4runner exhaust fell off while driving on the parkway

[Devilmans Hand]

Hey folks

So i've been trying to drive the 4runner around some more after tinkering with the idle settings. On my way home i heard a strange inconsistent rattle while moving. I got all the way home, parked the truck, and saw that my exhaust from the muffler back was completely disconnected and hanging from my parking brake cable. I dragged it 5mi home with it disconnected from the vehicle.

The thing is super rusty and I'll prob have to replace it all soon.
With the 22re with stock settings/gear, is there a preferred pipe diameter to use for a good balance of torque/hp? Are headers worth the hassle?
I'm emissions exempt now in VA. The cat on there is only two years old.
I want the truck to be as quiet as possible, so a muffler is a must.
I'm also trying to keep it as cheap as possible.
Eventually i'll want some skid plates and maybe a secondary tank. What routing options do i have, for anyone that is fairly familiar with these 1st gen 4runners?
Oh yea, my 4runner is street legal, somehow...

What are your thoughts?

 

[OTRAMM]

Stick with 2" max for the exhaust diameter. Anything bigger and you loose all torque. I'm partial to the Supertrapp mufflers. Headers help a bit. Mine has a TRD stage 2 cam, Downey headers, 2" universal cat and a 2" Supertrapp muffler. It had plenty of power to get out of it's own way. I messed around with bigger exhaust diameters and louder mufflers when I was in high school and the truck had no low end torque.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

Ryan
I remember seeing something else at the end of your buggy's muffler a couple years ago at a club picnic. Steve said it had to do with manually adjusting the backpressure. He said it was old-school tech.
What would you call such a device, and could i get any benefit to using one under variable driving conditions with a stock engine?

***
ah, it is that supertrap muffler

 

[SAS]

A 2" inlet/outlet muffler from the Zone runs about $20. I built the exhaust on the 6.2 Suburban for about $85, versus the $900 all the muffler shops wanted to charge me.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

Cool. Yea, i home build everything else.

 

[Jakes40]

Just bultd my 40 exhaust for $40. But it's made out of conduit and probably won't last a year with registered use. But it's ready for fall crawl kinda.