fun truck 88 1500

I bought a 1988 ck1500 4x4 regular cab extended bed for 600 bucks the other day.. I plan on making it into an off-roading truck with emphasis on camping and such.. It has a campershell thats in great condition.. within the next week or so i'll have the truck painted flat black along with having the interior and bed of the truck rhino lined, the seats inside were redone i'd say within the past year or so.. the truck has been taken care of thats for sure.. the only thing i really need to do is the exhaust as it has glasspacks on now and well thats not very friendly lol.. so i'm not too sure on what to do to make it nice and quiet without loseing power? also i was thinking of connecting the cab and bed at the bottom any ideas on this? i plan on making this truck confortable enough to live in for a week if i wanted to. All ideas are welcome and appreciated!!

For a good quiet ride.
Install a good stock type exhaust system.
If you tie bed and cab together make it a flexible connection.