Exhaust input wanted - Quiet mellow sound desired

[Heus33]

Im heading over to a friend's shop later today to finalize my exhaust but I'm still torn between the following:

Duals with an H-Pipe and rear exit (behind rear tires)
-or-
2 into 1 single with rear exit passenger side behind rear tire.

Which one will give me a quieter sound both at idle and while crusing at 2,500RPM? Ideally I'd like it to be a very low rumble at idle and a nice mellow sound when I get on it.

Also, which diameter pipe should I run to help with this?

I've got long tube headers and a 351W with no sound insulation inside (so I know that I'll still have a good amount of noise but want to baffle this as much as possible).
I'm open for suggestions on mufflers too - remember I need quiet over performance.

Help me get this right on the first try.

 

[mcdobson]

My experience.Two into one, nice big magnaflow and out the passenger side.
Very mellow.
Had the Flowmasters for a week, had them removed.

 

[Devin]

Quiet, mellow sound?

Go buy a heep. ;D

 

[Heus33]

Quiet, mellow sound?

Go buy a heep. ;D

It doesn't have to sound like a civic but right now mine sounds like I've got open headers. I just want something that I can cruise in and carry a conversation without having to yell.

My wife: "ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUT"
Me: "WHAT??"
My wife: "I SAID ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUT"
Me: "ABOUT THREE THIRTY"

 

[Devin]

It doesn't have to sound like a civic but right now mine sounds like I've got open headers. I just want something that I can cruise in and carry a conversation without having to yell.

My wife: "ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUT"
Me: "WHAT??"
My wife: "I SAID ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUT"
Me: "ABOUT THREE THIRTY"

Loud club setting:

Guy: "Would you like to dance?"
Lady: "WHAT?"
Guy: "I SAID, WOULD YOU LIKE TO DANCE?"
Lady: "NO!"
Guy: "NO, I THINK YOU MISHEARD ME AGAIN. I SAID, YOU LOOK FAT IN THOSE PANTS!"

 

[av bronco]

I have the magnaflow two into one with a 12" resonator and it's perfict, without the resonator it was ok untill about 1/4 throttle then it got LOUD.

 

[Heus33]

I have the magnaflow two into one with a 12" resonator and it's perfict, without the resonator it was ok untill about 1/4 throttle then it got LOUD.

Got any pics of the setup? I've not seen one with a resonator.

 

[ep67bro]

Go two into one with a magnaflow or a turbo muffler if you dont want it loud. I would run 2 1/4 " pipe on each side if you use duals. For two into one run 2 1/4" from the header to the muffler then 2 1/2" from muffler to tail pipe.

 

[Master Chief]

Headers, H-pipe and Flowmaster 50's dumping out behind the rear wheels are under mine. The road noise from the mud tires is louder than the exhaust and when one of my buddies and I drove to BYOB '08 we we able to carry on a conversation easily enough without yelling about the weather.

 

[Broncobowsher]

The best one I ever did was the final Exhaust on the stroker 5.0 Ranger project.

Stock muffler off a dodge Dakota or Durango (forgot which but the same with only slight changes in port locations). 2 into 1 then necked down further into the muffler. The engine was still mean enough you could hear it but it was quiet enough I could start it at O'dark thirty in the morning without bugging the neighbors too much.
But the great part was the cheap eBay wastegate that was added. It tied in at the reducer going into the muffler then joined back in after the muffler where the pipe flared back out. Basicly a muffler bypass. Kept a little compresor handy and a eletrical valve (think ARB solenoid but cheap MAC replacment part instead) that dumped 30 PSI onto the 15 PSI wastegate (got it fully open and quick).

That system was the only aftermarket exhaust I ever did that didn't drone. It was quiet enough when needed but would crackle of an open pipe when asked for. sold the truck before I finished the gas pedal trigger for it. Fun watching the inspecters at the emissions testing facility look at it and try to figure what is going on down there. Have a muffler, external pipe around the muffler, some sort of control valve, half buried up in the frame where they can't see it very well. Eventually they were happy with it. they were only worried about chemichal emissions, not sound emissions.

 

[Zinger223]

I just went through that same decision Tom. Here is a link to my post with pictures and spec's of mine. Let me know if you need details or maybe I can record a movie with sound for you.

I went with 2.5" with a custom 2 into 1 and Flowmaster 50 and out the passenger side. I would highly recommend a coupling like I had done on mine ahead of thre muffler so if you need to pull transfer case or transmission you don't have to cut your exhaust up.

 

[76 bronco J]

>>>>> a good way to get twice the flow capacity of stock without all the unnecessary/annoying noise it to simply run a dual system with 6" round stock type mufflers....pipes are 2" with no H pipe and long tube headers up front on a 315hp rated aluminum head Ford motorsports 5.0 crate engine .... I may be losing a little horsepower, but it revs easy & pulls hard to 5,500rpm where I have the rev limiter set .... with this setup there no mistaking you have a V8 under the hood ,but you definetly won't be impressing your mustang buddies that are more worried about the look at me sound....... a bonus is you can haul a$$ around town without drawing attention to yourself............ here's a example of the stock type mufflers at Jeffs>http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-10090-muffler-stock-replacement.html

 

[Broncobowsher]

>>>>> a good way to get twice the flow capacity of stock without all the unnecessary/annoying noise it to simply run a dual system with 6" round stock type mufflers....pipes are 2" with no H pipe and long tube headers up front on a 315hp rated aluminum head Ford motorsports 5.0 crate engine .... I may be losing a little horsepower, but it revs easy & pulls hard to 5,500rpm where I have the rev limiter set .... with this setup there no mistaking you have a V8 under the hood ,but you definetly won't be impressing your mustang buddies that are more worried about the look at me sound....... a bonus is you can haul a$$ around town without drawing attention to yourself............ here's a example of the stock type mufflers at Jeffs>http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-10090-muffler-stock-replacement.html

That is basicly what I was describing. But one muffler and the other side a wastegate. Open the wastegate when you want the noise and flow. For me it was no more expensive then doing any of the "performance" mufflers.

 

[efossett]

I went with 2-1 Flowmaster 50's...shortie headers....It s sounds nice and is pretty quiet...the 35's and the wind are louder than the exhaust at 40+ mph....I really like the setup and am happy with my choice....I wanted mellow too....I figure Broncos get enough attention as is, I didnt need the sound to do that....

 

[av bronco]

Got any pics of the setup? I've not seen one with a resonator.

Here ya go, imo makes all the diff. in the world. shoulda washed it tho, sorry for the bad picts.

 

[gravy]

Here ya go, imo makes all the diff. in the world. shoulda washed it tho, sorry for the bad picts.

Is it considered a muffler when you buy it or do they call it a resonator??

 

[Heus33]

Thanks for the tips guys - stopped by my friend's shop yesterday and talked abuot a few ideas. Going to bring the truck down on Saturday to start sketching up some ideas but as of now we're leaning towards a 2 into 1 with a long muffler (either something frome a stock truck or an aftermarket like magnaflow). Trying to keep the noise and the drone to a minimum. I'll update this thread when I have more info.

 

[brocken]

I'm late to the party but I agree that 2 into 1 is the way to go if you want an exhaust you don't have to shout over.

I have a slightly modified 302 w/ stock manifolds and had a 2 into 1 with Magnaflow installed and it sounds great. Nice burble at idle and definitely some v8 roar when you step on it but when I'm cruising on the highway it's not the loudest part of the truck.
I have the stock manifolds so I ran 2.25 to the Y and 2.5" back from there.
I had mine custom built because I have an NV3550.

 

[av bronco]

Is it considered a muffler when you buy it or do they call it a resonator??

it's a 12"glasspack,3"id about 16" total.

 

[blainebrazil]

just got mine back from the muffler shop this morning. I was running dual 2 chamber flowmasters off of long headers and it dumped out in front of the rear tire. It was way to loud. I replaced the flowmasters with magnaflow mufflers and added an H-pipe still dumps in front of the rear tire. It now sounds great. Deep low tone and Idles pretty quiet but you can still tell its a V8. WOT it rumbles but not crazy loud.