Exhaust - Custom or not

Hi all,
My '99 1500 is in need a complete new exhaust system. I have a couple of questions:

(1) Is worth it to get a custom exhaust? If yes, what is a reasonable expectation on price? I've been quoted $1200 for a Borla.

(2) What's a good price for a standard exhaust? (assuming a shop will do it) I've been quoted ~$500

(3) Can I put in an exhaust myself? If so, what parts should I order and what would that cost? I have no idea if this is a complex job. I'll try anything even though I know nothing :smile:. I have a good buddy that is welder who could help me out.


Any input on the above questions would be great. Thx!

I have an '89 454 2500...I put a flowmaster exhaust from cat back and intend to put headers and use the K&N 2nd generation air flow system. The Flowmaster sounds great, I paid $260 for the work to be done which included the muffler, tip, and new piping from the cat back. Borla is a great system although pricey...$1200 sounds too much for that system. Hope this helps
Paul

Hi all,
My '99 1500 is in need a complete new exhaust system. I have a couple of questions:

(1) Is worth it to get a custom exhaust? If yes, what is a reasonable expectation on price? I've been quoted $1200 for a Borla.

(2) What's a good price for a standard exhaust? (assuming a shop will do it) I've been quoted ~$500

(3) Can I put in an exhaust myself? If so, what parts should I order and what would that cost? I have no idea if this is a complex job. I'll try anything even though I know nothing :smile:. I have a good buddy that is welder who could help me out.


Any input on the above questions would be great. Thx!

I've been looking myself (97 Sub) and, while I'm not quite ready to do it yet, I learned the following:

FLOWMASTER has a great, though pretty deep, tone, but is not Stainless Steel and has a relatively short warranty. A friend installed Flowmaster on his P/U and the muffler burned out after 4 years and Flowmaster would not replace it, so I have no interest in Flowmaster at all.

BORLA is Stainless Steel and has either a million mile or a lifetime warranty (I can't remember which) and it has a different, but still really GREAT tone. Sounds less "hot roddy" to me. Borla IS pricey, though.

GIBSON also has a Stainless Steel system and it has either a million mile or a lefetime warranty (Borla has one of these and Gibson has the other). Gibson SS has a reallly good tone, as well; though some prefer the Borla tone over the Gibson, the Gibson sounded as good or beter to me. The best art is that the Gibson system is A LOT less expensive than the Borla and not far off the cost of the Flowmaster.

Take a look at Gibson's SS before you decide.

- Paul

(PS -- As I recall, 4 Wheel Parts has all 3)

The best way to go is to have a muffler shop do a custom exhaust setup for you.
Much cheaper than the Borla system(it does not require a shop to install.)
Flowmaster are great, and I've have a total of 5 on different cars that I've owned, but as mentioned above they do rot out after awhile.
Flowmaster also offers different tones so you dont necessarily have to go with the "hot rod" rumbling sound which is their 40 and 50 series. They have the SUV mufflers which I believe are the big block or 80 series. These have some sound deadeners so that the vibration is limited and reduces the in cab decible level.

Gibson is good and you can usually do the cat-back and an intake system for around $600+/-.

Magnaflow also has some really nice SUV mufflers out too.

It all depends on what type of sound/look you're going for. Stock single look or a custom dual setup.

One thing to note is that it only costs a tiny bit more to do a custom setup with the muffler of your choice. As a stock replacement is actually pretty pricey.

If you want the best and most durable check out the Gale Banks Power Pack. All stainless steel header and exhaust system w/ intake modification and using the thickest header flanges in the industry. I've got one on my 94 454 and it made a new motor out of it.

http://www.bankspower.com/System.cfm?appid=AC03&sysid=SC04

You might check around on the internet for pricing. Sometimes factories only sell at list price to keep from p*ssing off their dealers.

I just got a new 3" tail pipe and cheap Walker muffler.
The Cat ran away (is desmoging an ok topic on this board?) so I got some 3" pipe (test tube) to replace it.

The PO had 2 1/2" tail pipe and about 2" glass pack muffler.The exhaust was a 3" before he got to it. The screwed up exhaust and a plugged cat might be why I was getting 8mpg and no power. (newer rebuilt tbi350).

I have not installed it yet as I broke one post/stud on each manifold where the "Y" pipe bolts up to and don't want to remove the manifold to replace the stud.
I plan on drilling out the stud and installing a bolt. Will this work?