For once the weather was actually dry in northwest Ohio for a full weekend and I was finally able to get my AWE 0FG exhaust with polished tips installed today. I got a gold deal on Black Friday directly from AWE, but I held off a few months installing it to prevent salt/brine exposure for a season and I didn’t want to freeze my butt off installing it since my truck stays outside year round. I’ve had a B2 Fabrication oval muffler with stock resonators and 5” polished tips for over a year and a half now. It was a decent setup for what it was, but I felt it was time to find a proper cat-back that gave me the Hemi roar I was looking for without sacrificing cruising comfort.
The installation of the AWE 0FG was a breeze once the old exhaust was removed. I was able to get the stock piping out without a lift, but having the stock muffler already cut out made it much easier. I used a floor jack under the hitch to lift the back end up slightly and removed some of the spare tire heat shield to pull the Y-pipe assembly out the rear. The level of adjustment was one of the biggest reasons why I went with AWE, it was pretty straightforward getting the exhaust tips placed exactly where I wanted them within the cutouts of the rear bumper.
With everything installed, all I have to say is wow! I’ve only driven my truck roughly 10 miles since install so far, but I’m really impressed with what AWE has to offer. I absolutely love the sound, the tone is aggressive and throaty without being super loud and obnoxious. The first cold start had me giggling like a schoolgirl it sounded so good! Inside the cab it sounds refined and quiet at cruising speed, it’s not silent like stock but I wasn’t expecting it to be. The only time it’s loud is when stomping on the pedal. It’s also much quieter in the cab at cruising speed than the B2 Fab oval muffler, especially between 1500-1750 rpm, which was what I was hoping for. I’m curious what this’ll be like while towing my 7’x14’ enclosed cargo trailer, I’ll post an update once I’ve put some miles on this exhaust with and without it.
So far I’ve only had a couple issues. Like a couple other guys here, I too snapped a bolt on one of the ball flange clamps. I set my torque wrench to 35 lb-ft to start with after reading what others have experienced, but I didn’t even make it to that on the first clamp before it snapped. I got extremely lucky though and the exhaust tip fell into my lap since I was sitting directly underneath it. Luckily the stock ball flange bolts are the exact same size as the ones from AWE, so I reused them on both ball flange clamps. The other issue is when in ECO/MDS mode there is a slight amount of drone in the cab under certain conditions. The B2 Fab muffler also had some drone when in ECO/MDS mode, but the drone I’ve noticed with the AWE setup is quieter overall but there’s a more pronounced bass level. Hopefully the drone mellows out over time once I get a few hundred miles on it.
