Giving voice to the inner child.

My son has been pestering me about the exhaust note, or lack thereof, of my stock exhaust system for several months. Although I have been a fan of keeping things quiet, I am beginning to feel the old desire to amp up the volume a bit, or more (?). I keep going back to the '50s and those playing cards I pinned to my bicycle's forks with clothes pins and thereby sounding like a bad-ass motorcycle, a comment that I posted earlier and drawing one half-hearted rebuke from the peanut gallery.

So the question I have is, what exhaust sound level do you prefer? Are you into quiet, mild, moderate, loud, or certain to be ticketed? It would be helpful were those who answer to give a general idea as to age group and even general locale. I have noted that some places, Texas for example, is fairly tolerant of the more vigorous exhausts. Anything else you would like to add, please do.


[And completely off topic...Just what is the significance, or rather meaning, of the emoticon - "Oh Snap!", with the guy lying on the sofa? This one has puzzled me since I joined the forum.]

 

Find a bolt on cat-back, store & keep the original system for if & when you decide your hate the noise and want you quiet back. @dirtydeeds should have a cat-back complete with tail-pipe that you can bolt-on.

 

@Rex Kramer No question about that maneuver, it is my typical practice when the part removed is still serviceable.

 

The addition of JBA short tube headers gave the stock exhaust on my 2002 enough extra sound to satisfy my inner child, I recently replaced the cat-back on my 2007 and it gave me that 70's muscle car sound I have been missing for so many years.

 

Which peanut in the gallery gave the slight rebuke? Stirring pot.

Preference: I prefer OEM sound. Blub blub blub at idle. Deep blub when accelerating. Not into tinning, hollow, or clap sounds or sounding as if the engine is going to blow. I respect my neighbors peace of silence.

Age: Old enough to drive and young enough to leave a good looking corpse.

Bonus answer: Oh Snap! is that sound the peanut gallery makes when someone (in said gallery) gets rebuked real good for their initial unwarranted rebuking.

 

Don't recall who, but it was rescinded after a short discussion. I never took it as an affront, as it was delivered half-hearted.

My position up until the present. My neighbor's peace being the strongest motivator, with LEO being second.

Got it. Thanks for clearing it up for me.

 

I know what’s under the hood. No need to advertise. And it’s just another thing that draws attention. I’d rather fly under the radar.

 

Via UrbanDictionary.com:

OH SNAP
(exclamatory phrase) a playful indication of surprise, misfortune, or insult

popularized by Tracy Morgan of Saturday Night Live, OH SNAP is seemingly derivative of oh no you didn't where an insulted person, for example a guest of Jerry Springer or often a spunky African American woman contends the insult being made against him/her. While derivative of "oh no you di-int," OH SNAP has more of an emphasis on playfulness and can be said by people other than those being insulted.

see also: OH ZIP
Ted: Man, where you been all afternoon?

Darrin: I had to stop off at your mom's place for a nooner that lasted a bit longer than expected.

Ben: OH SNAP!

 

I'm just over 50 and appreciate a good sounding performance system. That being said I rode in a co-workers Tundra that had a loud system on it and about 10 minutes in I was already tired of it, the resonation in the cab was horrible. It doesn't have to be loud to have good performance, DBs don't always = HP...at a certain point you're just making noise and guys that know cars can tell it's just noise with nothing behind it.
If I do mine I'd go with something increases performance, lets the guy next to me know it's not quite stock but could be tolerated on long road trips.

 

That's my preferred mode of transportation, but the lure of adding power to my 5.7L got the best of me... it was worth it.

 

My truck came with an aftermarket exhaust that's pretty loud. Not Harley loud, but much louder than stock. When I'm cruising under 40 or accelerating it sounds really cool and makes my inner child grin, but when I'm on the freeway it does get pretty old.

Was the install as horrible as everyone says?

 

I had my dealer install them, and warranty their installation.
They have been in the engine for 16 problem free years.

 

I believe I have avoided most, if not all of the dreaded freeway drone with the Dirty Deeds system on my 2007

 

It has to sound like deep rolling thunder, and I want to feel it in my bones when accelerating. Mine is also loud enough to move slow, inconsiderate jerks out of the passing lane. One rev and they move over. It's awesome. Works better than flashing lights.

 

Reading about the playing cards clicking through the spokes brought back great memories, everyone had them and we were kool. When a kid drawing Rat Fink and dragsters with tall skinny front wheels and the motors up front sort of puts me in the jr senor citizen category, and will say we had the best era to grow up in.

Between then and now, today's normalcy is entertaining to watch and sometimes outright difficult to not laugh at the ridiculousness. For example, everyone today wants to wear funny helmets that matches their tight half a scuba suit that squeezes the eyeballs out. Maybe the funny looking tiny like swim googles gone wrong that they wear is to cover this self inflicted eyeball abnormalcy, and not used as sight enhancers as normal people are to believe. The thumbnail sized mirror attached to the sleek narrow super duper speedster eye shades just kills me to no end. As we grew up back then the playing cards in spokes, highrise chopper handle bars and doing wheelies down the street were eventually replaced with large 10 speed bikes that brought us everywhere until we got the drivers license at 16. I'd roll over dead laughing if seeing any of those from back then wearing today's bicycling gear.

Loud mufflers are annoying, am speaking about the compact ricer cars with the big mufflers hanging out the back. Those are an embarrassment to the owners and anyone riding inside. These tiny little cars are screaming like they're moving so fast that the paint's peeling off, but in fact they're going 45mph and barely getting around the car ahead of them when having it floored to pass. So, because of growing up when everyone had some type of muscle car ya gotta have a fast car if you want loud mufflers. Also, today's stock 8 cylinder motors just plain look stupid when equipped with very loud mufflers.

I have a couple of Corsa mufflers that have laying around that give the growl similar to Chevy or Fords modern muscle car line up, but they might not be installed in this ole Tundra due to having a little stock 4.7. Last thing I want to hear is sounding like I'm getting somewhere fast when getting on it, but in reality the trk's not moving accordingly. Corsa labeled the ones I have "RED" for sound category which is one step above "Touring" category. Those were the two levels of sound Corsa offered several years back. Today Corsa offers 3 different sounds as does Borla, mild, loud and aggressive loud. Or something like that. Those are the two mfg's I look for when muffler shopping. Been there done that with all the other mufflers since the 70's and have gravitated to the Corsa or Borlas.

I recommend the Borla Touring cat back for your trk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=113&v=KaH4NtjWsvU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=236&v=J99shMdecUI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=z4wbefde-J8

 

Most of the modern cat-back systems for the Tundra sound pretty awesome at WOT, but it's the sound you hear just driving around town & cruising that I was most interested in. That, and any power gains without losing any low end torque, or gaining any unwanted drone.

 

@02goes Thank you. Nice to read something more than three sentences long.Ha! Your writing brought back a few of those memories, such as mounting the bike's handle bars on backwards so they looked like a motorcycle. The Rat Rods, I forgot who was behind that scene, Big Daddy Roth or something, but yeah the dragsters, big ass tires in back and some rat character with a two foot tongue flapping in the rush of air, and the gear shift knob sticking up high overhead. Big bikes with fat tires before the advent of those little banana bikes, those BMX bikes I think they call them. I don't know if you remember but there was even a time when you were as likely to see as many kids running around in coonskin hats as ball caps. And all the parents looked after everyone's child, in an unspoken agreement before the lawsuit era was birthed and it became hands off, and don't get involved. Yeah, those were the last of the real innocent days of this modern America of the atomic age. Burned out by Vietnam, Charles Manson, LSD, Kennedy Assassination, our society changed to one where we stopped trusting our neighbors, our community. The atomic family retreated into itself, just short of building moats. ...suddenly this narrative is shooting for the moon.

I've been up and down on this issue - one minute hankering for sound and the next likin' da quiet. An exhaust cutout would be so handy to meet the day's mood, but they certainly seem problematic from what I have gleaned from the web. Don't need the thing breaking down in the midst of a church gathering and bringing some unwanted attention. Likewise, I wouldn't want to drive near such a gathering with some rowdy exhaust system that is permanent, either. Yet that inner child often speaks to me with a loud voice, wanting to be free of these constraints, and live the dreams of yesterday.

 

Somebody with the required skills should come up with an app that plays the exhaust sound you want to hear, and syncs it to your actual rpm's and engine load. Virtual hod rod at the press of a button.

 

Had wanted dual exhaust out back instead of side for awhile, so about 2 yrs ago I had a muffler shop put on a Flowmaster Super 40(low bass) with 3" flowmaster tips. It took me back to my youth but pissed off some of my HOA neighbors...."grow up" they said. I love the blum blum blum sound except around 55 mph, above 60 mph I'm kewl with the sound....I get over it by turning rock and roll up just a little louder

You can find me where MS/TN/AL touch and 60 is in my rear view and 70 is straight ahead in my headlights, Good Lord willing !

 

VW has done this, they play noises of what the motor sounds like over the stereo. I've heard it is because they improved the sound dampening but realized they could no longer hear the motor.

 

I like the way you roll Bubba.

 

Yeah, when relaxing with a few beers tendency to be short is out the door, and sometimes the words get slurred.

 

I have listened, and I am still listening, but...I'm not tuned in to the message of spend what I don't have, for something I don't need. Now not to put anyone off, but I can not afford these "systems" nor do I have the need for the performance they promise. I don't plan on climbing any mountains, or jumping over any seas, running down bullet trains, or pulling any tractor trailers. I just want to putt down the street looking and sounding good. [Thanks Fred!] That's all.

My plan is very simple, find the sound that fills my dreams, as best I can, that fits with my view of where I want to be for these remaining years. My plan is to replace the stock muffler with one that delivers the sound that suits me best without any major performance penalty. It would be fine if the performance improved but I am realistic enough to believe it will go south, and keeping it within reason is good enough. I'm the son of a Scot, and just as cheap as he was, and his father before him. I wish to spread my spending around and not get buried in any one thing, if possible, for my truck is due the care that could otherwise overwhelm me if I didn't sharpen my pencils properly. In other words, there are priorities that surpass my desires for the esoteric, priorities that come in rank file to be addressed one at a time as I check them off the list, priorities that go to the heart of my truck: timing belt and water pump, ball joints galore, suspension work, still got to replace the master cylinder, need rear brake drums soon, and the list of catching up continues unabated. I can squeeze in a muffler here, or bushings there, but I can't replace stuff that is in sufficient working order as to not be of any concern for the near future, such as my exhaust system. A muffler-okay, but a cat back-no way.

So I've come to this community seeking opinions on what you like, knowing as with everything, there will be differences. It is these differences that I weigh with my own that helps me to stay real as I waltz with my budget. Now if any of you have a hankering for a couple recreational lots along the once mighty Skagit River and can meet my price, I'll move the Scot aside and start living as the Irish of my mother's people, having found my pot-o-gold.

 

Contact Keith @dirtydeeds, I believe he will sell or at least recommend a replacement muffler that will fit your budget as well as satisfy your desire for sound.

 

Almost middle age here. I like a deep, mellow exhaust tone. I absolutely love my TRD exhaust system. The design is great and the sound is just enough to not sound stock. Of all the exhaust systems I've owned, I think this is my favorite. The Tacoma TRD exhaust is second.

 

I don't get it, we both have the same year TRD trk exhaust system. Yours doesn't make any noise with hard acceleration? Mine gives a noticeable good sounding light growl when stepping on it, otherwise there's nothing and it looks as stock as it gets.
https://dz310nzuyimx0.cloudfront.ne...28b796e9/d0c2dfcd1f8623433f01f613eb32c69f.png

 

Nope, mine is as silent as a church mouse. I do get a nice mellow rumble at start-up that quickly fades away and I am left with a very polite and quiet exhaust. It is in essence perfect - too perfect for the rowdier side of me that seems to be emerging of late as I look to my bucket.

 

From someone that grew up driving 60’s American muscle you are not going to get that nostalgic sound out of a modern truck. IMO most trucks, w/ loud performance mufflers, sound like loud boats. A lot of this particular sound comes from engine, intake and exhaust design. My preference would be a baby step in sound level using a complete Dynomax 19330 cat back or a Flowmaster 70 series using a Dynomax intermediate & tailpipe.

 

Remember the days of poking holes in the mufflers to get a louder sound, this guy does a better job than that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqr2_rUoBrc

 

At times, the @dirtydeeds cat back on my RCSB comes very close to duplicating the sound my GTO's made. However, the variable valve timing, overhead valves and timing chain mix in a different sound that my old Carbureted push rod engines could never make.