Re: dual exhaust

Posted by Hal/WA on November 06, 2007 at 18:50:30 from (66.45.175.118):

In Reply to: dual exhaust posted by gearhead68 on November 06, 2007 at 13:58:43:

It might depend on if you have catalytic converters or not, and if you do, how loud it ends up being. In my state, if a law officer stopped you for loud pipes, and looked under your truck and saw no mufflers, you would probably get 2 charges: loud exhaust and defective equipment/no mufflers. And the second charge might require you to have the vehicle inspected after it was repaired. It would probably be lots cheaper to do it right the first time.

On the other hand, if the catalytic converters muffle the exhaust enough, you might get by with the cheaper system using no mufflers, but I sure wouldn't bet on it.

Loud pipes/excessive exhaust noise is a charge that probably requires the officer to measure the driveby sound with a calibrated meter, although it might be different where you are. In other words, it would not just be the officer's opinion that it was loud, but there would need to be physical data for a conviction to occur. But if the law says you have to have a noise suppression system aka muffler, and you don't have any, all it would take for a conviction would be for the officer to see and hear you operating the truck on the public road and him seeing that you only have straight pipes.

If your exhaust system restricts the passage of exhaust gas, at least in theory, you lose some power. A 454 is a large engine that will flow a whole bunch of air, at least at high RPMs. I would use the larger exhaust tubing and incorporate some good high performance mufflers tucked up high and out of the way. If your truck has catalytic converters, you might consider getting new, high flow converters to replace the stock system. If you have to put up with vehicle emission inspection in your area, I doubt that your truck would ever pass without the converters operating.

Another thing: having excessively loud pipes is just bad manners...so give your neighbors a break and use decent mufflers. Loud pipes are ticket bait, and that could happen over and over. It could get real expensive, real fast. And riding in a vehicle very long with unmuffled exhaust gets old mighty quick. Been there, done that.

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