2.9L exaust... which is the best in terms of deep loud roar?

[Daven]

I have a 2.9L currently just cut off just before where the stock muffler was. Then my friend stuck a g;asspack he had on it (2.5" muffler hanging on a 2" stock pipe lol) and i love the roar but dont like how raspy glasspacks are. I know a 6 cyl will never sound like a v8... but u cant blame a guy for trying lol.

So basically i need to do up my exaust system. I was thinking of just going with a si/do muffler and running dual pipes out behind the rear tires. I heard alot of good things about flowmaster 40 mufflers, but have a few problems... First, whichof the 40 series mufflers is the best? They have quite a selection out there. And secondly, i could not find any muffler that is any smaller than 2.5" inlet lol. Stock ranger size is 2" so i need to find a way to get a setup going. How hard would it be to get 2.5" piping on there? Price?

I live in saskacthewan. What do you think i would be looking at price-wise if i replaced all the pipes going 2.5" to the muffler (remove cat if possible, ill get to that later) than 3" piping out after the muffler? If i cannot easily changing the pipe size, what would it take to do the 2" piping adapted to 2.5" to fit the muffler, than run pipes going out behind each rear tire still? Basically i am wondering what my options here are. Not going to get a shop to do this if i can avoid that.

As for sound, i want as loud of a roar as i can get. Basically want that deep powerful roar in high rpms as well as a nice deep rumble while idling. I would like to avoid brands like cherrybomb and magnaflow as i havent heard much good about them. My experiences with hearing cherrybombs is the cheap sounding raspy roar u buy at walmart lol, and my friend had a magnaflow that was supposedly supposed to be loud but wasnt and i hear they rust . I hear flowmaster 40s is best

Now onto cats... I know its illegal to remove lol... but how much of a difference would removing them make? What kind of differences? Will removing them be really noticable with police? i dont really look forward to the day i remove them someone pulling my over and just knowing .Where are the cats located in the system and how easy arew they to remove? Highflow cats real expensive?

Thanks guys

 

[rusty70f100]

First, I don't think we're allowed to discuss cats.

Second, you're over thinking this. A 2.9L doesn't need 2.5" exhaust pipe. 2.25" is all I would go. It simply doesn't move that much air, and you want to keep velocity up or it will hurt power.

You're over thinking the mufflers too. If you don't want raspy, you don't want a Flowmaster. They'll be loud. Every truck I've ever heard with a Flowmaster has been obnoxious.

IMO, the best thing you can do is 2.25" pipe, and a cheap turbo muffler. Make sure you get one that's an actual muffler, not a straight through glorified glasspack like the Magnaflow.

Now in their defence I did run a glasspack (Thrush Magnum Glasspack) on a '92 Explorer once. It was cheap and I was in a hurry. The key there is to get the longest / biggest one available. That should do what you want without being raspy. I didn't see where it hurt power, but then again, a stock '92 Explorer isn't exactly a powerhouse to begin with.

My recommendation would be 2.25" pipe with a Thrush Turbo Muffler. If you want it to be as loud as possible, leave the cat and run straight pipes.

 

[Daven]

First, I don't think we're allowed to discuss cats.

Second, you're over thinking this. A 2.9L doesn't need 2.5" exhaust pipe. 2.25" is all I would go. It simply doesn't move that much air, and you want to keep velocity up or it will hurt power.

You're over thinking the mufflers too. If you don't want raspy, you don't want a Flowmaster. They'll be loud. Every truck I've ever heard with a Flowmaster has been obnoxious.

IMO, the best thing you can do is 2.25" pipe, and a cheap turbo muffler. Make sure you get one that's an actual muffler, not a straight through glorified glasspack like the Magnaflow.

Now in their defence I did run a glasspack (Thrush Magnum Glasspack) on a '92 Explorer once. It was cheap and I was in a hurry. The key there is to get the longest / biggest one available. That should do what you want without being raspy. I didn't see where it hurt power, but then again, a stock '92 Explorer isn't exactly a powerhouse to begin with.

My recommendation would be 2.25" pipe with a Thrush Turbo Muffler. If you want it to be as loud as possible, leave the cat and run straight pipes.

oh yes, i forgot we werent to discuss cats. Sorry i forgot that bit.

And overall i want it load and as deep as possible. And want a nice deep rumble at idle. And is there much point going up a 1/4" on the piping then? I also like the sound of flowmaster and have heard that it is a good sound on rangers. So i would like to stay with them if possible. I'm not looking to go buy a cheap turbo cherrybomb from the walmart here lol. So say i kept the stock piping up to the muffer, are there any flowmasters that are 2" inlets?

Also was wondering what the thought of true duals is with these little engines... i've heard time and time again on here that they sound crappy on anything smaller than a v8. Anyone done them? How easy would it be to just run the piping without the y-pipe thru to 2 mufflers and out like normal? I am wanting duals, but the "fake" duals seem and kinda are pointless lol. Cost? Is there any performance gained by going true duals on my ranger? Piping size?

Thanks for the ideas

 

[adsm08]

I ran with an empty converter for a while. I had no major difference in sound when I finally got a new one on it. Lost a bit of rumble, but nothing major.

If you just want pure raw sound, dump your cat into a 2" elbow pipe and run it straight out the side.

About 4 months after I put the new cat in I lost one of the bolts that holds it to the intermediate pipe flange halfway through a 100 mile trip. That was a loud 50 miles.

 

[Daven]

I ran with an empty converter for a while. I had no major difference in sound when I finally got a new one on it. Lost a bit of rumble, but nothing major.

If you just want pure raw sound, dump your cat into a 2" elbow pipe and run it straight out the side.

About 4 months after I put the new cat in I lost one of the bolts that holds it to the intermediate pipe flange halfway through a 100 mile trip. That was a loud 50 miles.

Lol thanks for the info, but something tells me your advised setup for me isnt exactly legal... I get that the whole cat thing isnt legal, but i at least would like to "fake" the legalities lol. I like the look of it coming out both sides behind the tires.

I know that i am asking you guys what u guys think would be best, but i "think" i have alot of it figured out design-wise. I would like to, for now, go and gut my cat (however you do that) then get a SI/DO flowmaster 40 muffler and after the muffler have either pipe go out both sids behind the tire (facing out the side). But what info i am missing is stuff like piping sizes, which flowmaster 40 is best for my little 2.9L. So should i try and replace my 2" pipes with 2.5" since i cant seem to find any flowmaster 40s under 2.5"? How hard and how much will that cost to do? Is finding some kind of pipe that goes from the 2" to the 2.5" a good and cheaper alternative? What would doing tht effect (if anything)?

Thanks for all the help

 

[fordman4488]

I just have a 2.5" inlet glass pack spliter muffler (has a y pipe welded onto out of the box) with 2" duals ran to a 75 deg. bend out the side with 3" angle cut tips on mine. My buddys say that it's false advertisement cuz they swear it sounds identical to a 4.0. and i have the factory 2" intermeadiate pipe from the converters (still stock) to the glass pack muffler.

And the glass pack muffler has luvered baffles in it to give a good tone but keep the raspy resonince that you get from a standard (like a cherry bomb) glass pack.

 

[Daven]

I just have a 2.5" inlet glass pack spliter muffler (has a y pipe welded onto out of the box) with 2" duals ran to a 75 deg. bend out the side with 3" angle cut tips on mine. My buddys say that it's false advertisement cuz they swear it sounds identical to a 4.0. and i have the factory 2" intermeadiate pipe from the converters (still stock) to the glass pack muffler.

And the glass pack muffler has luvered baffles in it to give a good tone but keep the raspy resonince that you get from a standard (like a cherry bomb) glass pack.

So how did you set up your 2.5" muffler onto the 2" piping? What glasspack do you have? I currently have a older used cherrybomb and obviously want to get rid of it lol. Also, how much did this cost you to setup?

 

[gaz]

BORLA, unquestionably the deepest f

"Daven",

I find no sense in not using a high flow cat; they are not near as expensive as they used to be and the performance increase is noteworthy (or use your stock cat). I agree with "rusty70f100" the 2.25" pipe after the muffler for a non-port/polished head/intake. When you want a low frequency producing performance muffler there is no choice but the Borla and again I agree with "rusty70f100" that the larger the can the deeper the sound frequency produced. I have used their standard/universal Turbo mufflers and on up to the XR-1; their universal Turbo has the sound but it is much quieter than the full race XR-1, which posseses the same deep tone but much, much louder (do the even more free flowing characteristics).

 

[Daven]

"Daven",

I find no sense in not using a high flow cat; they are not near as expensive as they used to be and the performance increase is noteworthy (or use your stock cat). I agree with "rusty70f100" the 2.25" pipe after the muffler for a non-port/polished head/intake. When you want a low frequency producing performance muffler there is no choice but the Borla and again I agree with "rusty70f100" that the larger the can the deeper the sound frequency produced. I have used their standard/universal Turbo mufflers and on up to the XR-1; their universal Turbo has the sound but it is much quieter than the full race XR-1, which posseses the same deep tone but much, much louder (do the even more free flowing characteristics).

Ok, so what are some good high-flow cat brands/models? i know nothing about them lol. For my truck all i've done performance wise is take off the stock intake box thing (lol), and attach a cone-type intake in the same place (running off stock tube that went to the box). So i'm pretty sure this counts a cold-air intake right? lol Makes a good rumble tho so im happy with it, not sure about pwerformance increase since my 2.9L seems to not have much power to begin with.

AAAANYWAYS... lol. So basically you guys are suggesting i keep stock piping up to the muffler (2"), then add a borla muffler, then have 2.25" piping after the muffler. What borla muffler is the loudest and deepest there (i looked on their site and saw a bunch of different "XR-1's). How should i do the muffler setup if im only running 2" piping to the muffler? Is the correct way to get a adapter that goes from the 2" to 2.5" (smallest size i can find anywehere for mufflers)? And then again have one after the muffler going from 2.5" to 2.25"? That doesnt seem like it makes much sense like that...

Also, borla mufflers, are there any SI/DO mufflers from them to get the same loud deep sound but with the look of duals? Thanks

 

[Daven]

Also, i was thinking that just ntrying to find a good catback system might be easier to do. But i cant seem to find many out there for my specific truck. I found a couple out there like dnomax and such, but the brands arnt anythingspecail and they wont offer me the sound im looking for. Know any good ones?

Truck is a '89 ranger stx 2.9L

 

[Daven]

If you want a good true exhaust, the best ones are done with your own ideas. That way you can run it which way you want it to. If you did true dual exhaust it would be (2) sets of 3 cylinder engines...yuck for the sound. You should only do that on V8's not V6's. Negative on the dual, even a single in dual out in my opinion dont sound good. Run a new cat if your Ranger needs one. Check Magnaflow's website for cats, all aftermarket cats are basically highflow cats, they are all the same pretty much.

I only run a SI/SO setup on my V6's and they sound great. If you want the sound your looking for run a original 40 Flowmaster with 2.5 piping. Here's a couple of youtube videos from a TRS member from when he had a 2.9. Also from his 4.0, not a whole of sound difference between the 2 engines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYjD6ypQ8uM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQfsqGtqZVs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vgdIYBm34I&feature=related

i know true duals sound like crap, but i figued a "fake" dual system wouldnt sound too bad. But i can see how it might effect sound. So how would i run 2.5" piping? Like, could i just take off the 2" ones and just put on the 2.5" one? Idk how things are before the main pipes lol (yet).

Also, it is legal to run the exaust out infront of the rear wheel right? I've seen this and it looks more custom and generally a nice look imo. But i know at least for cars it must be behind the wheel, i heard that for trucks it just must be behind the cab? Would be exiting out just infront of the passenger rear wheel at an angle.

So i would be getting a high-flow cat, running 2.5" piping with a SI/SO flowmaster origonal 40 muffler, and exiting out the side just infront of the tire with a nice tip (possible a angle-cut dual tip?). Sound good?

 

[Daven]

To put in new pipe just cut out the old and put in the new. Alot of people have thier exhaust exiting in front of the rear tire I dont think its illegal. The tip would come out right under the bed right wear it passes the cab. If your doing the install yourself then you get the muffler and start doing some measurements for how you want it to be. It would possibly be easier to have a shop do the install since im sure they have this dozens of times. A dual tip would make it sound deeper. Since you want it loud like your saying then run it front of the rear tire. If you want to be mellow, but still sound good run it to behind the rear tire, that way you have a full 2.5 system from the cat back not just a couple of short pieces of pipe on both sides of the muffler. The closer the 40 is to the cab the louder it will be. Maybe to save money check junkyards for flowmaster 40's. I have bought a few of them for 25.00 each and sold them to friends, family, etc. All of them have been in very good condition. Make sure your getting the original 40 before you buy it, if that is what your after.

ok thanks. So if i were to cut off th stock pipe, wouldnt i still be going from 2" to a 2.5" using a pipe converter thing (lol)? Or does it come from the engine in 2.5" and get put into 2" after? lol i hate sounding clueless... :S

And you mentioned that it will be louder the closer it is to the cab? So would it be a good idea to run the muffler as soon as i could put it after the begining or the system? Or is there a general distance to keep it within for best sound?

I would rather spend the extra dollars to buy a new one and be sure of it than buy a used one that could be messed up in some way or another. I try to get the best i can for my truck when i can lol Thanks alot for the help so far

 

[Daven]

Are you replacing the cat? If you are then your doing a install from the y-pipe back. If your not then the outlet of the cat is normally 2.25 to 2.5. All you need to do is weld 2.5 pipe to the cat and run a piece of 2.5 pipe to the muffler. Then put in the 40 and run the other pipe out to the location of your choice. I would install the muffler when you do the whole exhaust system. I had a setup like this on my 94 3.0 with 2.5 pipe and my original 40. The front piece of the pipe coming from the cats to the inlet of the 40 was about a foot long, if that helps. I eventually changed it back to exit behind the rear tire. Ive been using the original 40 with 2.5 pipe for 8 years now and I love the sound. My 94 is a standard cab, but my 93 is a excab and im running my new 40 with 2.5 out in front of the rear tire. My 4.0 sounds good like that.

Thanks and yes i will be replacing the cat with a highflow one (know any good ones). So basically i will just put on my new cat, then run about a foot of 2.5" piping, then the 40, then take the 2.5" piping out and end at something like a 45 degree angle infront of the tire?

And does the tip make too much of a difference in sound? Will different designs make it louder/quieter/deeper/etc?

 

[Daven]

Magnaflow cats are quite expensive...I would try jegs or summit racing. They have good prices and im sure the cats they sell are good. You've got the idea on how to run it. The rolled edge tips give it more of a muffled sound. Any smooth edge will make it sound deeper and much cleaner in sound. The best trick for that deep sound is weld the tip onto about 2-3" of pipe. That way when the sound exits the pipe it will flow thru a 3" x 13" long tip. Maybe get your flow 40 and tip thru the same place you buy your cat from and possibly get a good deal on everything. Make sure you weld everything up it will sound much better vs the clamp on style. Over time clamps come loose and cause exhaust leaks. Weld it and be done with it.

One more thing the Flow 40 has different off sets on both sides of the muffler. When you buy it make sure you know which one you need for your application.

Ok so i myself am not an experienced welder... but i would basically just assemble it under the truck to make sure everything fits, then weld it all the way around each connection (not just tacking?), and then just hook to other part and such? Will welding it be a real big difference in sound? Because i am not too good at welding myself and do not have a welder of my own. I would hate to ruin a pipe i just bought lol. And the tip thing u mentions is basically just taking the tip i would be buying and welding it to a foot-long peice like i would be having anyways?

Any idea what application i would be needing for the offsets? I guess they dont have the straight-typed offsets and i do not know what the stock system was like.

 

[Daven]

Weld everything all the way around, tack welds will cause to you have leaks. It wont be sealed up like it needs to be. By welding it the sound will be much cleaner. Use the tip you want on the outlet piece of pipe, be sure to hide the tip when you exit it out the side. That way only the front part of the tip sticks out nice clean look that way. For the inlet / outlet of the 40. My 94 3.0 has the one that is off set on both ends. my 93 4.0 has the one that is off set in and center out. The only thing I can suggest is call Flowmaster, jegs, summit racing and tell them what your plans are and they can help you pin point the one you need.

Ok thanks. So My plan for this sounds about what will actually be good? I am obviously new to this and thats why i went on here instead of just slapping on another glasspack lol.

Also, im not expecting you to get a exact number or anything, but what do you expect i could be looking at to do this all? As i said, i've never done this before so i do not even know how much i would be looking at for pipes. You said you have a ranger with a simular setup, how much did that set you back?

Thanks alot for all the help. Now i actually have a solid plan lol