Some suggestions.

[ll ViPeR II]

First of all what is 1263? IS that a FIPK or just air intake?

Secondly, that is the only mod I have so far.

I have 1,500 and right now plan on......:

52mm tb, mid length headers, and full Magnaflow exhaust system. Installation on everything.

Brand suggestions and/or more/less stuff for my budget?

Move this to the engine forum please!

[Pete102580]

that is the k&n.

don't pay someone to install a TB... my wife could do it. headers aren't that difficult either... but you're going to need to fab up the rest anyway....

i'm not knocking your mechanical ability- im just saying labor aint cheap... gotta save where you can. $1500 set aside for parts and labor gets you a shitload less than $1500 set aside for parts.
pete

[ll ViPeR II]

that is the k&n.

don't pay someone to install a TB... my wife could do it. headers aren't that difficult either... but you're going to need to fab up the rest anyway....

i'm not knocking your mechanical ability- im just saying labor aint cheap... gotta save where you can. $1500 set aside for parts and labor gets you a shitload less than $1500 set aside for parts.
pete


Ok, I'll look into that.
What you mean "fab" the rest up? That short for fabricate?

[Pete102580]

yes; fab = fabricate.

whatever midlengths you buy aren't going to bolt up to the rest of your exhaust... no matter what kit you buy... i don't even know if there is a kit for a full dakota exhaust.... the closest you're going to get is probably a spintech setup.

you going with true duals, or just replacing the stock pipes with bigger ones?
pete

[ll ViPeR II]

I'm not sure. What should I do for best performance and sound results?

[Pete102580]

i would do true duals off the bat. I've been through quite a few exhaust systems... first was a catback, then swapped to a different catback (the one in the pic below)... i had cutouts on that setup... uncorking them on back to back dyno runs showed a 37rwhp gain... which speaks volumes about how bottle necked the setup was. so, i ditched that in favor of true duals. matched and bested my best ET's with open cutouts, with true duals... so that told me my exhaust was flowing as good as it ever would.

do the true duals and be done with it. the toughest part for me was fabbing the dowuntubes into the xpipe, which now resides where the cat used to be. from there, just a few feet of straight pipe into twin spintech muffs.. and dumped into the ground right after that. it's pretty damn loud- almost too loud for my tastes, but the cam makes up for that with it's lopey idle. it took me a few months of off and on work to do it all myself... so it's gonna stay this way for a good long while. minus the headers, i highly doubt i spent more than $200 in parts. the most expensive was the straight pipe from jegs, oddly enough. everything else i picked up used. it took me so damn long because i didn't bend anything. i did it all with off the shelf couplings from vatozone... put 2 or 3 together and dont insert them into eachother all the way- tack them in a place or two and fanaggle them to line up how you want. it wasn't that tough, but you have to be willing to get dirty.

pete

[ll ViPeR II]

Thanks. Back to the top, wb header and tb brand suggestions?

[TurboBlew]

Personally Id go with a Spintech header/y pipe and connect it to your stock exhaust. ~$960 new

Throttle body Id go with an F&B.~$250ish used

These are both parts that can be bolted on in your driveway.

Add an M1 & some miscellaneous parts and your $1500 budget is gonna be used up.

[ll ViPeR II]

Not to be difficult, but I like the sound of Magnaflow. Pete said I can't put aftermarket headers on that. Just another noobie question. How far does "true dual" exhaust go back? All the way to the engine?

[TurboBlew]

Not to be difficult, but I like the sound of Magnaflow. Pete said I can't put aftermarket headers on that. Just another noobie question. How far does "true dual" exhaust go back? All the way to the engine?

The spintech Y pipe replicates your stock exhaust system design.
Once installed you can hook the Y to the rest of your exhaust pretty cheap.
Id say less than $100 tops.

Other wise spend your $1500 on intake parts like an M1, rockers, TB, CAI and electric fan conversion.
Then wait around for a set of cheap headers to hit the market and scoop em up and finish your exhaust down the road.

[TurboBlew]

or you can buy a system like this for $900
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Frankfriendly/DAKOTAPICS/PC160760.jpg

Then bolt whatever you want to it

[Pete102580]

dang, that's some pretty shit!

[ll ViPeR II]

You keep sayin Spintech, but is there a way to do it just like you said with Magnaflow?

[Pete102580]

Not to be difficult, but I like the sound of Magnaflow. Pete said I can't put aftermarket headers on that. Just another noobie question. How far does "true dual" exhaust go back? All the way to the engine?

i didn't mean to mislead you if i did.... what i meant was, the pickings are very very slim for a complete off the shelf system. no matter what exhaust you buy, you're going to have to get at least a little creative on how to install it. if you buy new headers, you'll probably get the downtubes (or intermediate pipes as some call them) disconnected, which gives you a little bit of freedom to hook up to the rest of the exhaust.

look at the pic of the long tubes above.... see where the two pipes join into one?... that's for a single exhaust. true duals have separate pipes all the way from the collector flanges on the headers, to the mufflers... almost always with some type of balance pipe. because of how our exhaust is run from the factory and that pesky gas tank, most people use an x-pipe for balance rather than an h-pipe, and run the two pipes right next to each other. it's a little easier, and there's more than enough room to bring two pipes across the trans cross-memeber on the passenger side and hang the mufflers right behind the cab.

if you wanted to go single... and use that sweet lookin long tube setup... all you would need is a 3 bolt flange, some straight pipe (looks like 3") and a muffler. be warned though, most midlength headers are a pain as they are for a beginner.... long tubes for the novice are almost out of the question. i would assume that the engine would need to be hoisted out a bit to squeeze them in.
pete

[Pete102580]

You keep sayin Spintech, but is there a way to do it just like you said with Magnaflow?

pipes are pipes.... the only thing that really makes an exhaust anything other than pipes for your application, are what mufflers you use. get whatever kit you think you like, and swap out the mufflers to magnaflow. doesn't matter if its a gibson, spintech, flowmaster, whatever-kit.... change out the mufflers and you're golden. most of us here go with spintech because they are really the only company that makes anything for these trucks from the cat-forward.

pete

[ll ViPeR II]

I don't think I will be installing the exhaust system, so if that was the case, would I just tell the shop what I want or buy parts and tell em to put em on. And if ThAt is the case, what would I need for that?

[TurboBlew]

I don't think I will be installing the exhaust system, so if that was the case, would I just tell the shop what I want or buy parts and tell em to put em on. And if ThAt is the case, what would I need for that?

Spintech or S&S sell systems you can bolt on in your driveway for teh most part. Of course youll pay $1800 for a complete spintech exhaust system.

You can buy shorties, a JBA Y pipe and run a single pipe to your magna flow muffler. But for a few bucks more you could do the system nice!

[ll ViPeR II]

What is the best way to do Magnaflows? http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/shopexd.asp?zone=all&id=2573 is that the "whole 9 yards"?

[Pete102580]

What is the best way to do Magnaflows? http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/shopexd.asp?zone=all&id=2573 is that the "whole 9 yards"?

i would call that the "whole 4 yards". if you just want a different sounding exhaust- then go for it.

for that system- all that needs to be done is cut off your stock exhaust right after the cat, and have it installed. You could compliment it with a set of shorty headers that will bolt to your stock downtubes for ease of installation.

not many people go with shortys... those that do, eventually swap to mids...

this, is more along the lines of the "whole 7 yards":
http://www.gsmotorsports.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/truduals.jpg
a word of caution... i pulled that pic from gs motorsports... don't do business with them. swap out the mufflers with magnaflow and you'd be set.

slap these on, and you have you're whole "9"....

http://www.dakota-durango.com/aftermarket/gsheader.jpg

[Pete102580]

by the way... $674 is highway robbery for a catback without labor. check out some mom and pop shops. stay away from chains like carx or meineke. keep an eye on ebay.

granted, it was 7 years ago... but when i did a catback it cost $250 parts and labor for a flowmaster setup. after that i did a spintech setup and brought my parts to a shop, it was $200 labor for the install. my brother in law did a catback on his dakota a few months ago at a shop and it was $500 parts and labor... straight out the back, just like that magnaflow link you posted.

some shops dont allow customer supplied parts. i stay away from those. they'll give you some bullshit about a warranty on the parts. warranty?... it's a hunk of metal. you don't need a warranty. workmanship though, you can hold them to regardless.
pete

[ll ViPeR II]

Thanks.

I'm guessing F&B tb and Mopar headers?

[TurboBlew]

What is the best way to do Magnaflows? http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/shopexd.asp?zone=all&id=2573 is that the "whole 9 yards"?

That thing is junk...

Id just buy a magna flow muffler in stainless to match whatever headers you decide on. All thats needed after the headers/y/muffler is some straight pipe unless you want to exit in the stock location.

I have a complete Borla stainess exhaust single 3" system header to tail pipe for a club cab. Id go $850 plus shipping. Its ~3yrs old.

[ll ViPeR II]

I just talked to a shop and they explained that they would start at the muffler(Magnaflow) then take the pipes into whatever style I want. Is that good?

[Pete102580]

you don't listen for shit.

pete

[ll ViPeR II]

:confused: Then what do I tell them?!? They said the muffler is what determines the sound... I think. Ugh, how is that now good?!? :confused:

[TurboBlew]

:confused: Then what do I tell them?!? They said the muffler is what determines the sound... I think. Ugh, how is that now good?!? :confused:

Are you brain damaged? Designing your exhaust around a muffler is flat retarded. And if you keep it up we'll repo your R/T and replace it with a honda civic!

[ll ViPeR II]

Ok. Then tell me what to ask the shop?

[Pete102580]

you are confusing us..... im not sure if something is getting lost in translation, or your definition of the whole 9 yards, or full exhaust is vastly different from what we are used to.


let's go back to square one... sorry if i was a jackass in my previous post, i just woke up at 2pm with a hangover...

So, you want a magnaflow muffler(s)... great, grand... thats the easiest part.....now that that's settled... you need to decide:

1) what your dollar amount is... earlier you mentioned a 1500 budget. many, may things are possible with 1500. it just depends on what you want for your money. most of us are do it yoursef-ers, and those that aren't know enough about what they want to have a shop do the labor.

aside from a dollar amount... what do you want? do you want the best setup out there? or do you just want dual tips out the back and a different sounding muffler?

if you want a different sounding muffler... by all means, pick one out, and have the shop do the pipes however you want. catbacks are the most popular thing out there any any shop worth it's salt will make you happy.

if you want a full exhaust, your choices are still relatively simple... shorty headers or midlength? shortys are the easiest and cheapest, but aren't much better than your stock manifolds. midlengths require a little more money and a little more skill to install, but offer a wider array of options for the rest. i'm leaving longtubes out because 1) cost 2) it's overkill for most people. then... do you want true duals or single exhaust? do you want to keep the catalytic converter or can you afford to lose it? sometimes people keep it, and just gut the insides, effectively turning it into a y-pipe, or to keep it legal for a visual inspection. .. i forget what year truck you have btw, 98's and 99's are a 2 in/1 out cat... 2000's have a y pipe and im not sure about 01+... they have precats and im plainly unfamiliar with them.. there are many people here that can tell you about them.

anyways... for the whole 9 as you put it... pick up a set of midlengths, pph or spintech. figure out what intermediate setup you need or want, and with that- decide if you want true duals or a single exhaust. some noobs get confused on what makes duals, duals... that magnaflow pic you posted is still a single exhaust, just with dual tips... it's just a single in, dual out muffler. the whole 9, doesn't have to be true duals. many people do a single 3" or bigger pipe and it performs just fine.

so again we're at the question--- how much money is acceptable, and do you want single, or true duals?
pete

[Adobedude]

I want single true duals.
:jerkit:

[Warrior Poet]

or you can buy a system like this for $900
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Frankfriendly/DAKOTAPICS/PC160760.jpg

Then bolt whatever you want to it
Who makes this sexy thing? Where Can I get it, and I can bolt a catback to it no problems?

[TurboBlew]

Who makes this sexy thing? Where Can I get it, and I can bolt a catback to it no problems?

S&S and you can bolt, weld, or slip whatever you want onto the system

[ll ViPeR II]

Thanks. That makes it more clear. Mid-length pph. True duals. Mine is a '99. So what else will I need?

[Pete102580]

Thanks. That makes it more clear. Mid-length pph. True duals. Mine is a '99. So what else will I need?

pph's aren't readily available to my knowledge anymore... they're around for sale every now and then... look into spintech, there was a set on ebay a few days ago that disappeared, i think they sold for $250ish. expect that to be bottom dollar if you can find some. most are anywhere from 250-500 depending on condition, coatings, etc.

the trickiest part of picking up a set of headers, is getting the right style intermediates... you do not want a y pipe... or- maybe you do, and the shop can just cut the y off to seperate the pipes.

then, pick up an x pipe like this one:
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MPE%2D10791&N=700+115&autoview=sku
it'll go in about the same location as your catalytic converter.

that is the same exact one i run. i picked it up for $50. you'll need to drill a hole in it and weld an o2 bung in. plug the precat o2 into it and tie the post cat o2 to the frame.

pick up a few feet of this:
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/30610/10002/-1

and then pick up 2 of these:
http://www.jegs.com/i/Magnaflow/642/11236/10002/-1
or whatever style you want to run.

most of us then, put one of these on each muffler and just dump it after:
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/30640/10002/-1
or, if you want... have a shop run tail pipes however you want them to exit out the back.

done.


pete

[Fltlander]

or you can buy a system like this for $900
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Frankfriendly/DAKOTAPICS/PC160760.jpg


Link please....

[TurboBlew]

http://www.ssheaders.com/

[ll ViPeR II]

Thanks!