Looking for exhaust advice

Good news! I had been considering JBA or Stans long tube headers for the last couple of years but could not bring myself to fork out the $$$ needed to compliment the rest of the exhaust system. The exhaust tick finally got the better of me and I settled for some Doug Thorley shorties which appear to be longer than all the other short tube header options available.

Those are coming next week. I have some new Toyota exhaust manifold gaskets to go on with them. In order to keep the budget reasonable but still enjoy the new exhaust, I'm contemplating new mufflers to on at the same time.

I'm looking for something just a little louder than stock and not too raspy sounding. I'm considering the BAM 20" or a Spintech Sportsman 3000XLP. I've got a local exhaust shop nearby I've used before that I'm planning to to do the work. Hoping to avoid any drone. Does anyone know how long it takes Dirty Deeds to ship mufflers? Should I considering having the truck converted to true dual exhaust? I know that will cost more but I don't know how much more and if it's even worth it.

 

Call DD. These trucks perform better without dual exhaust.

 

Stock or DD for 1st gen trucks.

I run JBA shorties with an otherwise stock exhaust on my 2002, it sounds & runs great.

 

Are you sure you have a tick and not a bad steering shaft seal?

 

Its probably pretty hard to find somebody in person where you are to hear what they run. Sound clips from YouTube aren't usually a fair representation.

Straight through mufflers will give more of a mechanical sound. At wide open throttle a lof of the gas bypasses the packing, so it is almost a straight pipe sound.

I would stay single exhaust personally. Easier, cheaper, and might scavenge better than duals. Dirty Deeds or a Spintech will sound great. The Spintech you mentioned is pretty mellow compared to the one I run.

 

Curious why nobody mentions corsa? Cost?

 

Probably, and at this point there aren't as many bolt on kits as there used to be and first gen owners tend to be shy of spending so much. Basani used to be popular, Borla as well.

 

I have a Bassani on my GTO (with long tube headers and catless mids). The sound is amazing. Didn't know they made a setup for the Tundra

 

It existed 15 years ago, not sure it still does today. We struggle for aftermarket support because this platform just isn't that popular for mods.

 

@Mustanley here os my spintech, I run the pro street, the second smallest one they make. It rumbles when I cruise and gets loud at open throttle.

 

The tick is definitely exhaust, it is very noticeable outside the truck. A little embarrassing to be honest. A shop I had replace one of my rear wheel bearings even mentioned it, said it was on the passenger side manifold.
I had several V8 mustangs over the years, all with aftermarket exhaust, so I'm sure you can imagine how much this has been bugging me.
@Darkness, I actually caught one of your YouTube videos just searching for some Spintech audio clips. I like the sound, though I'd want to tone it down a bit. The Spintech is definitely more affordable than the BAM muffler and it sounds like dirty deeds builds to order so I would probably have to wait a while before getting one, plus Keith is probably still busy fulfilling the orders from the last group buy.

 

@Mustanley yup, mine is the aggressive 6000 prostreet. Inside the cab is not loud while driving normal but outside people hear me coming.

Whatever you go with, make sure the pipe exits out from under the truck. That will help prevent drone.

 

I was under there a few minutes ago inspecting the system. Not sure if all 1st gens have the same style of resonator, but mine looks like a glass pack not the typical oval type that I was expecting. The muffler looks stock but maybe this one had some work done before I bought it.

 

Finally got everything in for this upgrade. The stainless Spintech muffler took a month to fabricate and ship. The November holidays must have slowed them down. I'll try to schedule the installation tomorrow.

 

I'm jelly over here.

 

Updates?

 

Scheduled for everything to get fabbed up and installed on 1/13

 

I was not prepared to be without the truck for 3 days, but that's what happened. On top of that, all I got was the headers installed. He ran out of time so I've still got the stock exhaust from the cats on back. I'm taking it back next Tuesday to get the Spintech muffler and dual tail pipes installed. The installer billed me for 8 hours and some assorted hardware which came to ~$850 and change.

Impressions - Soooo much quieter that what I had grown accustomed to. Definitely no perceptible loss in power, maybe some gains. I don't normally dog the truck so it's hard to tell if it's faster but power delivery feels strong and smooth.

The headers look nice and the installer took his time and really did good work.

I did find one problem after getting home and popping the hood - see if you can spot it.

 

^^ Good eye.

OP, I'm admiring this HARDCORE. I'm jelly. Firstly, thank you for being a guinea pig... These bolted up to the stock exhaust?

I'd do anything for a sound/video clip.

 

Clearance issue?

 

Dip stick not bolted to the block?

 

That's not it, but I would appreciate it if you can tell me should be clipped in there - hope it isn't too important.

I will provide a clip soon, just hang tight. These do not bolt right up unfortunately, the flanges have to be cut from the top of the catted mid-pipes and new flanges welded on.

You are correct. I haven't looked it over thoroughly yet, but here is the worst offender. It's touching the header pipe and consequently, melting the plastic. Have to remedy that before I can drive it again.

I should probably check that too

 

Just guessing since I remember almost forgetting to do that when I installed my headers.

 

Check engine light came on the very next day, p0420 which should be drivers side downstream sensor related. I'm going to try the spark plug non fouler trick and hopefully that takes care of it. I replaced the passenger side cat less than 3 years ago so I'm hoping I won't need to mess with that side.

The Spintech muffler is going on today. I dropped the Tundra at the exhaust shop and rode my bike to work. Here are few sound clips I recorded over the last few weeks in order to compare before and after. I'll try to record some driving clips this afternoon with the new muffler and post those as well.

 

Are you able to get those manifold bolts off without having to move the engine?

 

Installer (not me ) had to raise the engine to remove 3 of them.

 

Here you go. A 4 minute video driving through town. I clamped my phone with the rear center headrest and lowered the rear window.

0:01 - Start, rev and accelerate through 2nd gear

1:05 - light acceleration

2:35 - hard acceleration at highway speeds

3:56 - a couple of revs and cut the engine

The exhaust note is quite pleasing. It does sound like @Darkness' setup, albeit probably much quieter. This will not annoy the neighbors or the wife. There's a slight drone around 1600rpm which surprises me a little since I still have a cats, resonator and dual pipes exiting behind the rear wheels. The truck definitely feels stronger throughout the rpm range with the header/muffler combo but I know that could quite possibly be placebo effect occurring. Still, absolutely No Regerts.
Going to keep an eye on the fuel economy to see if it changes.

 

Video won't play for me yet but I'm looking forward to watching

 

My truck doesn't have anything clipped in there either and it hasn't blown up yet.