My truck is a 1997 3/4 ton 2WD - 12 valve with auto. trans. It puts out 180HP and 420 ft lbs of torque. It's basically stock except that I have added a trans. temp guage and use a K&N Air Filter. I also tow a fairly heavy 5th wheel but never exceed the GCVWR of 16,000 lbs. My question is this: I've read where performance or at least HP can be increased by installing a 4" exhaust system. Where I live that's about a $500 bill. So I'd like to get a point of view from others who have done this. Is there a noticeable increase in performance with this size system?
Somebody said to me when I told them about the K&N - It's great to get more air in, but you have to get it out as well. So any recommendations/comments/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Welcome to DTR Dennis! In short, big exhaust does not increase horsepower/performance. What it does do is raise the horsepower/performance ceiling. In other words, with bigger pipes (say, full 4'' exhaust) you'l now be able to turn the power up and have the exhaust flow capacity to compliment the engine updates. There are several free mods and tweaks you can do to your '97 to increase performance. I'll let the 2nd gen guys tackle that.

 

Straight pipe is all you need. $40 tops and 1/2 hour.

It will sound like 400 hp under the hood. People will scatter when you come down the street. Or will turn around and look when you are pulling up a hill then scatter.