Exhaust system recommendation for 01 Dodge CTD

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
Saturday I noticed the tailpipe had rusted out of the muffler on my Dodge Ram. The truck is an 01 model with the Cummins engine. The whole exhaust system is looking rough, so it is time to replace it. I do not want a very loud system or one with a drone at highway speeds. Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Danny
 
I had a MBRP alumized system on my Dodge.. it was pretty good as far as noise inside.
 
Yep. If you want to DIY, you could do something like this, delete the muffler from his kit, and get a big Donaldson or something. That should be fairly close to stock, for less than $400 turbo-back.
 
Rich said:
I had a MBRP alumized system on my Dodge.. it was pretty good as far as noise inside.
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Before or after you coated the inside of the cab in sound deadening? :flipoff2:
 
LoMod's 3500 club cab has a 4">5" MBRP on it.... not sure what muffler. The drone isn't bad at highway speeds or towing (you can talk normally w/o yelling or listen to the radio w/o cranking it), but sounds VERY good (like a semi) when rolling the coal.
 
I can't beleive this was 4.5 years ago. I ended up doing a temporary repair with a clamp I borrowed from work, lol. My temporary repair lasted 4 years longer than I anticipated. Anyone have any different recommendations for a quiet stock exhaust system replacement that isn't megabucks?

Thanks,
Danny
 
Mbrp kits with mufflers tend to sound good and dont have the annoying drone. I have the turbo back on my Ford but no muffler. Wouldn't recommend that on a dodge.
 
I did the Source Automotive turbo-back paired with a 40" Donaldson 4" in/out muffler on mine. It's fine. Sounds good, cheap, not loud.

I would prefer that it were quieter under load with a big trailer, but I'm really probably an outlier case in that regard. With a rig on an open trailer, you're never working it hard enough for long enough, and you don't have the echo off of the enclosed trailer.
 
Stacked tow mirrors! :D I will take off in fourth gear and blow lots of black smoke!

I prefer straight pipes on a Cummins myself. That being said, I can't hear myself think with the stacks on my K30. There's no room under the truck for a 4" exhaust pipe, but here soon, I think I'm going to make room. The stacks were a quick fix, but I really hate them and I knew I would. They blow soot all over everything and they take up valuable bed space! Did I mention they're loud and they blow soot all over everything?
 
If I was 15-20 years younger, I might be interested in stacks through the bed. Now that I am older, I just want peace and quiet! LOL.
 
http://www.ftediesel.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=7

it's a large version of the 'auger insert' type of muffler. I've got the 4"x30" model on a 4" diamond-eye system with its straight-thru muffler, and you cannot hear any exhaust note. Gotta warn you, you'll hear everything else that rattles or shakes on the truck.

Also, cant go wrong with a Donaldson, if you have the room.
 
Hurley said:
I've got the 4"x30" model on a 4" diamond-eye system with its straight-thru muffler.
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You have the FTE resonator *and* a 4x24" ish straight-through muffler?
 
shawn said:
You have the FTE resonator *and* a 4x24" ish straight-through muffler?
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yessssssss; it's a decent setup, IMO. from what I've read the 'quietest' setup is a resonator (the shorter one, not the 30") and a Hushpower muffler. The 30" is considered a muffler
 
Good to know. Might be worth trying one of those in front of a Donaldson.
 
@shawn - just how loud is that Donaldson? There are some really long ones (51") that have a decent sound attenuation, but probably at the cost of some backpressure. Do you know what model you have?

FWIW, the FTE's are recommended to be put at the end of the downpipe
 
Hurley said:
@shawn - just how loud is that Donaldson? There are some really long ones (51") that have a decent sound attenuation, but probably at the cost of some backpressure. Do you know what model you have?

FWIW, the FTE's are recommended to be put at the end of the downpipe
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Mine's about 40", don't recall the model number, but it's a 4" in/out, centered, straight through.

The problem I have is that when I hook the trailer to it, it's basically exhausting into a big tin can, with the front wall of the trailer only about 2ft away behind it, the floor of the gooseneck 4ft above, etc. So whatever racket is coming out of the pipe (which is somewhat substantial) gets reflected back toward the cab.

When it's empty or has a regular trailer hooked to it, the exhaust isn't a big deal.

I have thought about putting a turn-down tip on it, but never actually got around to it. I figured that might help with directing the noise down/behind the truck. Might keep soot off the trailer, too.
 
do any 4" straight pipe with muffler delete & i have a nice 4" banks SS diesel muffler for free for you
@drkelly
 
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I have some big-ass Magnaflow under my 01 Cummins, Sounds nice, but still pretty mellow sounding on the highway
 
Im sure hes figured something out in 5 years. :D
 
drkelly said:
I can't beleive this was 4.5 years ago. I ended up doing a temporary repair with a clamp I borrowed from work, lol. My temporary repair lasted 4 years longer than I anticipated. Anyone have any different recommendations for a quiet stock exhaust system replacement that isn't megabucks?

Thanks,
Danny
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Ron said:
Im sure hes figured something out in 5 years. :D
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We'll. If I double check Danny's math, it looks like 5.5+ years!
 
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