Not really loving the Dynamax Ultra Flo mufflers so far

[Back N Black]

I am not as concerned with impressing others as I am with impressing myself. I love a rumbly exhaust.
I was a kid once and the LOUD seemed really cool back then.
My 2007 Dodge truck came with 3 catalytic converters, a muffler the size of a trash can and a resonator. It was as silent as a Prius. I hate that. No V8 should be that silent, man!

What about emission testing on your truck? Here in Canada your vehicle has to be inspected yearly, would not get away with modified exhaust.

[Kern Dog]

In this country, even California, changes downstream from the Catalytic converters are legal.
The term Cat Back exhaust refers to mufflers or increased diameter pipes that are installed after the converters.

[Kern Dog]

KD: I get it. I got laid alot in that old Roadrunner (still probably have a dent in the top of my head from the window crank in that backseat).  Lime green and loud works (at least it did back then). My 20-year old son tells me that doesn't work quite so-well nowadays (at least with modern [read liberal & woke] college girls). I keep telling him to find a nice farm girl (for lots of reasons).

Oh well...

Those are the types of girls I'd prefer. I'd rather have a woman with some decent morals and the ability to cook and solve real world problems.... rather than march in a protest, dye their hair blue and defile themselves with ink and piercings.

[Dino]

Can you post a short video of how they sound? That's what I'm planning on using on my 69 with a really mild 383. I just want a good sound at idle and WOT. I don't want a drone at cruise. I do a lot of driving and loud exhaust gets on my nerves on long road trips.

Give me a few more days. I just got the transmission back in. I need to do an alignment and tighten some loose ends. I'll get a video behind the car, inside, and driving. There's a short video in my recent kickdown thread.

Do the hemi mufflers only come with 2.5" inlet and 2 1/4 outlet? I'd like to find something that's a direct replacement for the Ultra Flows but I can sleeve it if needed. I don't want to cut and weld any part of the TTI system though.

[b5blue]

Check with Mancini? 

[Dino]

I read a few posts that claim the Dynomax Super Turbo's used to be known as the Super Hemi Turbo's and are practically a copy. I checked some video clips and they do sound good. Much quieter but that's probably not a bad thing. They still sound good wide open.

Dynomax 17748 is the one designed for the TTI system. Same size as my current Ultra Flows. On clearance at Walmart. $46.39 shipped for the pair! Savings of $96.22! Let's try these puppies.

[Mike DC]

   
I like the sound quality/tone of the stock-type Dynomax STs. 

The most common complaint about those is that they just aren't loud/rowdy enough for many people's tastes.

[Dino]

They definitely are much more docile when compared to the Ultra Flows, at least from all the videos I have found, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I would like to take the car on long drives. The Ultra Flows are not too loud when cruising, but I just don't like how they sound.
I will do some comparison videos.

[metallicareload99]

They definitely are much more docile when compared to the Ultra Flows, at least from all the videos I have found, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I would like to take the car on long drives. The Ultra Flows are not too loud when cruising, but I just don't like how they sound.
I will do some comparison videos.

The Super Turbos I was using had a pretty bad drone in the "cruising RPM" range 2,000-2,500 RPM or so range

[Dino]

The Super Turbos I was using had a pretty bad drone in the "cruising RPM" range 2,000-2,500 RPM or so range

I would guess there are more factors involved that can cause drone, and it's always a risk. For less than $50 I'm happy to try!

[timmycharger]

Just had a friend email me this.  Nice Charger for the commercial, sounds great too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJVU1ZBzh4E

[cdr]

The ultra flow is a straight through muffler, A baffled muffler WILL hurt power, YES it can be felt seat of the pants.

[Kern Dog]

When people say "straight through" muffler, it should be made clear that the pipe that passes through the muffler case still is perforated and the exhaust flow does go through the openings into the packing material. This is what dampens the sound. It isn't exactly straight through with no detours.
My point?
The detours that dampen the sound surely do so with some restriction. Maybe it isn't much but there must be some.
We all have heard the dorks at car shows that tell you that the engines need back pressure to run. These are the guys that swear that cast iron manifolds flow just as good as headers.

[Dino]

And I run HP manifolds. I want this to be a fun street car. I don't need to squeeze the last drop of power out of it. The Super Turbo definitely flows a lot less than the Ultra Flow. No doubt. We'll see how she does.

[Kern Dog]

I didn't mean to insult those that use manifolds, just the weirdos that argue that they are just as effective as headers.
Many times, cars with manifolds sound better than a car with headers.
Regarding reliability, I've run headers on the red car for 23 years and have never felt that they were a problem. I don't blow out gaskets, they don't leak and they still look decent. You do have to spend a bit of money to have success with headers though.

[Mike DC]

           
Headers can be streetable if you get good expensive ones.  And if you don't bang the exhaust on a speed bump or something.  Lots of modern production cars come with shorty tubular headers but they also have a flexing/pivoting connection in the exhaust system just downstream of there. 

Full-length V8 headers put a lot of heat into the engine compartment, though.  All that surface area makes them work like radiators for the exhaust gases.  It helps to have the headers ceramic coated (inside & out).   

Full length headers do make a seat-of-the-pants difference over the HP manifolds, but it's in the upper half of the tach.  The difference is not really apparent if you are loafing through surburbia at 2500 rpm. 

[Kern Dog]

Headers allow more power at all RPM ranges, man. They are not only good for HP at the upper half of the tach.
No, they don't add heat to the engine bay. They do the opposite. It is simple thermodynamics...the thicker and bulkier cast iron retains heat longer than thin steel tubes do. Cars with headers cool down faster after shutting them off because the tubes don't hold in the heat as long.

[lloyd3]

KD: I've had them with headers and without. It's all about breathing, right? Headers really allow things to "breath", no question. They do, however, really warm things up under the hood (and even the interior of the car). For pure performance, they're hard to beat, but...they're also hard to live with over time. Rust, leakage, burnt plug wires, and undercar clearance problems go hand-in-hand with headers, unfortunately.  Thus the reason I now live with a factory "stock" exhaust systems. Ma Mopar and her wonderful engineering folks in the mid-60s came up with the most "liveable" compromise for this situation IMHO.

[Mike DC]

Headers allow more power at all RPM ranges, man. They are not only good for HP at the upper half of the tach.

I'm not claiming that headers don't add any power down low.  I'm saying they don't add enough for the butt-dyno to notice it in half-throttle suburban driving. 

No, they don't add heat to the engine bay. They do the opposite. It is simple thermodynamics...the thicker and bulkier cast iron retains heat longer than thin steel tubes do. Cars with headers cool down faster after shutting them off because the tubes don't hold in the heat as long.

IIRC a muscle car magazine once tested this.  The headers heated up the engine bay even more than they expected.  The story stuck in my memory because it was so much.  To be fair, I think they were testing a cheap set of headers in that article (read: pretty thin-walled tubing). 

[Dino]

My car had headers when I bought it. No clue what brand, definitely not coated. Nothing wrong with them really except ot made it a little harder to work on things. I scraped the collectors a few times, and blew out a gasket once or twice. The thing I really didn't like was that thin metal clank that came from under the engine bay. I figured I'd try the HP manifolds as they should flow plenty for my needs. They sure are a lot easier to work with. I have the passenger side off. I have a small leak st rhe heat riser post. I need to remove it snd put some pipe plugs in the holes.

[John_Kunkel]

No, they don't add heat to the engine bay. They do the opposite.

Hmmm. Kinda funny you never hear of guys trying to shield their starter or melting shift cables from the heat of stock head pipes.   

[Kern Dog]

If the stock exhaust pipes ran near the starter, you'd see OEM heat shields used.
Hey, I'll admit that my experiences may not represent every situation but I've owned a few cars with manifolds that I swapped in headers. In every instance, whatever heat was generated in the engine bay sure dissipated quicker. I have never noticed them feeling hotter under the hood. This is a prime opportunity for someone to do some research though. Get a cheapie thermal gun from Harbor Freight and do a test. Before with manifolds and after with headers. Be sure to test on a day with similar ambient temperatures and make sure the air-fuel ratios are close enough to not make the engine run leaner and skew the numbers.
Both of my Chargers have big blocks with headers. Both are quite tolerable inside.
My 75 Power Wagon has such a huge engine bay, maybe whatever increased heat (from headers) some report was just not noticeable to me?
Seriously, people often repeat what they have heard or read without actually speaking from direct experience. It is human nature. I can tell you what I have seen and dealt with but unfortunately, I have no temperature readings to back up my claims.

[John_Kunkel]

If the stock exhaust pipes ran near the starter, you'd see OEM heat shields used.

That's the point, a single 2 1/4" head pipe routed between the starter and the torsion bars will have more clearance around it than four 1 3/4"-2" pipes clustered together in the same space. 

And, yes the heat will dissipate quicker from steel tubes than from an iron manifold but dissipation time and heat generated while running are two different things...as you suggested, a laser heat gun might tell the whole story but a simple thermometer hung in the engine compartment [with the hood closed will also tell a story.

[Kern Dog]

Hey, if I'm wrong, I'd admit it. We all make assumptions based on our experiences.
Maybe I've been lucky?
It sure seems that way. I don't know if I am charmed or have a guardian angel because I've had good luck with a lot of things in life. I can't take credit for all of the successes that I have had.