Automotive illiterate. Please help. :)

[mratliff24]

Hey guys. This is my first post. I've had my truck for a little over a year now and haven't done much to it other than window tint, bed cover, removing running boards, just little things.

I'm ready to start spending some actual money on the truck, and I wanted to start with the exhaust. I've read page after page and review after review on different mufflers and systems, and I'm just not sure on what to go for.

I know that I want a very aggressive sound. But outside of that, I'm just kind of lost. I don't know if buying just the muffler would be sufficient, or if I need to get a whole new system.

Any help/input would be greatly appreciated. Hope this is in the right forum.

Thanks in advance!

 

[2015HemiSport]

Hey guys. This is my first post. I've had my truck for a little over a year now and haven't done much to it other than window tint, bed cover, removing running boards, just little things.

I'm ready to start spending some actual money on the truck, and I wanted to start with the exhaust. I've read page after page and review after review on different mufflers and systems, and I'm just not sure on what to go for.

I know that I want a very aggressive sound. But outside of that, I'm just kind of lost. I don't know if buying just the muffler would be sufficient, or if I need to get a whole new system.

Any help/input would be greatly appreciated. Hope this is in the right forum.

Thanks in advance!

Well if you're not sure find a local shop that will make custom exhaust. Have them start with a muffler, if that's not enough remove the resonators... Go from there until you're happy.

 

[TerraNewf]

Hey guys. This is my first post. I've had my truck for a little over a year now and haven't done much to it other than window tint, bed cover, removing running boards, just little things.

I'm ready to start spending some actual money on the truck, and I wanted to start with the exhaust. I've read page after page and review after review on different mufflers and systems, and I'm just not sure on what to go for.

I know that I want a very aggressive sound. But outside of that, I'm just kind of lost. I don't know if buying just the muffler would be sufficient, or if I need to get a whole new system.

Any help/input would be greatly appreciated. Hope this is in the right forum.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum, You'll get lots of suggestions on this site. This is my first Ram and really just loving it.

 

[HammerHead]

Read some of these articles before you make your exhaust decision.

http://www.ramforum.com/f44/exhaust_systems_101_a-63137/

 

[MADDOG]

Do the mufflers first, leave the resonators on. Run that and see how you like it. You don't need to do the entire system to improve flow. Stock exhaust pipe diameters are more than sufficient for a basically stock truck. The mufflers are heavy, restrictive and are built to keep the truck quiet. However, you do need a bit of restriction in the system to promote good flow and exhaust scavenging. Opening up the exhaust too far and you'll experience loss of low end performance. So start with the mufflers and go from there.

Couple of things to consider:

1. Which muffler? Well, go listen to some clips here and at the muffler manufacturer sites. Picking what sounds good to you is something only you can do. Many will express a preference here but you gotta go with what works for you.

2. Resonators and MDS. When doing exhaust on a vehicle with VVT (MDS) systems on them, without the resonators on, the resonance (drone) that the system generates is obnoxious. They are not a restriction to flow so leaving them on does not hurt your performance.

Good luck!

ps: my preference is Magnaflow.

 

[14hemiexpress]

Do the mufflers first, leave the resonators on. Run that and see how you like it. You don't need to do the entire system to improve flow. Stock exhaust pipe diameters are more than sufficient for a basically stock truck. The mufflers are heavy, restrictive and are built to keep the truck quiet. However, you do need a bit of restriction in the system to promote good flow and exhaust scavenging. Opening up the exhaust too far and you'll experience loss of low end performance. So start with the mufflers and go from there.

Couple of things to consider:

1. Which muffler? Well, go listen to some clips here and at the muffler manufacturer sites. Picking what sounds good to you is something only you can do. Many will express a preference here but you gotta go with what works for you.

2. Resonators and MDS. When doing exhaust on a vehicle with VVT (MDS) systems on them, without the resonators on, the resonance (drone) that the system generates is obnoxious. They are not a restriction to flow so leaving them on does not hurt your performance.

Good luck!

ps: my preference is Magnaflow.

He pretty much nailed it on the head right here.

I'm running a mbrp witch is basically a cheeper version of a Magnaflow.

 

[QwikKota]

The factory exhaust on the Hemi is quite larger for any mild mods you might do. The best bet if you don't care about mileage is to get a tuner and turn off the MDS system to avoid any odd sounds from a louder exhaust. I have always been a huge fan of Borla mufflers but they are expensive and the quieter ones usually have a small main pipe running through them. Most people opt for a Magnaflow setup due to cost and they sound pretty good but not super loud. Good sound at WOT is not worth a horrible highway drone IMO.

 

[GoatRider]

I have a flowmaster 40 series on my 2013 with the 4.7 and it sounds ferocious. Not too bad inside the cab, about as noticeable as the exhaust on my old man's 02 3500 cummins with a straight pipe exhaust.

 

[sig25]

I'm with MADDOG on this. I have a 2014 SCSB with the 5.7. At 300 miles I replaced the muffler with a Flowmaster 40 series and kept the resonators. The exhaust shop owner said that the tailpipes were a large enough diameter that changing them to something larger wouldn't yield much result as far as performance or exhaust loudness. I drove the truck for a week with this set up and it just didn't seem loud enough. I went back to the exhaust shop and I had them replace the exhaust tips. I went to a 4" outlet and they are approximately 12" (give or take, can't remember exact length) this deepened the tone and made it a bit louder. I am VERY satisfied with the sound.
As far as the MDS, I'm still on the fence about it. It sounds horrible in 4cyl mode. I've listened to a lot of exhaust clips on the interwebs but they don't seem to do justice to the actual sound. Good luck in your search.