Vortex

My review:

18" magnaflow -> Good startup noise, no drone, very quiet. Sounds like stock with a little bit of noise ~1,800 rpm. Good if you want it as close to stock as possible.

14" magnaflow -> Better startup noise, no drone, pretty quiet. Regarded as the "the best" magnaflow to buy. The 11" was reported to be noiser, the 18" too quiet, and the 14" is supposedly "just right". It's louder than the 18", but still very mellow. Stock with a little bit more noise ~1,800 rpm.

Flowmaster super 10 -> single chamber. Best startup noise, slight drone, still sort of quiet. But This is when the exhaust starts to sound a little more "drone-e". Whereas the magnaflow was better "quality" sound, the flowmaster started sounded a little cheaper...similar to a car with a busted exhaust. With a stock tailpipe, you can start to hear it on the right side of the truck when you're standing outside.

Flowmaster 40 -> Loudest. You can finally drive through a parking garage with a grin on your face...You can finally hear the damn truck when you're pulling away from a light, however it drones on the freeway or anywhere ~1,800-2,100 rpm and it'll give you a borderline headache. Still pretty mellow from the outside when the valet drove the truck up to me...so for all the drone you hear inside the cab, I'm not sure it was a good trade off.

I don't want to remove cats...it's illegal, my truck gets CA smogged every 2 years, and the natural gas part needs them or it will run funny.

So if you're in my position, I'd say just pick the level of interior drone you're willing to deal with. Stock/close to stock = magnaflow 18". Drone, but can finally hear the damn truck = flowmaster 40. In between? = other 2 mufflers.

bigred90gt

I find it interesting that you would say the flowmaster 40 is louder than the 10. My experience, on several vehicles, was completely opposite. The whole intent of the 10 is to be as loud as you can and still have a "muffler".

Vortex

the flowmaster website even lists the super 10 as the most aggressive muffler on their website



the muffler shop told me Fords were particularly quiet compared to chevy's and dodge's...he said the closest way to make noise was to put the 40 because it's 2 chambered and creates that "flowmaster 40" sound

redranger04g

I have a 14" magnaflow and completely agree with your assessment. I removed the resonator with this but it had way too much drone, so put the resonator back on.

I think the 14" magnaflow is a great middle ground between barely any drone and good sound. Although I am still contemplating an electronic cutout for when I really want to hear the 5.0.

Magna_Flow

Thanks for sharing your input, Vortex!

bigred90gt

I have the 14" magnaflow single in/dual out with pipes turned down and tucked behind the back fender by the bumper on my '00 5.4, all stock cats still in place. Sounds good, not loud at all but definitely louder than stock. With the windows up, you can barely hear it cruising around town.

I didn't want a flowmaster because I didn't want it loud. I had the same mag setup on my '13 5.0 with the stock resonator in place, and it was perfect.

Vortex

well, here we are 11 months later...I ended up ditching the flowmaster 40

not gonna lie, I LOVED the flowmaster 40 through tunnels and around town because you could *finally* hear it. It's still not throaty like a mustang/dodge/chevy, and actually it kinda sounds like a V6 jeep...mostly loud drone...so not that good. but at least you can hear it.

but I drive a lot of freeway...and socal traffic/carpool lane is mostly 60-70mph, which is exactly the rpm that you hear the most drone. It's tolerable (more so with radio), but after a long day it gets annoying...plus when I take girls on dates they keep asking if the truck is broken. In my 20's I would have done it all day...in my 30's it sounds a little cheap.

back to the magnaflow 14" and it's definitely way more mellow...so forget about romping on the gas and echoing a whole parking garage. But it doesn't sound "cheap" the way the flowmaster did. Still has a good startup purr and a good "deep" sounding motor around 1,700-2,100 rpm. Definitely going to be happier "living" with the magnaflow for all the driving that I do. Maybe if I had a spare city truck I'll have a flowmaster on it...but for me magnaflow for life

maybe I'll have a cut out put in for those *rare* times LOL

Vortex

here I am, back again 9 months later

I had the tailpipe cut off and a turn down tip installed after the muffler

and wow - since the exhaust resonates off the ground, you have a very deep sounding tone that you get from startup, idle, all the way up to 2,300rpm

same great muffler (magnaflow 14"), same great sound, and much better volume without much extra drone. flowmaster 40 was a little too much.

Magnaflow 14" + turndown tip = !!

97XLT4x4longbed

tommy19ss85