I could not have imagined this being a difficult decision, but every muffler shop I go to, the try to push a different brand muffler.

I have a stock 302 with headers. Both Cats are still in place and I am unsure of their condition. I have read until I am blue in the face and still finding myself without a good pick.

I do know that I want duals. I want the deep rumble, but not too much noise. I do not want the flowmasters, because they are way too loud. I have been following TexasGuy and his decision on the magnaflow, but he chose a single in and single out.

The shops are really persistant about pushing the Cherry Bomb (Elite) and the Flowmaster. They are sure that I will not get the popping noise because my cats are still in place. The Cherry Bomb Elite is a 4 chambered muffler and I do not anticipate it being more different from the OEM muffler.

I have trusted the recommendations of this forum for many years. I know that You guys can help me.

Thanks

 

I have Magnaflows on our '97 Mustang GT and my '92 F350. The Mustang has a complete Magnaflow X-pipe, cats, mufflers and tailpipes. The car sounds great. I recently installed a Bassani 3" y-pipe, Magnaflow high-flow converter, 3" center in/out muffler then finished it off with a Dynomax 3" mandrel bent tailpipe. I couldn't be happier with the results. Both vehicles are stock, neither one is excessively loud, although I can hear the Mustang from a 1/4 mile away when the wife is driving it. The muffler I used on the truck is a straight through design with a 24" body. I was skeptical what would happen, but it turns out to be almost a little too quiet while still allowing full flow.

Do want you want, but for my F350 4x4 it made sense to stay with a single exhaust because of the transfer case and side tank. Be fore warned the stock converters are well known bottle necks. Regardless of which muffler(s) you chose it will most likely be reasonably quiet because of the restriction from the stock converters.

 

I have a stock 302 with flowtech headers. Off the headers are 2.25" pipe (no cats) that come together to a single 2.5" pipe, then into a moroso spiral flow muffler, and dumped before the rear axle. I love the way it sounds. It's pretty loud, but definitely not the loudest thing on the road around here.

On my 91 explorer (4.0 v6) I took off the cat and ran a single 2.5" from the y-pipe into a flowmaster 50 series, and then the mandrel bent 2.25" tail pipe that came with the flowmaster cat-back kit. That thing sounded awesome. Nobody thought it was a v6 until I told them. It had a nice deep sound, but wasn't too loud.

 

i was set on true duals for my 96 F350 with 351. but after spending some time under the truck trying to figure out how to make it work right, i went with a 3 inch single setup. as mentioned, the transfer case and dual tanks were the enemy of the true dual setup. i am running stainless FMS shortie headers to a stainless bassani Y pipe with high flow cat, to a flowmaster 70 series, to a tailpipe. i absoutely love the setup. its nice and quiet under 2000 rpm, but gives a nice deep note when i get into it. i plow with the truck so waking up my customers at 3am with an obnoxious exhaust was not an option. having a quiet setup without restricing flow was critical. the exhaust sits nice and high within the frame rails - no low hanging pipes which would have likely been an issue with true duals.

give a 3 inch single setup strong consideration before getting into the project. you can always have a single inlet and dual outlet on the muffler to give a dual exhaust appearance if you like.

 

On my Explorer with a 302, I replaced the stock 2-in, 1-out muffler with a Magnaflow. Gives a great deep sound without that typical "chambered muffler" sound. Definitely not annoying on long trips, but you certainly know it's there. Turns interested heads when you're on the throttle, but not enough to get Johnny Law to look for Mustangs...

Not sure where you're located, but if you are in Southern Ca, hit me up, you can hear it in person.

I had Gibson exhaust on my old Grand Cherokee, sounded great, but the baffles inside kept failing. Gibson warranteed three mufflers before I finally sold the truck. What a hassle. Great customer service, and never questioned my complaints, but being without a truck for a few days at a time, several times, is not worth it.

I also had Dynamax Super Turbos on my old 5.0L Mustang. Sounded absolutely perfect. They blew out pretty quick though, and got really loud. Guess that's what happens when a car sees redline every single day.

I don't drive like that anymore. Older and wiser.

 

I run high flow cats which really changed the sound, and a FM50 series muffler with a 3" turndown dumped before the rear axle in my Durango and Dakota. I plan on doing the same with the F-250 (5.0). It has a bit of drone in the cab, but if you dump it out the rear, it won't be as bad.

It's not really that loud outside, unless you put your foot to the floor.

 

The Magnaflow I got is single in dual out. Maybe I entered the part number wrong.

My advice is stay away from any chambered muffler. They sound hollow and drone more usually. Any straight through muffler is probably going to flow better.

If you are still running both cats you may want the shorter Magnaflow that is 12 or 14 inches long.

 

If you want more flow get the 'Magnaflow" however when my 302 truck was stock with the stock cats and manafolds the short magnaflow was real quiet no volume at idle , If you want volume try the Chery Bomb Extreme, I got one cheap mufflers,

 

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I would agree that the having cats will help keep the pops and cackle out of the exhaust tone. Unlike you, i wanted loud exhaust, so I had everything after the cats cut out and replaced with straight pipes. It would only pop if you had the RPMs up real high and suddenly let off, and even then, it wasn't very loud. Since you want a quiet(er) exhaust, having the cats and a muffler, IMHO, will definitly keep the pops and cackles to a minimum.

 

TexasGuy.

I guess I did not look a your pictures good enough. I am pretty sure you went with the 12238. Correct? It doesn't matter, I will go back and take another look. How are ya' diggin' it, by the way?

Jason,

Thanks for the video of the CBE. I really wanted to know what that sounded like. It wasn't too bad at all. What is that like inside the truck?

 

TexasGuy,

I found it. Somewhere in the thread you had replied and somebody else's pictures were in your post. I really liked the way your system came out. What did it look like after the muffler?

 

I have a magnaflow universal muffler, and i LOVE it. it has a really deep clean note. the thing to remember is: the bigger the muffler, the quieter the sound.

 

It drones a little, volume is a little high inside mosty because of the Side Exit, i can live with it.

 

I have a 90' 302 with Dynomax longtube headers on it. I want to straight pipe it, and put some nice mufflers that will take away the exploding monster truck sound and make it a nice rumble, and when i step on it i want it to roar. Im in grade 12, 3000 kids at my school. I want all of them to hear my when i leave the parking lot. whats the best set up for true duals? and i want bush burners, not straight pipes to right out the bumper like all the ****ty new trucks have. and btw its a 90 in an 86 truck, 4x4 too.