Magnaflow 18" and 14" Issues

Hey everyone! I know there is a thread for exhaust clips and discussions but figured I could get more responses on a specific issue I have ran into by posting my own thread.

So I have had the 18" Magnaflow (welded) on my truck for a little over year and loved the deep rumble and WOT sound. The 18" was just loud enough to be heard and only had a slight drone around 1800rpm during highway roadtrips. Nothing that couldn't be covered by conversation or volume on 25%.

But my neighbor went a bought a beautiful ZL1 and the exhaust note on that thing is....wow. I went to my muffler shop that installed the 18" and asked for them to install the 14" to compete a little with the ZL1 next door without losing deep rumble and avoid as much drone as possible during road trips.

My issue is that the 14" is actually quieter than the 18"!!!! I started up the truck after install and was very disappointed in the sound, almost reminded me of the stock setup. Driving on the highway and a few days later, I find myself getting the truck up in the 4000's to even enjoy the sound of the muffler. I have read on the exhaust thread that many people got the 18" and wished they got the 14" or vise versa but I can honestly say the 14" sucks so far. I even went under the truck and measured the muffler because I thought they put the wrong size on but the welds look better than the last one and measured to the same specs as Magnaflow has on their site.

Has anyone done a swap like this or know why my exhaust would become quieter with a smaller muffler? I don't even enjoy remote starting my truck as I am walking to it because the cold start doesn't sound good anymore

I think this is my next muffler for my Ram, Borla #400286 Turbo XL.
What have you got to lose?

I would think 2 possibilities. 1: Perhaps the weld joints were **** on the 18" and you had leaks that made it louder, 2: Are you sure both mufflers were the same brand? Maybe the new 14" has baffles/chambers rather than a straight through design?
Combination of the two?


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I have 14" mufflex and LB3711 has a mufflex 18". He has had his longer and for a lot more miles and I really feel his is just as loud as mine if not louder, but years ago when the both were newer and didn't have many miles my was a little louder and had a deeper tone

The only way to compete with a ZL1 is to buy a cat lol.

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My 18" got louder over time.

something is definitely wrong with this scenario, have the 18 on the GT 500 and its to quiet, have the 14 on the R/T and pure heaven, you can't even compare the two.

I went with the mufflex dod24m on my previous ram the 18 had too much drone when pulling my trailer. still hade a nice deep tone just not as loud.

liftedgm1982 said:

I would think 2 possibilities. 1: Perhaps the weld joints were **** on the 18" and you had leaks that made it louder, 2: Are you sure both mufflers were the same brand? Maybe the new 14" has baffles/chambers rather than a straight through design?
Combination of the two?


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I did notice a small area where a weld may have broken. Hopefully there is a break in period that I need to get through or I might be removing the resonators.

barr0208 said:

I went with the mufflex dod24m on my previous ram the 18 had too much drone when pulling my trailer. still hade a nice deep tone just not as loud.

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I'm looking for a direct fit for my hemi but cant stand drone. Is the 24 the key to success ? Just want it louder than stock but not crappy in the cab , thanks !

**EDIT....I didn't realize this thread was so old....I'd say that 14" is much louder by now. Lol


There is nothing necessarily wrong, its just the 18" was broken in & the 14" is brand new. A muffler with packing such as Magnaflow gets louder over time due to the packing burning up over time, meaning the muffler will have less sound dampening the older it gets. Give it some miles, it will get louder. Here is an example, I had a 14" Magnaflow with a catless y & it was too loud for me once I went catless so I swapped to a 18". The 18" made the truck much quieter, I also added a Kooks race muffler in front of the Magnaflow to help with rasp. Well now with both mufflers fast forward some time & its almost as loud as it was with the 14" again. Keep in mind I race my truck on the dragstrip ALOT so my truck spends ALOT of time at wot so that will even further accelerate the wear on the packing in the muffler. Just give it some miles, it will be louder. Also if you DO NOT plan on going catless then have the rear resonators taken out. That made a big difference with the 14" & stock cats. If you plan on going catless then I dont recommend that. Moes 5" tips also make it louder & deeper

Tino lopez said:

I'm looking for a direct fit for my hemi but cant stand drone. Is the 24 the key to success ? Just want it louder than stock but not crappy in the cab , thanks !

Click to expand...

If you dont want drone keep it stock & put 5" tips on it.

I think this Borla xs is the solution from what I've read. Deep sound and drone free says most hemi ram owners that have it https://www.jegs.com/i/Borla/157/40...H_-IBMH8ahHZGWv3y-bhojiCi-AhrhlYaAoRfEALw_wcB

Tino lopez said:

I think this Borla xs is the solution from what I've read. Deep sound and drone free says most hemi ram owners that have it https://www.jegs.com/i/Borla/157/40...H_-IBMH8ahHZGWv3y-bhojiCi-AhrhlYaAoRfEALw_wcB

Click to expand...

You'll love it...just enough for this guy (and many others on the forum) and a pretty piece of metal, too! You'll be really pleased, especially if you disable MDS while you're at it (either by hitting the steering wheel button or tuning it out).

TXCOMT