Well with the change of my injectors coming up, thought I would spend the next 3 years of my warranty on the slightly modified side. I got the power adder part decided and the air box, now for the exhaust. I searched the threads and never saw any conclusions about a solid performing exhaust with very little, if any, drone. I take long road trips and do not want the raspy/droning sound. Been there and do not want to do it again. There are many makers out there now, Kennedy, Banks, Dynomax, Borla etc. They all look very nice. Since I live in California I do not need a SST system, an aluminized material will be the ticket. I also have 2001 truck and want to do the system from the Turbo back.


Can you folks that have done this change out offer up some opinions on your system? Again the most important is the drone at speeds 60-80mph.

Jeff


I have the Banks Monster package and it works quite well. Mild exhaust sound up to 62 mph(and you'll never get away from that if you ditch the stock exhaust) but there is no drone as some talk about. That would just drive me nuts. This is of course unloaded, but after 62mph my Banks is super quite--hardly know its not stock.


Put a load on and that's another story. I pull a 11,000 pound 5th wheel and the engine is working and you know it by the sound of the exhaust but my EGT stays down with the larger exhaust. So, if you don't pull a heavy load where EGT shoot up, stay stock and make your wife happy. By the way, I did not see any noticable change in power and fuel mileage by going to the 4" exhaust. If I said I did,it'd be wishful thinking but glad to see fuel prices starting to go back down anyway. Good luck in your decision.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley1.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley1.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley1.gif

i have a 4in turbo back system that i bought from summit. it came with a 'louver' style muffler, which is very popular as i understand, with the major brands. it was loud, had drone and overall was very annoying. i just replaced it with a magnaflow 36" and it's almost back to a stock sound, it's little deeper and really emphisizes the turbo whislte. i love it. no egt change from the 2 mufflers.

Well, I have been calling all over today and spoke with the dealers asking many various questions, of course they all say they are quiet with very little drone. So my question was not answered so this will be an experiment. The prices on these systems are all over the place. I found the Motoblue system for $299 with 5" SST tip. Some went as high as $1100, if you wanted polished SST it was a walloping $1400. The unit I purchased was 14 Ga fully aluminized, Mandrel bent and a full 4" from the Turbo back. When compared directly with others with exact same stated specs they ranged from $600-$800.....http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley5.gif So I went with the Motoblue system with the 5" SST tip with the resonator. We will see what happens. Figure for that price I can always dump the muffler and add a different one.


If you still have a contribution to the thread please fire away. The muffler is really the issue, not the exhaust piping. if anybody has input on the Motoblue system I purchased please comment away.


Thanks Edited by: Duramax Dually

Take a look at Basani exhaust, they make some of the best around and there systems do not have the drone that everyone talks about. Actually they are suprisingly quiet.

I would look at Basani like Lightning said and also look at MBRP and Gibson. They all make some nice systems...

Thanks for the recommendations. I looked and spoke with Reps for both Gibson and Basani. I think that BETHRON1 may have summed it up. They again all said they do not exhibit the drone but we all know they do, to some degree. Some are looking for that sound, others are avoiding it. Again the exhaust system is not the cause, the muffler design is. So I started with the least inexpensive system and will see what that offers, Mufflers are an easy swap out.

I also have the Summit system, but no drone. Some resonance around 1500 under acceleration, but it sounds good. Couldn't be happier for $299.

Might also consider the Summit exhaust, then go from there. You can add a pretty nice muffler, i.e. AeroTurbine, and still be in it for less than the name brands.

Marc

Duramax Dually,


Most all of the low priced system will be fair to average drone wise, initially anyway. The problem is the muffler packing, if there is any to start with as a lot of the mufflers have no packing, will blow out and the drone will increase with mileage. A lot of folks don't notice the drone as it increases as it is very subtle over time, then one day you go "wow that is annoying" and wonder what happened! The problem is the goos quality packing materials are VERY expensive, where can you reduce cost where the customer will never "see" it, bingo the muffler packing materials. So lets gut the muffler or use el cheapo fiberglass and we can cut the price of the system to sell more systems and so on.


We use a ceramic blanket and stainless steel wool to pack our mufflers, it will be there forever. There can be some drone with our system and it seems to vary between what truck length you have (std cab long bed vs crew cab long bed etc) and if you have a top of the line truck or a rubber floor mat model. The top of the line trucks have a lot more insulation in the floors etc and dampen a lot of extra noise and such. Some customers say we have "0" drone some say a little when towing etc etc.


If you have already ordered, then if you want we have a drone killer that you might want to consider adding our resonator to the system you are getting. It's 18 inches overall with a "can" length of 12 inches. It's basically a baby muffler just like our full size muffler. If you mount it as far forward as possible in the system it does an excellent job of killing any drone you might have. On our systems for those that had a little drone it eliminates it. On the system with lesser quality mufflers it reduces it a ton per the customers that have used it. Basically they tell me it makes the other brand systems tolerable to good.


Now the bad news our system in aluminized is probably a lot less cost wise than a system with no muffler packing or using fiberglass. Odds are you wouldn't need any other resonator to quiet it at all. By the time you buy a system with a drone problem and add our resonator you will way have more in it than the cost of our standard system alone.


Call us if we can help with any questions etc.


Mark @ DPPI

Duramax Dually, if I could afford it I would buy the MBRP system that Mark sells above..but I can't so I went for the Motoblue system for $299 and it comes in today. I will install it this weekend and let you know about any drone. I am very finiky about noises and annoying things like that so if it does drone then Mark sells a resonator that will fix the problem.


I'll get back to ya

Mark,


Tell us (me) more about your resonator. I've got a complete Banks exhaust with the exhaust brake, and I don't know if there's room for it. WIth some speed limits around here of 55mph (and I do that), it still has a louder exhaust note than I'd like. As stated, at 62-65mph, it's quiet enough, though. The redesigned Banks muffler was a definite improvement.


My passengers still get headaches when towing up 'round 18-20k GCW. I've got an extended cab short box.


I did try the MBRP muffler and put the Banks muffler back on after a week - MBRP was not quieter as promised but instead a bit throatier and definitely louder when you put your foot into it (and they won't refund - experiment was a write-off). I've been told to look at the Donaldson mufflers, but they are pricey for another experiment that may fail...


--Rob





We use a ceramic blanket and stainless steel wool to pack our mufflers, it will be there forever. There can be some drone with our system and it seems to vary between what truck length you have (std cab long bed vs crew cab long bed etc) [...]


If you have already ordered, then if you want we have a drone killer that you might want to consider adding our resonator to the system you are getting. It's 18 inches overall with a "can" length of 12 inches. It's basically a baby muffler just like our full size muffler. If you mount it as far forward as possible in the system it does an excellent job of killing any drone you might have. On our systems for those that had a little drone it eliminates it. [...]

Briano,


Excellent, please do.


Mine shipped Yesterday. I spoke with Motoblue rep and they said the Muffler is steel wool packed and wrapped with fiberglass???. He also said it was reversible so you can either make it loud or quiet based on how you face the louvers towards the turbo side. He said the 5" resonator tip they offer will quiet it down a bit.


After reading the MBRP system site and the price that was quoted it a appeared to be a nice set up with the option of the resonator. But like you said, even if you go with the Motoblue and you have to add the resonator it is still quite a bit less in price. My Goal was to add the Air Box, Edge Juice and exhaust for $1,000 dollars. I should be right on mark if the exhaust does not require the resonantor.


Please let me know

Do a search on TTS exhaust systems. There are several older posts discussing the low sound qualities from this system. I am surprised no TTS owners have posted yet. Let's hear from you.

I have a friend that put just a Magnaflow (muffler only) on a 2003 Dodge Cummins, and wow, is it loud. You have to raise your voice to talk when the truck is accelerating, and that is without a load. He said it had a loud drone a certain rpm's when towing. A was surprised to read that CB_Rocket had better luck with a Duramax.

I am also considering a "quiet" system, so please continue posting the good, the bad and the ugly.

Briano,


Excellent, please do.


sure, not a problem. I also want the benefits of exhaust, lower egt's, and any performance or mileage is a plus, but the main thing is I want it still to be quiet.


I have the edge and drop in filter on mine so the exhaust should be a nice add on.


I'll let ya know


B.