Breathing Easier!

[RonWilson]

With 500 miles on her, my 01 RT went to see the exhaust doctor yesterday. Typical symptoms include trouble breathing (particularly exhaling) and generally not being able to sing the way our 5.9’s should. The diagnosis was a case of exhaust asthma. The remedy, rip it out and transplant a new and improved breathing apparatus.

OK, sorry for the above, lets get down to business.

Lets face it. The RT really does NOT have an optimal exhaust. Sure, your get a better flowing Dynomax muffler and a nice tip, but that’s it. The rest of the stock RT exhaust is still too restrictive for the mighty Magnum 360. From my research and past experience with the 5.9, to really open her up and get real benefits with an intake/TB, she needs a single 3” or 3” with dual 2.5 past the muffler. I went with the later.

Headers: There are a lot of choices out there. Since a Tri-Y design provides its HP/Torque lower in the RPM band (more usable IMHO), I went with the Tri-Y design as opposed to the shorty style. To prolong life and reduce underhood temperatures, I also wanted them coated. This led me to 2 designs, the Mopar/Doug Thorley and a lesser known company called Clear Image. Clear Image has a great reputation with the Dakota crowd and offers personalized customer service, so I went with them this time around (had the Mopars on my Ram and Cherokee’s). They are ceramic coated and CRYO tempered so they should perform and look great for long time. They also come with a gasket free Ball/Socket coupling for the collectors. Really sharp design! Pricey, but worth the money IMHO. One thing to remember. The Y pipes were meant for Dakota’s they don’t just bolt on. The Y’s do need to be modified. Its really not a big deal for any competent shop to align ‘em up, though. BTW- I knew this going in, again, not a big deal.

High-Flow Cat: If your putting headers on, take the time to replace that restrictive cat with a hi-flow cat. It plain just makes sense and does help with the performance and sound quality of the finished product. I chose a 3” I/O Random Technology stainless cat. The shop welded new bungs into the pipe and I retained both my stock O2 sensors (before and after the cat).

Muffler: Here’s where your choices will drive ya nuts. My criteria was to increase performance and make 5.9 RT sound the way it should. Mean! I have used Gibson in the past and love the l,ow, throaty tone it produces. Of course, you have to consider the venerable FlowMasters, too. While I do like the DB’s that the FM’s produce, “everybody” has them, including every Mustang I ever saw. Uniqueness is also important to me. Here is where I again went with a lesser known company, Spintech. They are well know in the racing circles, and now sell street performance mufflers. Sound is very subjective as you know. All I can say is WOW! I must say, they are a perfect cross between the FM 40’s and the shear meanness associated with the rumble of the Gibsons. They are somewhat LOUDER than the 40’s, but not the same type of sound. They are much deeper and throatier sounding to me. Almost like combining the loudness of the 40’s with the deepness of the Gibson’s. Cap it off with a great deep gurgle when de-accelerating. Interior resonance is there, but surprisingly not overwhelming too me. Again, sound is tough to describe, but I have done my best with the comparison. I will get some wav’s posted soon. Folks, you seriously have to look at these Spintech’s if your in the market. They look different, they sound different, they are different. Perfect because “Dodge is Different” (sorry, couldn’t help myself) . I am very satisfied with the sound.

Tailpipes: I went from the 3” cat to the 3” inlet of the Spintech. From there, dual 2.5” custom bent pipes out the rear. I do have the towing hitch. But that was not a problem for my shop. They exit out the rear outside of the spring shackles. Very slick indeed. To finish things up, I tipped them off with polished stainless Gibson slash cut tips.

I want to take the time to thank the folks at Marty’s Muffler Shop in Woodbridge, NJ. This is the 3rd install they completed for me and they always have done an outstanding, first class job!

Well, I think I went on enough! Here’s the links to the manufacturers…..

Spintech - http://www.spintechmufflers.com The muffler is the Sport Truck SUV part# 5436. They offer a complete line.

Clear Image - http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/ (They don’t list our application on their page. Just call them at (206) 244-2815 or E-Mail Dan DEVIL.DOG@prodigy.net

Random Technology - http://www.randomtechnology.com

There ya have it! I’ll get some

[Kevin_Rants]

Ron, the setup sounds cool, (bad pun!). I had a Flowmaster 40 series on my Dakota and it sounded good, loud and resonated so I looked at something different for my D also and found Flo-Pro ( http://www.flopro.com/FPovalsmall.htm ).

Was there any problems routing the full length headers around the front 4x4 components?

[RonWilson]

None whatsoever! The headers fit like a glove. The Y is what needed the fabrication, but like I said, it was no big deal....

Ron Wilson

[RonWilson]

Sorry, I forgot to include costs for those interested:

TRI-Y headers with fresh blast satin ceramic, Y-pipe with converter pipe, SpinTech muffler and Random Tech converter...Total Package $1,136.00

Gibson Tips...$78.00

Install complete system (includes all the custom pipe work)...$630.00

Grand Total of $1844.00 for a totally rebuilt performance exhaust system.


Ron Wilson