Intake, exhaust, debadging, color matching bumpers, etc.

MikeMartino · August 25, 2018

Hello all, newbie here. I just bought my first ever brand new vehicle. I always bought a year or 2 old vehicles but, with the rebates GM were handing out new was as cheap as used.

Anyway I have a blue 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT. I love it! Things I've done so far is...2.5" rough country leveling kit, moto metal 970 rims, nitto ridge grappler 275/60/20 tires, few other minor things.

I wanted ya'lls thoughts on adding flowmaster exhaust, k&n intake, color matching front and rear bumper (I know paint wont hold well on chrome but will eventually get after market front and rear bumpers anyway) want to color match the mirror caps, door handles, front grill, and paint the chrome running boards black. I plan on removing all the badges and chrome door trim as well. Thoughts???

Ron505 · August 25, 2018

I think it would look great! Congrats on the new truck!

I've been checking these out https://www.ecoological.com/bumpershellz.html

Sierra Dan · August 25, 2018

Great truck!

Welcome to the club

wforrest08 · August 26, 2018

As far as exhaust this is my opinion.

If your only after a little sound I personally wouldn’t bother with a whole system. If your planning on more Performance mods later then it might be worth it. On my 015 I had a local well established trusted exhaust shop cut the muffler/flapper/resonator off (mine is 5.3L/V4 delete tuned) and replaced with a 50 series Flowmaster then they used factory pipe over the axle to build a dump behind the axle (per my request). I told the shop what I wanted sound wise they put the truck on the lift and had me come out and listen to 4 different mufflers to choose the sound I wanted. Also said they retain as much of the factory pipe as possible because it will last as long if not longer than their replacement pipe anyway. I went with the 50 because it sounds good under a load but is relatively quiet while cruising as I to didn’t want anything to loud. I’ve ran this set up for over a year now and I still happy with it, no drone at any speed, can hear it when I want, quiet when I don’t, and was less than $350 all in. In your case a super 44, or series 40 would be a better choice sound wise a super 10 IMO could in the obnoxious range, but you have many other options as well. The owner of the shop is a authorized Flowmaster dealer but also stocks the “knock off” Flowmasters and according to him they are built just as well if not better than the real ones and will last as long. Said he cut a 40 and a knock off 40 side by side and compared them he sells the knock off for 50ish bucks less.

If you choose to delete the flapper (exhaust valve that increases back pressure in V4 mode) you will get what’s called “helicopter” mode ( chopping noise) in V4 mode with some mufflers/cat back systems but not all. Some guys say it’s very noticeable some say not so much. If your not looking to tune your truck or run a Range device (plugs into your OBD2 port and stops the truck from going in to V4) and like V4 you’ll either want to avoid a set up that causes helicoptering or leave the flapper somewhere in the system. In this case I guessing a Flowmaster 40 series delta flow might be a good choice as it’s 4 cylinder compatible?

There is some good exhaust threads on here with lots of ideas. Read some Google search works better for this site than the search feature on this forum. IMO

https://www.google.com/search?q=2015+silverado+exhaust+forum+site:www.gm-trucks.com&prmd=svin&ei=_BDFWsrKCYLWjwS9hIZg&start=0&sa=N&biw=834&bih=1073

Some guys are happy with just a muffler delete/leave the resonator and vica versa. Cheap and if not happy your not out a lot to change to something else. Some guys replace the muffler and leave the resonator which IMO is counterproductive as the resonator is basically a flow through muffler in itself.

Youtube is your friend some guys post videos inside the cab let’s face it that’s where we’re listening. I’d suggest finding similar exhaust setups from different posters as some sound different with different mics/creative editing.

Look up a guy named Matt Earle he has posted like a hundred different exhaust setups on his 015 Silverado most of his vids include cold starts to drive bys. Nice to hear different options on the same truck. Also Kirk Robinson which is Kinneys Exhaust out of Texas has a lot of good vids/options especially if your at all interested in true duals.

As far as intake I did the Airaid MIT tube still running the stock air box with a Delco filter. I’d done a K&N with it but I live on gravel so I don’t run K&Ns anymore. Blackbear Performance did a dyno test on a 6.2L with some of the popular CAIs and the MIT out flowed most of them anyway. Did it before my exhaust could really hear it sucking air but now the exhaust drowns it out. GM does have a TSB about K&N style “wet” air filters that the oil used on them can get sucked up in the intake and coat the MAF causing drive ability issues. K&N says that’s a myth. Tell me who your going to believe...

MN1(SW) · August 27, 2018

All I did to mine was chop everything off aft of the muffler and flapper. It honestly wasn't that much louder. I drove it all the way from San Diego to Mississippi and back like that and the noise honestly was barely noticeable. As far as the V4 mode noise, it is there but it's not that terrible. I got a tune from Black Bear Performance and one of the things he did was wrote me an exact copy of the tune only with AFM turned off. Without the AFM activated, it sounded like a dream.

MN1(SW) · August 27, 2018

I've got some mild off road GoPro footage from a couple years back. The GoPro was mounted inside the cab up by the rear view mirror. There's a little bit of drone in the video but I blame it on the case the camera was in. When I get home from work later I'll try and edit some of the footage and post it for you to get a feel.

As far as painting the chrome, if you're going to be buying new bumpers, I wouldn't waste your time. If you're THAT concerned, just get some black plasti-dip or something cheap like that. I sanded and paint-boothed my headlight covers and grill to match the truck but used plasti-dip on both the bumper and valance. I used to go off road so much in California that the bumper would inevitably get scratched to hell and back so plasti-dip was a cheap, easily correctable solution.

midwestdenaliguy · August 27, 2018

My 2 cents:

1. Painting over chrome (metal or plastic) never lasts and starts chipping/peeling pretty quick. Rocks, debris, car washes, etc all wear on the paint and the paint does not adhere well to chrome. The chipping looks like crap with chrome showing through. I'd recommend replacing with properly painted items vs wasting time/money painting chrome. I know from experience.

2. Chrome delete - luckily there are plenty of options. The mirror caps are easy to pull off and put on new ones yourself. You just need a plastic trim removal kit (amazon and ebay have lots of options). I found color matching OEM black mirror caps on ebay for a good price (around $80). The door trim strips (prevent door dings), can be bought online painted to match for around $140. Just have to heat and peel the old ones off and stick new ones on, easy. I replaced my grill with an OEM black grill from a dealer out of California. It was $900, but worth it after trying the cheap $300 version all over ebay. It's super thin plastic and not as durable as OEM. It arrived with plastic already cracked. Bumpers will be pricey, but plenty of sources where you can buy ready to paint (and have painted locally) or shipped painted to match.

3. Debadging - this can be done yourself with a heat gun and one of the plastic trim tools you bought to do your mirror caps :-) I have always been a fan of debadging (and did that with many vehicles of mine), but decided to color match my badging this time around. It's a super clean look either way.

4. Exhaust - I have a Borla cat back kit. It's a dual exhaust tip painted in flat black. It adds a little more throat, but not too much (which is what I wanted). Love the look and sound, high quality stuff.

5. Intake - I currently have stock but read great things about the aFe Power Momentum filter, box, and tube system. It resulted in the best gains when dyno tested. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GP8FKGU/?coliid=I2UERO3TW0UUZL&colid=31H236F8HU8Y8&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

SirenRed16 · August 28, 2018

Getting the bumpers sand blasted and powder coated will probably hold better than paint. I'm currently looking that for my bumpers but having a hard time getting a color that will match.

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jlozan2 · August 28, 2018

On 8/25/2018 at 1:02 PM, MikeMartino said:

Hello all, newbie here. I just bought my first ever brand new vehicle. I always bought a year or 2 old vehicles but, with the rebates GM were handing out new was as cheap as used.

Anyway I have a blue 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT. I love it! Things I've done so far is...2.5" rough country leveling kit, moto metal 970 rims, nitto ridge grappler 275/60/20 tires, few other minor things.

I wanted ya'lls thoughts on adding flowmaster exhaust, k&n intake, color matching front and rear bumper (I know paint wont hold well on chrome but will eventually get after market front and rear bumpers anyway) want to color match the mirror caps, door handles, front grill, and paint the chrome running boards black. I plan on removing all the badges and chrome door trim as well. Thoughts???

Have you considered removing the front air dam as well?

Also, look into putting a ceramic coating on it.... My brother and I knocked it out in about 6 hours with two coats. You'll be happy you did. Now is a good time since the paint doesn't need correction.

dougwtx · August 28, 2018

I had a shop vinyl wrap my front and rear chrome bumpers. So far, no damage. I drive 160 miles a day highway to work and surprised how well it has held up although it has only been about 4 months and 9k miles. It has gone through car washes many, many times. I see a company called Ecological makes covers for the rear bumpers and for the older style front bumper but not the 2018's yet. If/when my vinyl wrap does peel/chip away, I may look into those covers.

I have a Flowmaster Series 40 muffler and love the sound. The flapper was removed as the AFM is off. Factory resonator was retained at rear.

mrskiff · August 28, 2018

You wont regret debadging and color matching. I have a silverado the same blue and it looks awesome color matched.

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MikeMartino · September 5, 2018

On 8/28/2018 at 7:35 AM, jlozan2 said:

Have you considered removing the front air dam as well?

Also, look into putting a ceramic coating on it.... My brother and I knocked it out in about 6 hours with two coats. You'll be happy you did. Now is a good time since the paint doesn't need correction.

I haven't concerned that but did look at a thread about the air dam removal and I think I am going to remove it and cut it in half.

MikeMartino · September 5, 2018

On 8/28/2018 at 12:02 PM, mrskiff said:

You wont regret debadging and color matching. I have a silverado the same blue and it looks awesome color matched.

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That looks so good!!! I just dropped her off today to color match the grill, bumpers and paint the chrome door handles, mirror caps, running boards, emblems, and door molding matte black. I cant wait to see it complete.

DHaze83 · September 17, 2018

I couldnt stand the little bit of Chrome that came with the Midnight Edition. So i stripped all badges and lettering and bowties. I replaced all badges with custom Red/Black and then replaced the chrome lettering with the "Redline Edition" lettering. And then replaced the black and chrome bowties with custom Black/Red bowties. Swapped the black tow hooks as well. The little bit of Red that i added brings it all together with the factory tail lights. IMO

Jeepin9910 · September 19, 2018

On 9/17/2018 at 12:44 AM, DHaze83 said:

I couldnt stand the little bit of Chrome that came with the Midnight Edition. So i stripped all badges and lettering and bowties. I replaced all badges with custom Red/Black and then replaced the chrome lettering with the "Redline Edition" lettering. And then replaced the black and chrome bowties with custom Black/Red bowties. Swapped the black tow hooks as well. The little bit of Red that i added brings it all together with the factory tail lights. IMO

Where did you get those bowties?