i need my truck to sound like a truck

Nolasaintz · August 6, 2015

I have the Afe catback system with the black tip, paid 450 shipped from Amazon a few months ago.

Nice system, installed it in my driveway in about an hour. This is a mellow exhaust, only really hear it when accelerating. My last truck had Flowmaster 44 series, this is much more tame, while still sounding good.

Very slight drone in V4 mode, my buddies riding couldn't tell when it shifted unless I told them. I recently added a Cai and tune (turned off Afm), and the exhaust sounds perfect for me. Throaty while accelerating but quiet while cruising.

daniel_23 · August 7, 2015

I suggest that you go for a Flowmaster truck exhaust. It produces a rich, throaty sound that would definitely give you the powerful truck sound you are looking for.

Lgetz · August 7, 2015

I simply had them replace my stock muffler with a Magnaflow 12909. Sounds good at start up and idle plus a much deeper tone and does not drone too much at highway speeds.

Truck definitely sounds like a truck without being annoying.

mfbearded · August 8, 2015

i ordered the afe cat back today along with the airaid jr kit. ill update everyone once it arrives and everything is installed.

chevy15 · August 9, 2015

anyone have the V6 with a Flowmaster or Magnaflow? Just curios if you'd get that deep throaty sound?

BlackZ71Silverado · August 11, 2015

I suggest that you go for a Flowmaster truck exhaust. It produces a rich, throaty sound that would definitely give you the powerful truck sound you are looking for.

FlowMaster, really?

FlowMaster is not a very good choice when it comes to performance or quality. Their mufflers are actually more restrictive than the OEM muffler. They are not made from high quality material and they are known to rust out, and have chamber welds break inside the muffler. It will not increase performance and will actually decrease your trucks performance, that's all been proven.

FlowMaster mufflers are popular with some because they are a cheap off the shelf brand that do a ton of advertising. They are also available at most any auto parts chair store. People buy them because they are cheap but there is a reason they are so cheap.

A good quality stainless, straight through design muffler is what you should recommend. They are not going to be cheap like any off the shelf FlowMaster but will actually do good for the truck and increase performance.

Borla, MBRP, Corsa are a good performance exhaust and they all sound great. No raspy crackle or popping sound like you get with FlowMaster.

If a muffler replacement only is what you are looking for, Borla sells the GM Performance Parts mufflers through their website. They offer both the Performance and Touring mufflers. They are made from high quality T304 stainless and they last forever.

Do yourself a favor and don't cheap out on your exhaust and don't decrease your trucks performance with anything FlowMaster. Do some research, save some money and get yourself a good sounding, good quality exhaust.

Sent from my crappy iPhone 6

using Tapatalk

TedzGMC · August 12, 2015

True dual and glass packs man. Go retro dude!

crushNchowda · August 12, 2015

FlowMaster, really?

FlowMaster is not a very good choice when it comes to performance or quality. Their mufflers are actually more restrictive than the OEM muffler. They are not made from high quality material and they are known to rust out, and have chamber welds break inside the muffler. It will not increase performance and will actually decrease your trucks performance, that's all been proven.

FlowMaster mufflers are popular with some because they are a cheap off the shelf brand that do a ton of advertising. They are also available at most any auto parts chair store. People buy them because they are cheap but there is a reason they are so cheap.

A good quality stainless, straight through design muffler is what you should recommend. They are not going to be cheap like any off the shelf FlowMaster but will actually do good for the truck and increase performance.

Borla, MBRP, Corsa are a good performance exhaust and they all sound great. No raspy crackle or popping sound like you get with FlowMaster.

If a muffler replacement only is what you are looking for, Borla sells the GM Performance Parts mufflers through their website. They offer both the Performance and Touring mufflers. They are made from high quality T304 stainless and they last forever.

Do yourself a favor and don't cheap out on your exhaust and don't decrease your trucks performance with anything FlowMaster. Do some research, save some money and get yourself a good sounding, good quality exhaust.

Sent from my crappy iPhone 6

using Tapatalk

This isn't entirely true - some of Flowmaster's products are 409 stainless which, while it will show oxidization, shouldn't "rust through" for 10 years or so. Many manufacturers only use 409 stainless too, I am not sure if the stock exhaust is 304 stainless or not, I haven't put a magnet to it. I believe it may be. You need to look at the build specs to find out whether the muffler/catback is Aluminized steel, 400 series stainless, or most preferred 304 stainless - The Force II catback flowmaster offers is 409 stainless, I had it for 2 years on my '14 truck and 2 heavy winters no issue w/ it. Sounded very good too no drone w/ the AFM on the 5.3 motor.

All that being said...I do agree Flowmaster is @ the lower end of the price spectrum for a reason, and while I didn't mind having on my truck (mainly because it was mild, didn't drone, was cheap & bolted right on - but MOSTLY because it allowed me to run dual side exit pipes which I love) there's no way in hell I'd ever put one of their systems on performance car.

The stock exhaust has got to be a bit restrictive just because it is so damn quiet and has the flapper valve to keep AFM noise out, but generally there's very little if any gains to be had from an aftermarket catback vs. stock setup. Best thing to do on a budget is simply swap in a brand name quality muffler like Borla as you suggest, weld a polished tip on, and/or cut out any restrictive stock sections and replace w/ straight pipe welded in.

If anyone is dead set on getting a $1000+ catback I would highly recommend against it, if you're going to spend that kind of $$$ it would be WAY more beneficial to get LT stainless headers w/ catted mids, hook 'em up to the stock exhaust & either leave it alone and be semi-stealth (the headers and less restrictive cats will increase/alter sound somewhat) or swap out the muffler as suggested above for a little more rumble.

Also remember...unless you want to keep the OEM iron manifolds/cats for some reason, you can then turn around and sell the stock cats for $2-300 and recoup some of the cost of the headers.

mfbearded · August 12, 2015

afe box arrived today...installed in 2 hours flat. did it in the drive way with a jack and jack stands and got the stock exhaust off in one piece...by myself. that wasnt hard as far as the one bolt and hangers, maneuvering it out was a little tricky but i got it. new exhaust was a breeze. everything went as planned with zero complications. it looks great (i went with the black tip). also i didnt like the gaudy silver emblem so i sprayed that flat black and that dried while i worked on the rest. sound it just what i wanted. great sound at start up, throaty when u get on it but cruising i can barely hear it. very happy overall and highly recommended to anyone in the market. thanks for all the input from eveyone. also installed an airaid jr kit to go with it.

volrus · November 11, 2015

Just barely. But if you did not know what to listen for you would not notice it. I can definitely recommend the flowmaster delta flow 50.

scott19677, do you still like the delta flow 50? I'm about to drive myself bat sh!t crazy trying figure out which muffler I want to put on my 2015. I don't know that I mind a little drone, but I don't want something that is going to wake up the neighborhood when I leave in the morning. For example, from listening to the Corsa, it seems VERY loud. Not interested in a full cat back.

Silver ice 6.2 · November 11, 2015

Borla xr1 race muffler ftw

Guapoh · November 11, 2015

Here you go:

BlackZ71Silverado · November 11, 2015

^^^^^^^

I don't get why people pay so much money for a nice pickup but then cheap out on the exhaust.

Adding an exhaust/muffler that is more restrictive than OEM is not a good choice. There are several free flowing, straight through systems out there that sound great and increase performance.

Why go with the cheap, restrictive, performance robbing system? Is it for that raspy sound only?

Sent from my crappy iPhone 6

using Tapatalk

Silver ice 6.2 · November 11, 2015

^^^^^^^

I don't get why people pay so much money for a nice pickup but then cheap out on the exhaust.

Adding an exhaust/muffler that is more restrictive than OEM is not a good choice. There are several free flowing, straight through systems out there that sound great and increase performance.

Why go with the cheap, restrictive, performance robbing system? Is it for that raspy sound only?

Sent from my crappy iPhone 6

using Tapatalk

I was muffler swaping back in 2004 on my silverado. And out of the 6 mufflers I put on that flowmaster super 44 was the worst. So from that day forward never touched flowmaster. And I sure don't want to be another truck on the road that sounds like cheapmaster

volrus · November 11, 2015

Borla xr1 race muffler ftw

Just watched your YouTube video. Sounds great. Doesn't seem too loud and from what I can tell, no chopper. One difference is I have the 5.3. Will there be a difference? Mind telling me which part number? Thanks!