to start off, i know this has been beaten to death, on every possible forum relating to something with an engine in it, and i've also done my fair share of yelling at people for not using the search feature and looking on youtube for exhaust clips, but i'm looking for a fairly specialized response to my question.

i'm going to be replacing my stock muffler at some point this week, just the muffler for now. later on other goodies will be added such as 3" mid pipe, 3" tailpipe, and possibly hi-flow cats. but for now i'm just looking to replace the stock muffler. i know the pipe before the muffler is 2.5", and tailpipe is 2.75", so question #1 is should i go with a 3" muffler, replace the mid pipe now (~20$ for pipe only) and run a reducer after the muffler, or go with a 2.5" muffler, and run a reducer after the muffler?

question # 2 is the one that's been beaten to death, but like i said, requires a somewhat specific answer. i don't want a muffler thats loud at low speeds and idle, but do want to hear it loud and clear at WOT. i'm looking for a good medium between performance AND TONE. I love the crisp sound of a flowmaster 40 and 44 series, but i'm afraid that a 40 series will be too loud (neighbors, parents, little kids around, etc.) even with a tailpipe and stock cats. Correct me if i'm wrong about that. i like the volume level from a magnaflow 14" body, but don't really enjoy the sound they produce at higher rpms, their proven performance does make the magnaflow muffler a possible choice though. Maybe a shorter body magnaflow will produce more of what im looking for in the higher rpm range? Bullets, Cherry Bombs, etc. would all be too loud for what i'm looking for.

I'm pretty well experienced with exhaust modifications and custom fab work, and all the work will be done myself, so shop costs do not need to be considered. I also have no problem with replacing the muffler down the road if/when i decide to run dual tailpipes. if anybody has any advice for me, it would be appreciated

 

well to start off, thank you for explaining urself instead of saying "what muffler is the best for me"
anyway. to start off. if ur going to just replace the muffler and continue will a single pipe, i would replace the piping from the Y pipe back to 3". no need for reducers. all ur piping from the Y (2.5") will be 3". theres your best performance. it will obviously cost more because ur replacing all the stock piping with new 3" pipe, but ull get the best sound gain/performance out of it.
second step. muffler choice: flowmaster 40 is around the same volume as a magnaflow 14", but a different tone. the loudest magnaflow muffler will be the 11" or the 14" round body (magnapack) Magnapacks (14" round) are louder than a 14" oval body muffler. so you have to decide wat tone you want and how much volume. many guys on here (Actually most) love the 14" oval body magnaflow, but it may be to quite for others. its a very good sounding muffler, definately deeper than a flowmaster. so that part is up to you! your gonna get a million different responses on "which muffler is the best for you" so maybe do a youtube search and see what sounds you like.

 

i think i'll start with 3" piping before the muffler and go with a 14" magnaflow.
i youtubed the magnapack, the tone sounds awesome but i think it'll be a bit too loud. thanks for the info

 

good choice. im sure you will get praise from many guys on here
also keep the 3" piping going after the muffler all the way to ur tip

 

the 3" pipe after the muffler will probably be done a week or 2 after the muffler and mid pipe goes in. i'm going to have to run it with the stock tailpipe due to money reasons for a little bit, but it's not a big deal to cut it back off and put the new tailpipe on, so i want to just start with the muffler first and just run a reducer for the tailpipe

 

oh ok. you wont get the performance gain that ull be wanting, unless you upgrade to 3" after the muffler. but ull notice a sound difference for sure

 

Well said Mig.. and yes I think you will be quite pleased. I love the sound of my 14" si/do maggie. I think in a few years I will do all 3" piping at the front of the truck (the replaced some with 3" for me) and add 2 hi flows. A deeper done and more smiles across my face.

 

just add a bullet and u wont need high flows.

 

Not on this truck... I am in love with the tone... exactly what I wanted. Perfect sound IMO. A tad louder eventually and it would be even better.

 

Ok guys, I have a stupid, but related question for you. Like DMO, I am looking to replace the stock muffler in my 03 F-150, and am interested in magnaflows.
Do all Magnaflow mufflers have the same sound/volume? Their website shows many different size/shape configurations, but doesn't specify any difference as far as sound/volume. Flowmaster, for instance, has different "series" which give you an idea what characteristics to expect. So, what I am asking is are all Magnaflows tuned to sound the same? If I replace my stock muffler with an equivilent sized magnaflow, will I get much mush sound/volume benefit?

 

Not all Magnaflow mufflers sound the same. The 11-20ish inch oval mufflers will have the same tone, but the shorter ones will be louder than the bigger ones. The round bodies are a different story, they have a sound of their own because there isn't a lot of actual muffler area. These are louder and have a different tone, and IMO are best when running true duals.