound is great. Almost sounds straight-piped at idle but no harsh loud edge at speed or load.

 

[crawler]

Dynomax Bullets

Try some Dynomax Super-Flo Bullet mufflers. They are completely straight through with whatever inside diameter you want. My 4" system has two of the 4" inside diameter bullets inline. there is really no drone. It takes the sharp edge off of the strait pipe and makes it where I can tow my trailers without having to crank the stereo sky high. The way I use them on all of my trucks is to weld the two bullets together with 4-6 inches of pipe in between.

Example on my 4 inch system I lay one on the work table welded a 4" long 4" diameter pipe to one end of it then welded the second muffler to it. The A$$ end of the second muffler should be placed as close to the rear axle as possible to help eliminate noise buildup between the mufflers and the end of the tailpipe. It will be civil when being nice to the petal and will sound mean as hell when you jump on it. My 4" system is 4" turbo back to the bullet mufflers with a one piece tail(over the axle) pipe to a 28"x5" chrome slachcut tip exiting parallel to the ground at the corner. Turning the pipe down will help keep smoke off of your truck but will generally make the exhaust louder. By the way the Bullet mufflers come in sizes from 2. 5" to 5. 5" I believe. I know Iv'e used them on stock pipe all the way up to my new 5" side exit system I just built for my truck yesterday. I'm waiting to see how I like it . The bullets don't sound quite right when they're new you have to take them out and get them hot a couple of times. A lot of my guys come back and say after they pulled their trailer (read higher EGTs) that the sound got deeper. The sound will be deeper than strait pipe and not quite so sharp. Now Mean sounding is a different story.

 

[rashwor]

Downfalls???

You gotta be kidding!



Seriously, I suspect that a true straight pipe would be a bit loud in the cab for long rides. I removed the muffler and left the resonator in place. The noise level is perfect (barely noticible inside with the windows rolled up; sweet when the windows are rolled down. Oo. I did this mod first, so I can't really tell any benefits of this mod alone, other than the music. Don't need the crapy Dodge radio anymore.