need a loud muffler for old truck,your opinion..

[Ddw350]

puttin new exhaust on my 77 f250. has 400ci in it. has stock manifolds too. got new downpipes runnin into a 3" pipe back to the rear....im debating on flow master single chamber? i have a cherry bomb now but its not very loud for some reason? lookin for something that rips and roars

[hoosierlogger]

What's louder than a straight pipe?

[kb0nly]

LOL... Yup if you want loud just let it dump into a length of pipe and be done with it. Personally i hate loud exhaust. You grow out of it as you get older.

[Dirtcrasher]

IDK where you live, but when I was 18, loud mufflers just got me into trouble. Yep, it was fun, yep, it was cool but in the end it wasn't worth it........

[redsox]

the loudest animal in the jungle is the first to get eaten.

[kb0nly]

And the first to get pulled over by a cop thats got nothing better to do.... LOL

I'm all for a healthy sounding bass like exhaust, but loud and annoying is different.

[fabiodriven]

The Cherry Bomb muffler you have is more than like a "turbo" muffler. I did custom exhaust for two years and what I learned about turbo mufflers, regardless of the manufacturer, is that on some vehicles they are very loud, and on others they are no louder than stock. Virtually every other style of muffler has an extremely predictable sound to them, you more often then not know how they're going to sound before you install them and therefor can recommend a muffler for the sound that the owner of the vehicle says they want. Turbos, you cannot predict. If you installed a set of full length headers (which I would highly recommend) the sound would more than likely change completely. They call them "turbo" mufflers because back in the day (60's?) when they started putting turbo chargers on cars from the factory (possibly the Corvair?), they quickly learned that the exhaust systems currently in use would not flow enough for a turbo car. Hence, the turbo muffler.

If you want something loud with a "period correct" sound, I would recommend glass packs. If you go to a reputable muffler shop, they can get glass packs of all different diameters and lengths. The longer the glass pack, the quieter the sound. If you do a glass pack with a smaller diameter, you'll get a more "raspy" sound which is what I prefer. I always put the shortest glass packs available to me on my vehicles by rule of thumb. The shop I went to last time I had an exhaust done had 13" glass packs on hand, but I think they said they could have ordered them in either 10 or 11 inches or something like that. Many people find it obnoxious but I think it's bad ass. Glass packs are a straight through design and they are not actually mufflers, they're resonators. If you keep your foot out of it they can have a decent drone that isn't too obnoxious, but when you hit the pedal on the right everyone in 3 counties knows about it.

The only thing I recommend straight pipe for are drag cars, diesels, and Harleys. I have a straight pipe on my diesel pickup and that's the only way to run a diesel IMO. My Buell has straight pipes too and it's obnoxiously elating. It will wake the dead. I had straight piped stacks on my 70 F-100 with a 302 and factory Mustang shorty headers. It was ridiculous and I loved it. It did rob torque though. The 351M's and 400's are so wheezy and there's no point in trying to modify them so you need all the torque you can get. Straight pipes won't help that, but it will love glass packs. I wouldn't go over 2.5 inches and 2.25 is fine for that. If you want to make power someday, get yourself an FE motor. 390,352, 428, 360, etc... Then get yourself some full length headers and a good intake at least. You won't believe the difference in power.

I very rarely got pulled over for loud exhaust, more my obnoxious driving. If you do things tastefully, it can go a long way. IE don't roll around in a loud turd, rather a loud, nice truck. I got PC-ed one night when I was 21ish because of my stacks. I started the truck after we had left the bar and I chucked a redine rev. With straight pipes and headers it made quite a racket. I wasn't driving yet and someone had taken a beer out to the truck, I don't remember who. The cop came over quite dramatically and asked "What the hell was going on?!?!" He said it sounded like someone had "Dropped a table off the roof". He gave me a ticket for an open container even though I hadn't left yet and I wasn't going to drive with a beer in the truck. My fault obviously.

Another time though, I got pulled over by a younger officer and he just wanted to look at my truck. He was pretty cool. For the amount of street racing I did in my FE equipped truck, I got away with a lot. I won a lot as well.

[sanchez]

I vote glass pack. u got one in your wheeler

[slashfan7964]

The Cherry Bomb muffler you have is more than like a "turbo" muffler. I did custom exhaust for two years and what I learned about turbo mufflers, regardless of the manufacturer, is that on some vehicles they are very loud, and on others they are no louder than stock. Virtually every other style of muffler has an extremely predictable sound to them, you more often then not know how they're going to sound before you install them and therefor can recommend a muffler for the sound that the owner of the vehicle says they want. Turbos, you cannot predict. If you installed a set of full length headers (which I would highly recommend) the sound would more than likely change completely. They call them "turbo" mufflers because back in the day (60's?) when they started putting turbo chargers on cars from the factory (possibly the Corvair?), they quickly learned that the exhaust systems currently in use would not flow enough for a turbo car. Hence, the turbo muffler.

If you want something loud with a "period correct" sound, I would recommend glass packs. If you go to a reputable muffler shop, they can get glass packs of all different diameters and lengths. The longer the glass pack, the quieter the sound. If you do a glass pack with a smaller diameter, you'll get a more "raspy" sound which is what I prefer. I always put the shortest glass packs available to me on my vehicles by rule of thumb. The shop I went to last time I had an exhaust done had 13" glass packs on hand, but I think they said they could have ordered them in either 10 or 11 inches or something like that. Many people find it obnoxious but I think it's bad ass. Glass packs are a straight through design and they are not actually mufflers, they're resonators. If you keep your foot out of it they can have a decent drone that isn't too obnoxious, but when you hit the pedal on the right everyone in 3 counties knows about it.

The only thing I recommend straight pipe for are drag cars, diesels, and Harleys. I have a straight pipe on my diesel pickup and that's the only way to run a diesel IMO. My Buell has straight pipes too and it's obnoxiously elating. It will wake the dead. I had straight piped stacks on my 70 F-100 with a 302 and factory Mustang shorty headers. It was ridiculous and I loved it. It did rob torque though. The 351M's and 400's are so wheezy and there's no point in trying to modify them so you need all the torque you can get. Straight pipes won't help that, but it will love glass packs. I wouldn't go over 2.5 inches and 2.25 is fine for that. If you want to make power someday, get yourself an FE motor. 390,352, 428, 360, etc... Then get yourself some full length headers and a good intake at least. You won't believe the difference in power.

I very rarely got pulled over for loud exhaust, more my obnoxious driving. If you do things tastefully, it can go a long way. IE don't roll around in a loud turd, rather a loud, nice truck. I got PC-ed one night when I was 21ish because of my stacks. I started the truck after we had left the bar and I chucked a redine rev. With straight pipes and headers it made quite a racket. I wasn't driving yet and someone had taken a beer out to the truck, I don't remember who. The cop came over quite dramatically and asked "What the hell was going on?!?!" He said it sounded like someone had "Dropped a table off the roof". He gave me a ticket for an open container even though I hadn't left yet and I wasn't going to drive with a beer in the truck. My fault obviously.

Another time though, I got pulled over by a younger officer and he just wanted to look at my truck. He was pretty cool. For the amount of street racing I did in my FE equipped truck, I got away with a lot. I won a lot as well.

I can vouch for this. I love a loud truck/car. I disagree about the 351M/400 engines though, being derived from the 351C, those engines will make A LOT of power for very little green. I know a few guys on other boards that freshen the top end and they double the stock numbers. The factory heads actually aren't all that bad especially when you port them, they make Windsor's look puny. They also have very very large stock valves. The motor can make power, but it does get pricey once you really start getting into it. I agree on the 2 1/4" pipes, that's what I run on a 351W and I wouldn't go any bigger.

FE's are also good motors, but I'll say that about any Ford, since I love them all The problem with FE's is their aftermarket isn't as strong as say the Windsors or something from the 385 series. If you want big power for not a lot of green, I'd say go with a 460, but since everyone does that, an FE would be cool, and IIRC, they installed 360's/390's in the 1977 truck. Should be a bolt in affair.

[briano]

Straight pipes, I have duals on my 96 Chevy with a 350, then they go into a single 4 inch for about 6 feet. It sounds pretty darn good. My 4 cylinder s10 I had a straight pipe up through the box and split into dual 4 inch stacks. I had to put a turbo muffler on it because it was so loud in the cab, it sounds decent now for a 4 banger.

[Ddw350]

i did have straight pipe for a bit,but it sounded like garbage...like a old beater that no one cared about. thrush sounded cheap,thats when i went to a cherry bomb..i just wanted it to crackle a little bit more than it does. and the 400 seems to make gobs of low end power...not much for top end though,but im no motor guru so i cant be totally trusted..haha

[hillbilly 200x]

Glass pack all the way. Best bang for your buck and they don't sound like when your stuck in traffic or have to ideal around somewhere.

[sledcrazyinCT]

I own a 78 bronco with a 400M and BORLA stainless mufflers/exhaust sounds wicked.

I did a stainless system with BORLA mufflers on my 73 Mach 1 as well - My friends knew when I left work in the industrial park I would always wind it up this really long hill sounded terrific carried for miles!

[kb0nly]

LOL... Oh you guys. I went through the loud exhaust phase myself about 18 years ago. Now i would rather hear the radio then a loud fart can going down the road. I barely get by noise wise on my 200ES, its not too loud but just loud enough i almost wish it was a bit quieter. We have noise law restrictions here, posted at the city limits, you can and will get pulled over or reported a half a dozen times by the old farts in this town... LOL

Now a nice rumbling exhaust i got no problem with, that to me sounds good, but a loud roaring popping fart can exhaust, now thats annoying.

[slashfan7964]

I've always been a guy for straight pipes/open headers but cheap Walker mufflers actually don't sound too bad. I run them on our truck.