New truck....exhaust question

[hjones0922]

Hey ya'll, it's been a while since I posted. My best friend and number 1 fishing/boating buddied got killed in a motorcycle vs deer wreck a few weeks back, and it's just taken the wind out of me regarding my boat and fishing, etc.

Anyway, I bought another truck, hopefully picking it up tomorrow. It's a 2003 Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0 gas motor in it. Truck is entirely stock except for 18" tires and rims, so I'm not fond of the stock exhaust sound. I was just wondering if anyone on here had the same truck/motor, and had some recommendations on best sounding exhaust for it. I'm not that concerned with how loud it is in the cab, I love the loud exhaust sound, it's just cool sounding to me, so we can rule "too loud" out of the equation. I'm looking for something that, accompanied by the K&N air intake, will sound mean and loud, and also save me a couple MPG. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance....
-HJ

 

[kylejb2663]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Hey ya'll, it's been a while since I posted. My best friend and number 1 fishing/boating buddied got killed in a motorcycle vs deer wreck a few weeks back, and it's just taken the wind out of me regarding my boat and fishing, etc.

Anyway, I bought another truck, hopefully picking it up tomorrow. It's a 2003 Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0 gas motor in it. Truck is entirely stock except for 18" tires and rims, so I'm not fond of the stock exhaust sound. I was just wondering if anyone on here had the same truck/motor, and had some recommendations on best sounding exhaust for it. I'm not that concerned with how loud it is in the cab, I love the loud exhaust sound, it's just cool sounding to me, so we can rule "too loud" out of the equation. I'm looking for something that, accompanied by the K&N air intake, will sound mean and loud, and also save me a couple MPG. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance....
-HJ

Hi HJ,

First let me say I am sorry to hear about you're friends accident! I will definitely keep him in my prayers.

For you're truck questions, I would recommend going with MBRP Performance Exhaust, They are great at what they do. Not only will you see a HP and torque increase, but you'll probably get 2-3 MPG more since it will be less restrictive. My brother owns a small performance shop and he often uses MBRP for gas and diesel engines. His customers seem to like the systems a lot and the sound is very decent not too loud but a nice deep tone.

Here is a link:
http://www.mbrp.com/

Thanks!

Kyle

 

[hjones0922]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Thanks Kyle, as everyone I know has Thrush or Flowmaster, I'd never heard of MBRP. I checked them out this morning, and then checked out some sound clips on YouTube. They sound great, and actually advertise the performance gains, which I like too.

 

[kylejb2663]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Not a problem at all! Happy to help out!

You definitely will not be disappointed. It seems that Flow Masters are the choice for a lot of cars/trucks. They have decent sound and they are engineered well, but not as deep of a sound as what MBRP is. The performance gains are definitely true along with MPG increases. Much less restrictive then the competition which is where the gains come from.

 

[TRAILN]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Flowmaster is my first choice. I'm on my second one and love it lots.

 

[hjones0922]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Yeah Flowmaster has always been my first choice too, but I'm really liking the sound of those MBRP sound really good, and seem to have more benefits (read as, save me a couple MPG), so I may look into those if the price for installation, etc. isn't ridiculously higher than FM.

 

[TRAILN]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

The instalation I did myself and saved on labor. Its really not very hard to install.
In terms of saving MPG with a performance muffler... Its quite opposite for me, I use more fuel. I find myself going faster and revving the engine higher because of the great deep exhaust note. It may certainly be different if I drove it like the OEM muffler.

 

[hjones0922]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

I'm trying to convince myself that I won't do that, since I'm used to having a flowmaster 50 series on my last truck. But then again, it was an F150 with the 5.0 in it, so I'm sure for the first few months I'll be enjoying that 6.0 power and probably drink a bit more fuel.

I've considered doing the installation myself, I've never paid for it before, always just did it in the driveway. But lately with kids in football, work, stuff like that, I just don't have time to do much of anything. The honey-do list always seems to come up first on the weekends.

 

[GMC2003]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Have you heard of Banks Power? I'd look at them too, Kinda a competitor with MBRP

 

[hjones0922]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Just looked at the site for Banks, but doesn't seem to be anything for my specific year (2003 with the 6.0). Or I'm just blind and missed it completely.

 

[GMC2003]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Click on the Products, then Exhaust, then Monster Exhaust, then select your truck.... Banks is much better known for diesel exhaust as is mrbp...

 

[hjones0922]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

OK cool thanks. That worked. I found it hard to believe since the 6 is a pretty common motor in those trucks. I will definitely have a look at them too.

 

[kylejb2663]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Banks is a great vendor as well- I forgot about them!! They have pretty awesome tuners as well at least for the Power Stroke... I am not sure about the 6.0 Gas but I am sure they do.

Installation yourself will save you a decent chunk of change, it's not too bad of a install at all! Then with the money you save from doing your own install, you can re-invest that into the iBoats Store LOL

 

[badkins50]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

So about your buddy. Man that sucks. Thoughts and pray sent to his family and friends.

Banks complete system if I could justify the cost. I've personally used Flowmaster, Gibson and Cherry Bombs. Both Gibson exhausted blew out and fell apart within 2 years so needless to say I'll not go back down that road. The flowmaster I've used on all both of my street rods and my 05 Dodge Ram 1500 and love the sound and quality put in them. The Cherry Bombs are a nice loud tone that I use to use on the street rods before switching.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Do not trash your old intake....... seems like the K&N wrecks the MPG Do your own test with the 6.0

 

[hjones0922]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Yeah, saw some pricing on the Banks....think it might be a bit rich for my blood, especially after paying cash for the truck.

Thanks for the heads up on the K&N. I'm supposed to be getting it for free from a friend of mine, trading him my stock to go back into his wrecked truck that he's parting out. Now I may want to do a trial run with it first and see.

 

[mommicked]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

A biker was killed in a crash w a deer 5 mi. from my house last year.My wife hit one in broad daylight a few years back that jumped right in front of her car out of tall unmowed grass on the side of a busy road. I was riding w her and the deer just jumped 10' infront of us at 45/50mph. There are just to many deer in alot of areas nowadays. We need more bowhunting in urban areas where they have no predators. Im sadened to hear of your friends death.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

K&N filter is a waste of money and lets dirt get into your engine.

Don't expect a lot of difference in performance by just slapping on after market exhaust. Definitely won't see any MPG difference.

 

[hrdwrkingacguy]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

Yea exhaust is just noise...Unless you do long tube headers, and a complete system...Then do a custom tune...That 6.0 has tons of upgrade potential...You can have the heads planed down to change the compression ratio, new lifters, springs, cam, custom tune....I have seen them on an engine dyno with 540ish hp with just a few changes...

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: New truck....exhaust question

you get more relief in backpressure from just a muffler change than a whole system change as the stock systems are all mandrel bent and of really high quality materials, however not worth it unless you really want to change.

the issue I found with K&N is the drone in the cab is annoying. it did help with fuel economy on my durango