The muffler cracked on my 2004 Ram 2500 diesel so I'm researching my options.

Truck's engine/drivetrain is all stock and I have no desire to modify it.

It's an early build 2004 with 3 1/2" straight exhaust from the turbo back, no cat. or emissions.

I want the sound of the truck to be as close to quiet as the stock setup.

I'm looking for something in stainless steel for longevity.

1st option is replacing just the muffler, I found Walker's #54607 stainless muffler (only) which is supposed to be a direct replacement for my truck.
I was thinking of replacing all the clamps with stainless band clamps at the same time.
Cost for this using some of my Summit bucks would be around $200 for muffler and clamps from Summit Racing.

2nd option is I've been looking at some stainless cat back systems in the $350 to 500 price range.
Some of these systems have very small looking mufflers, if any mufflers at all, and probably are loud and create irritating drone.

So for the experts is there a good stainless cat back exhaust system out there that's quiet and doesn't cost $700 plus bucks?

Thanks.

Thank you! (for not being one of those many asshats that insist people can hear their diesel truck 7 miles away!)

Otherwise, I'm no help much beyond talking to your local muffler shop and finding a late model take-off (from one those same asshat's trucks).

If you don't have a cat a cat back system is probably not going to work for you. Since you want to keep it stock and quiet just get a replacement muffler. I wouldn't bother with the band clamps if the pipes have already been creased by the U clamp as they will probably leak.

I have a Diamond Eye 4" system on my 92 from the turbo back with a muffler that is a little louder than stock but not bad.

I would just replace the muffler with a quality aftermarket equivalent. I belive that most of the performance systems avaiable today, provide little if any gain over the factorys robust system.

Good old fashion Walker stock replacement sure quieted my hemi ram down from the flowmaster that it had on it. It makes a good sound when I nail it but normal driving is nice and quiet.

Thanks for the replies.

Plans have changed a bit.

I went to Summit and bought the Walker replacement muffler.

My buddy, who owns a muffler shop, and I had some concerns after looking at the muffler.

First the size of the muffler was quite a bit smaller than the factory one.
Second the inlet and outlet pipes on the muffler were necked down quit a bit from the 3.5" inlet pipe.
It looks like they took a smaller chambered type muffler and modified the inlet and outlet to fit the 3.5" system.
Even though it probably would be quiet, we were concerned this might cause a serious restriction in the exhaust system and raise EGT's.
I also noticed when I was under the truck measuring the factory muffler the tail pipe is starting to get some heavy scale on it so it's days are numbered.



I decided to return the muffler and after doing some research I bought a turbo back 4" stainless exhaust system from Diamond Eye.
I hope to get it installed tomorrow.
I'm curious to see how loud it is, if it's too much I'll probably add a resonator.

I think you'll be happy with it, mine really isn't loud unless you are standing right at the tail pipe.

I have an 01 24 valve, and it's always loud, typical 24 valve. I put on a 4" turbo back system and although the idle noise was the same, but it had a bad drone at highway speeds. I put in a resonator after, and again, the idle noise was the same. The driving noise at any speed, however, was significantly quieter. I recommend putting the resonator in.

Apples to oranges, but I put a nice stainless magnaflow system on my 1500 Ram and it has an objectionable drone at 2000 rpm/72 mph. I looked at the muffler included in the kit, it was about half the size of the OEM muffler, and had no resonator at all. I figured it was going to be louder, but not terrible, with a full tailpipe. That was incorrect!

Your hunch about comparing muffler sizes is accurate. If the system you bought has a much smaller muffler than stock, you probably will have to add a resonator to keep it near OEM volume.

Got the stainless steel Diamond Eye 4" turbo back system installed this morning at my buddy's shop.
Installation went smoothly and it took about 1 1/2 hours to cut and remove the stock system and install the new one.
The quality of the Diamond Eye system was excellent, everything fit perfectly.
I was a little nervous about removing and possibly breaking the factory V band clamp on the down pipe coming off the turbo elbow as a new one was not included in the kit but a little heat applied to the nut and stud and it came off and went back on easily.

I'm very happy so far with the sound of the new exhaust.
It has a very deep tone the rumbles quietly at idle.
Interior is very quiet when driving and during acceleration.
I haven't had it on the highway or towed with it so I hope there is no drone.
I did add a little bling and bought a 5" polished stainless tip off E-bay that should be here next week.
The exhaust on the old retired battleship should be ready for another 165k miles.