Muffler for 3rd Gen Explorers

[Jellysick]

Hey everyone, I recently bought an '02 Limited Explorer with the 4.6L engine. I have also recently been looking into getting a new muffler to give the explorer a nice rumble etc but nothing crazy. Well when taking a look at my options, apparently Ford designed the explorer to be a huge P.I.A. as far as fitting an aftermarket muffler. One place said that a Ravin (sp??) would probably hit the frame rail and the heat guard, causing rattles, another said that the flowmaster would be hard to fit in as well.
Has anyone had an aftermarket muffler put in their 3rd Gen v8 explorer? If so, what did you use? How does it sound?
They guy I was talking to about the flowmaster 50 series said that he takes off half the ones he puts on because the customer thinks they are too loud. If a 50 series would fit, I wouldnt want to have that aweful drone in the cab when cruising. I want more of a mellow rumble/growl on the outside of the vehicle than anything.
Just looking to see if anyone has done anything to these explorers as far as exhaust is concerned.

-oh yeah, I know explorer express has a MAC exhaust for sale, anyone know how that sounds???

Thanks for any input!

John

 

[andylant2003]

I have an 03 with the 4.6 and recently put a Flowmaster 40 on it and I love the sound. The shop also put a 3" chrome tip on it for me and the only reason that I really hear the exhaust is that tip resonates between 1300 and 2300 rpm. Other than that it isn't too loud.

 

[Ru Dawg]

Have you looked into a Borla muffler? They sound very nice and are not too loud. I have a Borla cat-back and it has a nice low rumble from inside the cab...easily overcome by the stereo if need be!

 

[Cypher]

I recently bought a magnaflow for my 4.0. It has a deep sound, wont be mistaken for a v8 though, but I bet it would sound really good on a v8. The 5x8 is just a little louder than stock on the inside and sounds more powerful outside. I also noticed a power increase from it. The person i talked to said that it was actually better and cheaper than flowmaster. I am very pleased with it and would recommend it.