cat back system for 03 4.7L Dakota

[PunKid]

Just wondering if anyone else had some feed back in regards to exhaust system for a 4.7L Chrysler vehicle.

Its funny I always wanted to upgrade the exhaust and over the course of 150,000 miles I never did. Well now the muffler is split on top and I finally have the opportunity to act on something I wanted to do since new.

looking basically for a semi quiet cat back system, that would add some HP and maybe some MPG. I think I am leaning towards SS just because I tend to drive this truck in bad weather. I would also like as little drone as possible on the highway.

So far I have limited options because of the truck configuration ( Dakota Reg Cab, 4.7L 4wd Manual trans)

My top choice is magna flow but they actually don't make a kit for my specific truck but I think a phone call I could figure it out as they make one for a reg cab 3.9L and 5.7L. the price is about 500$ which is a little steep.

Next would be JBA.it seams to be everything I want, and its only 400$. but I have no knowledge of how they sound or perform.

My other choices are.

Gibson, which I have not heard anything good and its expensive.
Dynomax, which I am not really a fan of
Flowmaster, Which I think is a little over done for my taste.


So any opinions?

[Vigo]

Ive always liked how magnaflows sound but i DONT think it's a good value to pay an extra $300-400 for some stainless pipe and a flange or two vs just putting their $100 muffler on your pipes or having a local guy do the pipes cheaper. I honestly think having shiny stainless pipe for HALF of your exhaust (cat back) is worth even less than having the whole thing pretty, which isnt worth much to me either.

So i say just buy a muffler. What size are the stock pipes?

[dgc333]

I have had the Dynomax cat back and Flowmaster cat back on my Dakota. Neither was stainless, the Flowmaster system lasted about 5 years the Dynomax has lasted a little over five but is going to need replacement soon. I drive on the beach so that has contributed to the rusting out.

There is no difference in power between the two systems and they add very little power to the truck. It is noticeable above 3500 rpm but its not a lot.

The Flowmaster system came with a 50 series SUV muffler which is very quiet at idle and cruise and wakes up at WOT. There is a slight drone around 1800 rpm. The Dynomax system came with a Super Turbo muffler which is also quiet at idle and cruise and has a nicer tone at WOT with no drone. They both have a nice rumble at idle that sounds better than the stock muffler without being much louder.

Both systems were easy to install with hangers that fit the factory mounts. Both also have stainless tips welded to the tailpipe.

The Dynomax system was less expensive at less than $200 at Summit Racing.

[PunKid]

The truck has a 150,000 miles on it, so I am not going to replace just the muffler and try to reclamp old rusted pipes to it. I have already lost a couple hangers from rust.

isn't most of the orginal exhaust S.S. how else would last almost 10 years.

[RoadWarrior222]

Well aluminised, low carbon, thicker gauge steel.... you'll find most aftermarket weighs like half what the stocker does, and that's the good stuff.

Me likes anything made by Walker, very durable, going on 7-8 years on the one on the Voyager, which is a SoundFX.

[Big_P]

Ive always liked how magnaflows sound but i DONT think it's a good value to pay an extra $300-400 for some stainless pipe and a flange or two vs just putting their $100 muffler on your pipes or having a local guy do the pipes cheaper. I honestly think having shiny stainless pipe for HALF of your exhaust (cat back) is worth even less than having the whole thing pretty, which isnt worth much to me either.

So i say just buy a muffler. What size are the stock pipes?

Up here we need stainless!

[Vigo]

Good point..

[ScottD]

I have had the Dynomax cat back and Flowmaster cat back on my Dakota. Neither was stainless, the Flowmaster system lasted about 5 years the Dynomax has lasted a little over five but is going to need replacement soon. I drive on the beach so that has contributed to the rusting out.

The Flowmaster system came with a 50 series SUV muffler which is very quiet at idle and cruise and wakes up at WOT. There is a slight drone around 1800 rpm. The Dynomax system came with a Super Turbo muffler which is also quiet at idle and cruise and has a nicer tone at WOT with no drone. They both have a nice rumble at idle that sounds better than the stock muffler without being much louder.

Both systems were easy to install with hangers that fit the factory mounts. Both also have stainless tips welded to the tailpipe.

+1 about the Flowmaster system as I have one on my 06 4.7 Dakota. The muffler output pipe rotted off after 5 years. The rest of the pipes were ok, so I replaced the 50 series SUV muffler the kit came with with a 40 series stainless steel muffler. The tone of the 40 series is a little more aggressive but not obnoxious by any means. I will disagree with dgc333 about the drone as I don't feel this is an issue with either the 40 or 50 series mufflers, but everyone's tastes/preferences are different.

I'd also read good things about the Gibson exhausts when I was researching cat back systems.

[Vigo]

Drone depends on the car body more than the muffler design so implying a muffler design never drones on any car body doesn't really hold..

I had some non-delta 40s on my old intrepid and that thing droned like a MOFO. Also this anecdote about a different car body is totally useless here. lol

[RoadWarrior222]

Also hugely dependent on where you aim the tip...

[ScottD]

Drone depends on the car body more than the muffler design so implying a muffler design never drones on any car body doesn't really hold..

I wasn't saying the Flowmasters never drone. I was just saying to me in my application I do not detect a drone whereas dgc333 feels there is a drone. Exhaust noise tolerance is pretty subjective, it's kinda like dealing with women, every man has their breaking point, some are different from others though :eyebrows:

[contraption22]

In recent months, my brother and I have installed two Gibson stainless steel systems. One on my Grand Cherokee and one on his Silvo HD.

On my Jeep, they had a cataloging issue which meat I was sent the wrong tailpipe. However, they were very helpful in getting the issue straightned out. The clamps that it came with were NOT stainless tho. I ended up purchasing stainless clamps separately.
On the Silvo, everything went pretty smoothly, but because it was a conversion from single to dual tailpipes, it came with all new hangers, which were NOT stainless.

Both systems sound great. Aggressive sounding in heavy throttle, barely louder than stock at idle and part throttle, with a nice tone. No interior drone at all.

Bottom line, I would probably use them again. Best prices I have found were from Amazon.com

When I bought the Jeep, it had a Dynomax system that had been installed a few years prior. It had rusted badly, and litterally fell apart within the first 10 miles of my purchase. Walker and Dynomax exhaust parts are not meant for cars that need to live through more than one or two salty winters.

Flowmaster does now offer stainless steel systems for some applications.