Suggestions for exhaust for 1996 RAM 1500 5.9L
From : dang ol boomhauer
Q: i have a stock 1996 5.9l ram 4x4 with the exception of a mopar chip. id like to put dual exhaust with headers on it and i dont want a lot of sound from the mufflers since it is my daily driver. i also need it to pass emmissions in atlanta. anyone have any suggestions for a good system i dont mind spending a little extra for the right setup. i assumed i would need two cat converters and two pairs of o2 sensors dont know how the o2 thing would work... .
Replies:
From : roy
i have a stock 1996 5.9l ram 4x4 with the exception of a mopar chip. id like to put dual exhaust with headers on it and i dont want a lot of sound from the mufflers since it is my daily driver. i also need it to pass emmissions in atlanta. anyone have any suggestions for a good system i dont mind spending a little extra for the right setup. i assumed i would need two cat converters and two pairs of o2 sensors dont know how the o2 thing would work... you might be doing away with too much back pressure with that set up. you might be better served with a gibson cat back or a like item imo. .
From : dang ol boomhauer
you mean by going with headers id like to at least go dual from the manifolds or headers but it sounds like you think that may be a problem i have a stock 1996 5.9l ram 4x4 with the exception of a mopar chip. id like to put dual exhaust with headers on it and i dont want a lot of sound from the mufflers since it is my daily driver. i also need it to pass emmissions in atlanta. anyone have any suggestions for a good system i dont mind spending a little extra for the right setup. i assumed i would need two cat converters and two pairs of o2 sensors dont know how the o2 thing would work... you might be doing away with too much back pressure with that set up. you might be better served with a gibson cat back or a like item imo. .
From : nunya
you mean by going with headers id like to at least go dual from the manifolds or headers but it sounds like you think that may be a problem snip yes it could be a problem. your particualr engine requires a certain amount of back pressure from the exhaust system to funtion properly. when you increase flow through the exhaust a general rule is that you gain top end horse power and lose low end torque. remember the old adage give and take. once you hit the point of dimenishing returns you lose so much torque that you will see a significant decrease in bottom end performance. on an engine that has been hotrodded with heads cams and higher compression ratios you need to get a good bit more flow to maximize these alterations but on a mostly stock motor you can flow the motor too much. we had a guy recently complaining about how he had put a new high flow exhaust system on a 2001 ram with a 360 and it wouldnt hardly roll off the line. my wrench went out and crawled under it and then told the guy to take it for a drive. the guy came back grinning like a monkey and was very happy. he said it was like a new truck and asked what the wrench had done. the trick was he had taken a big pair of channel locks and squeezed the exhaust pipe about half way compressed. this increased the back pressure and fixed the problem. my wrench then told the dude to fix it right he needed to go put his original exhaust manifolds and catalytic converters back on and use only the portion of the new exhaust system that is behind the cat. this guy got mad and cussed us out. that couldnt be the problem he said and he continued by saying that they had already discarded of the factory parts. he was very mad because the *book* had said the new exhaust would be better and we couldnt know more than the *book*. but the proof is in the pudding. so if you are going to add a cam and do head work i would suggest a completly new free flowing system. if all you have is a performance chip on a stock motor then buy a good cat-back sysem and leave the forward stuff stock. michael .
From : bob
dang ol boomhauer wrote ive been looking at cobras in recent years as well. do you have pics of yours on-line i think ive settled on superformance but they just got more $$$ with shelby settling with them. and im 65 so that is a concern also... here a picture of my car and some of the specs. i think the only thing i changed was the brakes. im now using some huge wilwood brakes. http//www.milehicobraclub.com/member.phpmemberid=13 heres some other pictures ive taken over the years since i started building it. http//s13.photobucket.com/albums/a256/bobcowan/ the superformance is a good car. the build quality is excellent. but its a bit heavier than other cobras; and its very expensive. i think their price just went up to around $79k for a roller; but that could be just a vicious rumer. here are two good sites to get more information about ffrs and other cobra kits www.ffcobra.com www.clubcobra.com if you want a good car and dont want to build it yourself consider a pro building a ffr for you to your specs. might even be cheaper than a superformance. -- ..bob 2006 fxdi hot rod 2001 dodge dakota qc 5.9/4x4/3.92 1966 mustang coupe - daily driver 1965 ffr cobra - 427w efi damn fast. .
From : dang ol boomhauer
dang ol boomhauer wrote i have a stock 1996 5.9l ram 4x4 with the exception of a mopar chip. id like to put dual exhaust with headers on it and i dont want a lot of sound from the mufflers since it is my daily driver. i also need it to pass emmissions in atlanta. anyone have any suggestions for a good system i dont mind spending a little extra for the right setup. i assumed i would need two cat converters and two pairs of o2 sensors dont know how the o2 thing would work... what youre asking for is not possible. federal emission regs require you to maintain the same exhasut configuration from the engine through the cats. you can change parts and make improvements with emissions legal parts. but you can not change the configuration. there is no emissions legal true dual exhaust. and practically speaking you dont need to. unless you reguarly run the engine to 5000+ you wont ever get the advantage of true duals anyway. they gain hp at the top end but cost you torque on the bottom end. what you really want is a good set of equal length shorty headers a bigger y pipe a performance cat or three a 3 inch single pipe and the biggest muffler you can fit under there. if youre lucky youll gain 15-20 ft/lbs. it will cost you pretty close to a grand. more if you hire a shop to do it for you. -- .bob 2006 fxdi hot rod 2001 dodge dakota qc 5.9/4x4/3.92 1966 mustang coupe - daily driver 1965 ffr cobra - 427w efi damn fast. good info - thanks. ive never modified a post-1971 stock motor so this helps. ive been looking at cobras in recent years as well. do you have pics of yours on-line i think ive settled on superformance but they just got more $$$ with shelby settling with them. and im 65 so that is a concern also... .
From : dang ol boomhauer
you mean by going with headers id like to at least go dual from the manifolds or headers but it sounds like you think that may be a problem snip yes it could be a problem. your particualr engine requires a certain amount of back pressure from the exhaust system to funtion properly. when you increase flow through the exhaust a general rule is that you gain top end horse power and lose low end torque. remember the old adage give and take. once you hit the point of dimenishing returns you lose so much torque that you will see a significant decrease in bottom end performance. on an engine that has been hotrodded with heads cams and higher compression ratios you need to get a good bit more flow to maximize these alterations but on a mostly stock motor you can flow the motor too much. we had a guy recently complaining about how he had put a new high flow exhaust system on a 2001 ram with a 360 and it wouldnt hardly roll off the line. my wrench went out and crawled under it and then told the guy to take it for a drive. the guy came back grinning like a monkey and was very happy. he said it was like a new truck and asked what the wrench had done. the trick was he had taken a big pair of channel locks and squeezed the exhaust pipe about half way compressed. this increased the back pressure and fixed the problem. my wrench then told the dude to fix it right he needed to go put his original exhaust manifolds and catalytic converters back on and use only the portion of the new exhaust system that is behind the cat. this guy got mad and cussed us out. that couldnt be the problem he said and he continued by saying that they had already discarded of the factory parts. he was very mad because the *book* had said the new exhaust would be better and we couldnt know more than the *book*. but the proof is in the pudding. so if you are going to add a cam and do head work i would suggest a completly new free flowing system. if all you have is a performance chip on a stock motor then buy a good cat-back sysem and leave the forward stuff stock. michael good info - thanks. the last time i did such a thing it was on a 71 340 but it worked great. but that was in the days of 10.5-to-1 compression big valves with a huge thermoquad. no emmisions to be concerned with either - of course it came with duals but headers were added. .
From : bob
dang ol boomhauer wrote i have a stock 1996 5.9l ram 4x4 with the exception of a mopar chip. id like to put dual exhaust with headers on it and i dont want a lot of sound from the mufflers since it is my daily driver. i also need it to pass emmissions in atlanta. anyone have any suggestions for a good system i dont mind spending a little extra for the right setup. i assumed i would need two cat converters and two pairs of o2 sensors dont know how the o2 thing would work... what youre asking for is not possible. federal emission regs require you to maintain the same exhasut configuration from the engine through the cats. you can change parts and make improvements with emissions legal parts. but you can not change the configuration. there is no emissions legal true dual exhaust. and practically speaking you dont need to. unless you reguarly run the engine to 5000+ you wont ever get the advantage of true duals anyway. they gain hp at the top end but cost you torque on the bottom end. what you really want is a good set of equal length shorty headers a bigger y pipe a performance cat or three a 3 inch single pipe and the biggest muffler you can fit under there. if youre lucky youll gain 15-20 ft/lbs. it will cost you pretty close to a grand. more if you hire a shop to do it for you. -- ..bob 2006 fxdi hot rod 2001 dodge dakota qc 5.9/4x4/3.92 1966 mustang coupe - daily driver 1965 ffr cobra - 427w efi damn fast. .