To DRONE or not to DRONE

[Ramtuf]

Hello I have a 22 Ram 1550 express regular cab short bed 2wd and want to do a muffler swap to wake up the quiet hemi. I have watched endless sound clips and read hundreds of reviews and can’t seem to find the right muffler. I would prefer a direct fit that has a moderate rumble with no drone. Moderate meaning a 5 or 6 on the sound meter, 10 being the loudest. I don’t want to wake up my family or neighbor at 6 am. I have 392 gears if that makes a difference. I read that regular cabs drone less. Is that true? The 3 mufflers I am considering are Carven Progressive( mixed reviews regarding drone all over the place) Magnaflow 19439( might be too quiet) and Paradox Signature or Hot Tomale. I think I like the Paradox the best but it is not Direct fit and there is not a lot of sound clips or reviews. They are a very small company. The owner actually returned my phone call which was kind of cool. I am also considering the Aero turbine xl muffler. Great sound but not made in USA. Please chime in on these mufflers and others that might work for me. Thanks

 

[crazykid1994]

@Nick@GotExhaust has a wide selection and may be able to narrow down some options for you

 

[Ramtuf]

Thank you. I will reach out to him.

 

[Black1500Ram]

Carven gets my vote.
From what I’ve read it’s minimal / no drone in a regular cab.

My gf started my truck this morning while I’m was locking the house door and the cold start made me smile again!!

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

Out of the options you posted I would recommend the Magnaflow. As far as muffler kits go it handles drone the best. The Solo muffler kit is also great with handling drone but it is on the quieter side so I dont think that is what you are looking for

 

[Ramtuf]

Thanks for chiming in. I will check out the solo as well.

 

[Mb7640]

I have a direct fit flowmaster outlaw on my 2021 it's probably at a 5 for drone I may get rid of the resonators to make it louder

 

[CheechDogg.0n37s]

Carven gets my vote.
From what I’ve read it’s minimal / no drone in a regular cab.

My gf started my truck this morning while I’m was locking the house door and the cold made me smile again!!

The competitor series on my crew cab is what I expected ... to others it's drone no doubt about it , but my wife doesn't mind it so that should tell you guys something ... I will at some point get the j pipe to completely get rid of the extra "drone" but honestly with every aftermarket exhaust cat back or not you are going to have some type of "drone" ...

 

[GTyankee]

I had a Magnaflow on my 2009 HEMI
I believe the muffler was 27" long

I never heard any noise that i would call a drone
But then no one actually told me what a drone sounds like

does it sound like an RC Plane or a gawd dang irritating Jet Ski going up & down the river jumping another jet skis wake ?

My Ram did not sound like either of them

 

[runamuck]

mine had a drone sound at certain speed but it turned out to be from the ANC so I unplugged the mics and all quiet since. it was just a frequency at a certain speed that didnt jive well with my ears. dont know why ANC even needed, this truck is pretty quiet without it.

 

[Burn2k12Ram]

I had a Magnaflow on my 2009 HEMI
I believe the muffler was 27" long

I never heard any noise that i would call a drone
But then no one actually told me what a drone sounds like

does it sound like an RC Plane or a gawd dang irritating Jet Ski going up & down the river jumping another jet skis wake ?

My Ram did not sound like either of them

It sounds like a hollow buzzing sound that can be really annoying. Drone typically happens within certain RPM's and is caused by the sound frequencies of the engine and exhaust resonating with each other.

I can easily tell the difference as I had a muffler that had some drone at cruising and for me was annoying. I changed the chambered style exhaust with a more open type and the drone went away. All I hear is music to my ears now

 

[sickman]

I just installed the Carven Competitor muffler over the weekend. HOLY CRAP, what a difference. After driving it a few days I am struggling to whether or not I'll add a j pipe or change it out. The drone can be pretty obnoxious. We are about to take a drive from CT to Ohio so I guess I'll see how that goes before making the ultimate decision. I have to admit, the truck finally sounds like it should but at 1500 rpm's the drone is pretty crazy. Maybe I'll get used to it. I've had a cat back Magnaflow on a 2004 Durango that sounded really nice with little drone.

 

[16WhiteQC]

24" mufflex, may have very mild drone under certain conditions

 

[Black1500Ram]

I just installed the Carven Competitor muffler over the weekend. HOLY CRAP, what a difference. After driving it a few days I am struggling to whether or not I'll add a j pipe or change it out. The drone can be pretty obnoxious. We are about to take a drive from CT to Ohio so I guess I'll see how that goes before making the ultimate decision. I have to admit, the truck finally sounds like it should but at 1500 rpm's the drone is pretty crazy. Maybe I'll get used to it. I've had a cat back Magnaflow on a 2004 Durango that sounded really nice with little drone.

the J pipe makes the world of difference. But no way i could have gone competitor.. can't speak highly enough of the progressive with 1/4 wave resonator though!!

 

[CheechDogg.0n37s]

the J pipe makes the world of difference. But no way i could have gone competitor.. can't speak highly enough of the progressive with 1/4 wave resonator though!!

I love my competitor man lol ... going to get some quotes from some muffler shops about the j pipe though because even though my wife and I don't mind the drone my Dachshund hates it and it really freaks him out on long drives lol ...

 

[Tom Williams]

My vote would be for the flopro 2511. Sounds great with zero drone.

 

[JC4041]

Unless you are starting at the front and ditching that smooshed Y pipe all you are changing is sound. If you are gonna do it, do it right and do all of it.....unless they've changed their ways, but I doubt it.

 

[farout75]

Hello I have a 22 Ram 1550 express regular cab short bed 2wd and want to do a muffler swap to wake up the quiet hemi. I have watched endless sound clips and read hundreds of reviews and can’t seem to find the right muffler. I would prefer a direct fit that has a moderate rumble with no drone. Moderate meaning a 5 or 6 on the sound meter, 10 being the loudest. I don’t want to wake up my family or neighbor at 6 am. I have 392 gears if that makes a difference. I read that regular cabs drone less. Is that true? The 3 mufflers I am considering are Carven Progressive( mixed reviews regarding drone all over the place) Magnaflow 19439( might be too quiet) and Paradox Signature or Hot Tomale. I think I like the Paradox the best but it is not Direct fit and there is not a lot of sound clips or reviews. They are a very small company. The owner actually returned my phone call which was kind of cool. I am also considering the Aero turbine xl muffler. Great sound but not made in USA. Please chime in on these mufflers and others that might work for me. Thanks

You will void your warranty! Is that worth it?

 

[hemihustlin]

Unless you are starting at the front and ditching that smooshed Y pipe all you are changing is sound. If you are gonna do it, do it right and do all of it.....unless they've changed their ways, but I doubt it.

View attachment 501789

I would like to hear from people that have only changed the y to see how they feel about how much drone they have. I have a feeling that the squished y in combo with that 8 feet long straight pipe before the over axle part makes for alot of drone/unwanted resonance. imagine puckering your lips and making fart sounds in a huge 3" tube the types of resonance it would make.

for reference I have a custom true dual system 2x 2.5" with 2 super 10s cut before the factory y and there is almost 0 drone. pretty loud but no annoying resonance

 

[RocketFoot]

Another vote for the Carven Progressive! It has balls when you smash the pedal but it is pretty quite in the cab when cruising at highway speeds! Drone is subjective to the listener...some will hear it some won't!