cat back system or just a muffler?

[JoshC]

Hey guys, newbie here. Glad to see an Expedition forum

I bought my wife an 01 EB 5.4 off of ebay a couple of months ago. She went from an Escape to an Expedition, so the size and mileage change was quiet a shock to her! She's gotten use to the size, but with the price of gas now a days she doesn't love the truck. She's getting almost 14 going to work which is about 3-5 miles away and she never gets about 40. That's not bad IMO.

Back to the topic. I was wondering what i should do to help out the mileage/performance. I just ordered a K&N FIPK and i'm looking to match it with some exhaust. Since it is my wife's and she carries our 13 month old daughter around alot, i don't want a lot of cab noise, but i do want to turn a head.

What is a better choice--cat back system (and what kind??) or a muffler swap?

EDIT: I guess i should have looked about 2 forums down before i posted this! Sorry, i can just read some in that section.

 

[green03]

A better muffler with the small pipe will net you an increase in mileage. Replacing the pipe too may hurt a little bit of your bottom end which it what you need on the short trips....
Matt R

 

[JoshC]

So you're saying just a muffler swap would be better for her?

 

[green03]

on a mostly stock truck I noticed better response around town with just a magnaflow muffler than I did with the magnaflow and the 3 inch mandrel bend tailpipe.... now custom tuning can bring this torque and response back, but if your only goal is better economy then any good high flow muffler to replace the factory one would be a better bang for the buck IMO.
Matt R