98 5.0 flowmaster 50SUV muffler

[storlied]

this is going to sound dumb, do mufflers help performance at all?
how loud is the 50 series on the 5.0?
would it be worth it to swap the stock muffler to the 50 series? (no other exhaust changes, everything else stock)

 

[snoborder42]

They help a little, but if you open up the intake too it will help also. My dad has the 50 series on his f150 with the 5.8L. It is loud but not annoyingly loud by any means. I wish it was louder but that's just me.

 

[techieman33]

It's a nice sounding muffler, I love mine. It's plenty loud when you get on it, but still quiet enough when your cursing down the road all it takes is just a little bit of music and you won't hear a thing.

 

[JMan689]

this is going to sound dumb, do mufflers help performance at all?
how loud is the 50 series on the 5.0?
would it be worth it to swap the stock muffler to the 50 series? (no other exhaust changes, everything else stock)

If your looking for performance do it right the first time and buy a cat-back. If you just want to change the sound throw a muffler on there.

 

[storlied]

even with my restrictive headers, a catback would help that much?
what exactly does a catback contain, isn't it the muffler, and then the tail pipe?

 

[JMan689]

even with my restrictive headers, a catback would help that much?
what exactly does a catback contain, isn't it the muffler, and then the tail pipe?

It's not that it would help THAT much right now, but later if you plan on doing a full exhaust and intake it will help alot and save you time/money in the long run. Always plan ahead if you can.

A catback is just less restrictive piping and an aftermarket muffler.

 

[storlied]

so getting just the muffler and keeping the pipes and headers stock would do nothing for performance (with a mac intake)?

 

[JMan689]

It would do next to nothing. Say the intake adds 10 hp. You might gain .5 hp from the muffler.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

It's a common misconception that an aftermarket muffler improves performance- on some vehicles it is the case. Its all about removing the restriction.

Its like streamlining a manufacturing process- you have to remove the bottlenecks from the process to see any improvement. You can get bigger, faster conveyors, but unless the "widget" machine up the line is upgraded, there is no gain to be had. (widget term taken from my Operations Management class)

 

[storlied]

lol, ah i see... then it all comes back to those damn headers... which seem like a big project... not sure it would be worth doing them on a 1998 with 103k miles on it.... idk..

ok fine.. i give in.. i want the sound =P

would be relatively cheap to have the 50 just replace my stocker, right?
besides, if i decide to do more exhaust work, il have a non stock muffler .. lol

 

[techieman33]

The labor shouldn't be to bad it's not a big job, but it's still a pretty expensive muffler so it won't be cheap no matter what you do.

 

[storlied]

it's what, around 100-150? if not $20 more or so..

and wait, so if i got the catback with the 50, no improvement with stock headers on the 5.0?

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

I got dual 40 series flows on my 01 sport and it sounds real loud and deep. I love the way it sounds.

When I bought my 01 sport the previous owner had the 70 series big block II and it didnt sound that loud and deep too me they said i had the quietest flowmasters.

So I told them I wanted something loud and deep and the muffler shop told me the 40 series is the way to go. So i got the dual 40 series flowmasters.

I paid like 275 for mine and i love the sound.

 

[storlied]

The 50 seems a bit better to me, not insanely loud, but not all quiet n crappy like the stock one.

 

[TekMan05]

I also got the Flowmaster Force II set back in July (Same as 50 series I believe) it just came with the tip and piping with it. I noticed a somewhat gain in upper power and the sounds is lovely. But 3 weeks ago on Halloween when I put the MAC intake on thats when I noticed a power gain throughout. It also doesn't add to the loudness but it does make a more aggressive gargly type roar as you put your foot in it. I can't wait to save up for TMH's. I got a question about that too, I don't neccesarrily have to CHIP it afterwards do I? and what kind of shop would do the labor for me?

 

[techieman33]

I also got the Flowmaster Force II set back in July (Same as 50 series I believe) it just came with the tip and piping with it. I noticed a somewhat gain in upper power and the sounds is lovely. But 3 weeks ago on Halloween when I put the MAC intake on thats when I noticed a power gain throughout. It also doesn't add to the loudness but it does make a more aggressive gargly type roar as you put your foot in it. I can't wait to save up for TMH's. I got a question about that too, I don't neccesarrily have to CHIP it afterwards do I? and what kind of shop would do the labor for me?

You don't have to have a tuner, I ran mine without one for a while, a tuner really does bring the whole package together though.

 

[BLKLTDV8]

I also got the Flowmaster Force II set back in July (Same as 50 series I believe) it just came with the tip and piping with it. I noticed a somewhat gain in upper power and the sounds is lovely.

Thinking of getting this exhaust for the wife's Mounty. Was wondering if there is much drone at cruising speed? I do like it aggressive on takeoff and higher rpms, but hate the drone. My son had 40 series on his Mustang and 10 minutes in that car was too much. Sorry for the hijack.

 

[TekMan05]

The only time it seems to drone is after about 2200 rpm's. So around 70+ but its not too bad. other than that a little music blocks out the exhaust noise. You only hear it if the pedal is being pressed on not just from rolling.

 

[jah81592]

Just welding a muffler in place of a stock muffler won't do anything but give sound. I recommend a quality catback from one of the major manufacturers. Gibson,MAC,etc. These offer mandrel bent tubing and usually follow the factory routing. Another misconception is that duals offer increased power over a single exhaust. That isn't necessarily true. I do all kinds of high po vehicles (trucks) which have a mandrel bent single exhaust and they make similar if not more hp and torque. Basically a single 3" will flow more than a dual 2.25" and similar to a dual 2.5" system. Not to mention that you loose all the extra weight. I personally run a mandrel bent custom 3" system on my setup. If I werent turboed I would either run a MAC (I owned one before the turbo) or Gibson catback.

 

[TekMan05]

Just welding a muffler in place of a stock muffler won't do anything but give sound. I recommend a quality catback from one of the major manufacturers. Gibson,MAC,etc. These offer mandrel bent tubing and usually follow the factory routing. Another misconception is that duals offer increased power over a single exhaust. That isn't necessarily true. I do all kinds of high po vehicles (trucks) which have a mandrel bent single exhaust and they make similar if not more hp and torque. Basically a single 3" will flow more than a dual 2.25" and similar to a dual 2.5" system. Not to mention that you loose all the extra weight. I personally run a mandrel bent custom 3" system on my setup. If I werent turboed I would either run a MAC (I owned one before the turbo) or Gibson catback.

not to hi-jack the thread but I think one of my questions got missed from earlier. What kind of shop would do the labor for installing Torque Monster headers?