Just bought an afe 4" exhaust for my 02 GMC Duramax. Thw website says the muffler can be turned around for a quieter ride or installed the other way for greater flow, but doesn't say which end is which. It is not marked on the muffler either. Any suggestions?

Stampings open to the front of the vehicle will be quieter. Open to the rear louder.

Thanks!

Give us some feedback on sound quality, esp. towing, and if there is any drone, PLEASE!

CarNut, I installed it today and also installed the aFe PG7 stage II intake. The sound is really nice, a deep note that sounds pretty much like all other 4" exhausts. I won't be towing for a couple of weeks, but I am going to Lake Powell from Colorado tomorrow. I'll post the details when I get back in 4-5 days. I'm hoping for a slight power increase and some better fuel mileage. I do not have a chip. After a short drive today and I did notice the exhaust sound with the windows down and a slight drone. Windows up is about as quiet as the stock pipe was except for a slight drone when accelerating. Cruising at speed I didn't hear anything. The turbo whine is also more noticiable, but not loud and annoying. My wife went with me on the test drive and she thought the exhaust sound/drone wasn't bad. (She whined about the turbo whining.) I stood outside the truck as she drove by and the sound is damn cool. I was surprised to hear how loud it was outside the truck after how mild it was inside. NOTICE- The afe pipes suck to install! I tried it myself and ended up bringing it in. The mechanic was cussing and throwing tools around after an hour and a half. He had to rig up a hanger because the one provided for the particuliar piece of pipe would not come close to reaching the rubber hanger. If you have experience at installing exhausts it probably won't be a problem, if not, pay the shop to do it!

2002 GMC 2500HD CC/SB, afe exhaust and afe PG7 Stage II intake

I just drug this old post out of a search. I too have just purchased the ss version of this exhaust. Anyone got any suggestions on installation that I should know? I don't even find the AFE in the poll. The system looks good I just hope it sounds & works as advertised.

Any comments from others familar with the AFE exhaust would be greatly appreciated.

I just drug this old post out of a search. I too have just purchased the ss version of this exhaust. Anyone got any suggestions on installation that I should know? I don't even find the AFE in the poll. The system looks good I just hope it sounds & works as advertised.

Any comments from others familar with the AFE exhaust would be greatly appreciated.

wow, I don't see this very often.. thank you for using the search feature in this manner.

First, most of the systems available are pretty straight forward. the only slightly difficult thing will be removing the stock exhaust without cutting it.. if that is what you want. If you don't then cut it just behind the muffler and the rear section from the 4 bolt back comes off in 5 minutes. For the front pipe please see the link in my sig for Front Pipe Install.

good luck

briano - great link man. Just the kind of knowledge I'm trying to aquire before taking on this task. I just received this exhaust along with a set of gauges (boost & egt) & 6 gun w/ speedloader. I had planned to install the gauges first with my current configuration to get some readings on the boost & temp, follow up with the AFE exhaust installation & do some testing & data aquisition, then finish up with installation of the Banks six gun / spdloader & run the full monty with it & compare all the info. Just thought it would be neat to see my "real world" results. It's a great plan but now I'm having to send the pillar gauge kit back (the first thing I need to install) since I received the wrong color for my interior - LOL - just my luck. I'll be posting some of my results as I get them if anyone is curious

Thanks for all the info guys - hope I can return the favor soon.

Can't wait to finish tricking out my Dmax!

Unless you are talking about the paint color to paint the new guage pillar with, all the pillars come black IIRC. I know mine is black, and i didn't painte it and it looks good. I have the dark grey interior btw.

I got the AFE exhaust installed today. I was able to get the tail section behind the 4 bolt flange off in 1 piece but I had to use my engine lift to lift the truck off the ground high enough for clearance. Guys, if you don't have access to equipment for lifting your truck high enough you will have to cut the exhaust behind the stock muffler as briano suggested. Installation was pretty painless but I had problems getting the clamps to tighten enough to secure each connections - a couple had movement so I found that I had to tighten those clamps more than the suggested 40 to 50 ft/lbs. Big pain came with installation of the polished tip. After fitting it on the truck - cutting the tail piece & attempting to secure the tip on the system I couldn't get it tight enough to keep if from moving/slipping. I continued to tighten the clamp till it broke. I've just returned from purchasing another 4" clamp & will install the tip tomorrow. I'm still debating on welding the tip on since I have access to a MIG welder with ss wire & gas for that application. As far as the sound - it's great - major improvement over the stock system & I'm almost positive I can feel a bit more power with this system installed vs. the stock one. If you want a great sounding truck & a bit more "zip" do yourself a favor and purchase a 4" exhaust of your choice - I'm sure each system has it's pros & cons but I think you'll be pleased with the overall improvement. There are a couple of things about the AFE system I didn't desire but it does flow much better than stock & the sound is just what I wanted. Dang I've got to keep my foot out of this buggy now (lol) - I hope to have a milage check in a couple of days after business trip. Then we'll see if the exhaust alone will improve mpg (I have my doubts.) Gauges & electronics will be installed over the next month. Thanks for all the ideas & help.

Big pain came with installation of the polished tip.

make sure you get that tip welded on. Most are designed to slip fit over and be welded, but some do clamp on. the tips are easy to remove if they are just clamped if you know what I mean...

Yeah man, That's what I've decided to do. going to the shop & weld it with ss wire in the morning. Not only is this the right way to do it I won't have to look at that ugly clamp!

Thanks

I promised a short blog on my AFE exhaust if anyone is interested so without further adue.......Just completed about 1000 mile of driving on work trip. The AFE 4" full flow is nice if your looking for a moderate rumble for your truck. Any time I'm on the excellerator it's audible but sounds nice but not abnocious. When I rev the motor in neutral it's not too loud at all but when excellerating on the road with the turbo kicked in good It gives an civil but sweet "rumble" around 2200 to 2600 rpm - sweet sounding actually. Has a "drone" around 1500 to1800 when crusing around 55 to 60 mph on the road but not too loud. Bye the way, I did install the muffler in the "loud" position by pointing the luvors to the rear for increased sound but AFE claims you can install this 180 deg in the other position with the luvors to the front and it will drop the level of noise but I'll never know - I like mine were it is. Also, along with the K & N FPIK intake that I'd installed several months earlier I have a definate increase in power - I'm just guessing between 10 to 20 hp but I tend to guess these number in a conservative way - The truck has noticable better excelleration. MPG has also increased but I haven't had a chance to do just a "full run" to base HW/MPG yet. It looks like I may have an increase of at least 1 MPG at this point but I'm getting a few more miles per tank so far. I still plan to eleminate the clamp on the last piece of the exhaust near the back of the truck (it just looks like crap) but other than that I'm tickled so far wth the AFE exhaust. This is not an endorsement but an independent review. Again I'm sure there a several quality systems but overall I like mine & would probably purchase another one if I could get it worth the money. I hope to have the gauges in very soon & I will install the 6 gun w/ speed loader within the next 30 to 60 day. that's all for now - good luck all with your trucks!!!:ro)