exhaust

fennsz · May 22, 2002

I went to my local custom exhaust shop to get some prices on a nice muscle car sounding exhaust. He said the best thing for me to do is run straight pipes from the cat back. Don't put an actual muffler on the truck. Has anyone done this on a 5.3L truck yet? I was just wondering what you got for sound and did you lose any horsepower or low end?

Thanks in advance.

"This is a really cheap way to make your truck sound great" his words not mine.

My Truck

Shaners · May 22, 2002

I've heard it before with a 5.7L. It was a single 3" exiting behind the rear wheel. It sounded very good.

My opinion on duals is they need to have a crossover pipe or X-pipe or H-pipe to equalize the two cylinder banks. This will also reduce some of the "harshness" of the sound.

fennsz · May 22, 2002

I am planning on using my stock pipe for this, just removing the muffler and adding a piece to fit. It will exit the stock location behind the rear passenger tire. I didn't want to go with duals due to the fact I tow a lot.

Thanks.

fennsz · May 23, 2002

Any others, I really am considering this option. Do you think it will be too loud. Nothing is too loud for me, but the wife has to live with it too.

moscow_silverado · May 27, 2002

I have been shoping around for exhaust as well, I went to a shop that had a '94 Silverado on the rack with 5.7L in it. I asked the mechanic what he was doing to it he told me that he straight piped it for him yesterday and when he pulled out of the garage it was too loud and a cop pulled him over and gave him a ticket for having too loud of an exhaust. This system didn't even have any cats though so I'm not sure what it would sound like with them in place.

Good luck!!

fennsz · May 29, 2002

Thanks for everyone's advice...I'm really thinking about exchanging just the stock muffler with Dynomax Ultraflow. I want that nice sound. Any comments please respond. I'm just about ready to buy.

Jim · May 30, 2002

when i had my camaro (lt1 350), I had a cut out right before the muffler i could uncap to have the exhaust exit, I like the sound of the flowmasters but when uncaped the pipe it sounded like a beast. But i could never see driving around town with it uncaped everyday...way to load

Nick99Chevy · May 30, 2002

I am planning on using my stock pipe for this, just removing the muffler and adding a piece to fit. It will exit the stock location behind the rear passenger tire. I didn't want to go with duals due to the fact I tow a lot.
Thanks.

5.3's seem to need backpressure. Without a muffler you will probably lose low end and it will sound like a$$.

pstewart · May 30, 2002

Call me crazy, but I love the sound of the FlowMasters. I put the Flowmaster 40 on mine and the sound is awesome. I only have the 4.8 and I would imagine it would sound even better on the larger engines. The pipes collect to one muffler and split off into two pipes. Mine run straight out the back.... looks good too! Im not towing anything though.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

-Patrick

THE BIGPUNN · May 31, 2002

i thought about eliminating my muffler also, but i am worried it'll sound too loud. let us know.

BuckMaster · May 31, 2002

I have true duals on my '02 5.3L with no crossover pipe and Raven mufflers. A little quieter than flowmasters I am told, the tone is perfect, I can't tell they are on there at cruising speeds or under 2000rpm but when I get on it, it talks to me.

My muffler shop tells me that he as seen Chevy 5.3L get worse gas mileage when too much back pressure is relieved so be careful.

fennsz · May 31, 2002

I really appreciate all the comments. I think I am shying away from just a straight pipe. I'm going to go with some brand of muffler, it's so hard to pick the perfect one. There are just too many. I want a loud deep tone while on it and almost no sound while cruising. I'm looking into what buckmaster has for a set-up, I'm open to all options. The straight pipe sounds out. I don't want to lose any low end.

Thanks

Storm Grey · May 31, 2002

I just had my stock muffler cut off and a 12 inch blue streak glass pack and filler pipe put in place. It sounds great. Everyone told me not to dual it out because the 5.3 needs back pressure. I think I still lost around 1 to 2 mpg, but thats probably because I have my foot in it so that I can hear it rap up. I also think I lost a little low end horse power also, can't seem to get the tires to break loose like I ust to. Top end seems better though, so maybe its a toss up.

95Yukon · June 1, 2002

The cat or cats act as mufflers pretty well without a muffler, but it may be a little harsh without at least a resonator, or cherry bomb type "muffler" to mellow it out a bit. I have a 5.7 and with just the cat and a 3 inch resonator, then split into 2 and out the back, it rumbles perfectly at idle and only gets a little loud when I open it up, but not that bad at all. Normal driving is fine for sound both inside and outside. Everyone comments they like the sound of it. Since the vortec likes to make more power on the high rpm range compared to an old tbi 5.7, it may be beneficial for power, but I don't know because the computer system is totally different too. Mines all torque and rarely goes past 4500 rpm. Just my .02

Sierra5.3 · June 1, 2002

I got a borla cat-back exhaust. the muffler has sound absorbing coat around the inside of it. Its ok, cant really hear it inside the cab very good, but its decent and there is more low end threw mid range.