Muffle required in Texas...?

[Ckocurek]

I went to a muffle shop and wanted my muffler and resonator pull and replaced with a 3" straight pipe.



Well after about a half-hour wait I put my truck onto the lift and we looked under the truck. The hand was about ready to do the work until they asked if I knew it was Illegal to run around without a muffler.



I said no... ???



Well the boss man came out and told me that In Texas I needed a muffler, but they would do the work for me if I still wanted. I held off until I could do some more research, and it turn out that you do need a muffler in Texas. :{



My question is...

What's the deal with everyone yanking their mufflers? Is everyone just running around loud, happy and with lots of tickets? Is this different is other states... ?



Thanks,

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

A turbocharger is a DOT approved sound reduction device. vehicles with turbos are not required to have a separate muffer.



I rode in HVACs Red Rocket witha 5" straight pipe and twins. It's quieter than my 4" exhaust with a muffler.



FWIW,

Mark

 

[b.j.oneill]

That is true is Texas as well I have driven both of my trucks for over 3 years geting pulled over and geting inspection without a problem it just is something they don't worry about. HTH

 

[gitchesum]

I just got mine inspected on Scarsdale the other day. Passed with no problem.

I haven't had a muffler since early November 2000

 

[Ckocurek]

links to the law

Do you guys know where I can find out what's on the list of approved noise redduction devices.



Do you have a link so I can take a look.

 

[illflem]

It is actually a federal law (the Noise Control Act of 1972) that the noise reduction system that comes stock with your truck can not be removed or modified, the states have nothing to do with it. Whether or not it is enforced is a different question. Your owners manual has excerpts of the law, here's the whole thing if you feel like wading though it http://hydra.gsa.gov/pbs/pt/call-in/nca.htm

 

[gitchesum]

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/tr/tr054700toc.html



§ 547. 604. Muffler Required





(a) A motor vehicle shall be equipped with a muffler in good working condition that continually operates to prevent excessive or unusual noise.





(b) A person may not use a muffler cutout, bypass, or similar device on a motor vehicle.





Acts 1995, 74th Leg. , ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.



Like I posted earlier, I just had mine inspected for the 1st time in Texas two weeks ago and it passed. The guy even drove it. Guess I got lucky.

 

[PRout]

Seems like it would be easier if our lawmakers quit listing what is not legal, and publish the shrinking list of things that are legal.



Would save lots of trees.

 

[pwknapp]

A few months ago someone posted the Texas law stating that the turbo was considered a muffler.

 

[LandShark]

I'll probably get flamed for this, but here goes: I suspect that those that think that a turbo will pass as a muffler are the same people that think that it's Ok to do 100 miles an hour as long as you are passing someone.



The point being that if you have 10 mufflers or no mufflers under your truck and you are making to much noise and you go blasting by a peace officer and cause him to spill his coffee, you will get a ticket! Pointing out that your turbo is a DOT approved muffler will not help the situation.

 

[Deezul1]

With 2 Diesel trucks trucks without mufflers and yearly inspections they have never mentioned the lack of mufflers.

 

[me4osu]

I'm curious

Originally posted by LandShark

I'll probably get flamed for this, but here goes: I suspect that those that think that a turbo will pass as a muffler are the same people that think that it's Ok to do 100 miles an hour as long as you are passing someone.



The point being that if you have 10 mufflers or no mufflers under your truck and you are making to much noise and you go blasting by a peace officer and cause him to spill his coffee, you will get a ticket! Pointing out that your turbo is a DOT approved muffler will not help the situation.

What is the sound pressure level that is considered "too loud"? Is it in the "A" weighted Decibel scale, and at what distance from the vehicle is it measured?



Perhaps, a law enforcement offical "thinks" that your window tint is too dark. There is a state test and a maximum level of darkening (30%) that an individual must comply with. There should be a similar standard for vehicle noise, if an officer is able to give you a citation for it. Otherwise, it is purely subjective and unreliable.

 

[RustyJC]

I guess I'm just too old, but when my friends and I were terrorizing the streets of Odessa, Texas in the 1960's as teen-agers, the local constabulary was looking for any excuse to redirect our energies away from drag racing. "Excessive noise" tickets were one way they did this - excessive noise, as interpreted by the Odessa courts at that time, was anything the ticketing officer perceived as too loud. It was subjective on the part of the listener.



My guess would be that enforcement of noise regulations in Texas are still dependent on the locality in question.



Rusty

 

[JConley]

I looked into this, and in Texas, a turbo is considered a muffler. It is in the code somewhere. A friend of mine who is a DPS tropper also looked it up and confirmed that a turbo on a diesel powered vehicle is a muffler.

 

[BK]

Ckocurek , your Texas muffler shop owner is wrong. .

It's not a state thing, it's a fedral thing. He's just supposed to inspect and enforce.



illflem is completely correct. It's even in your owners manual.



Even the intake air cleaner is part of the noise abaitment design which the truck was tested and qualified with. So going to a BHAF violates the fedral act/law.

 

[RustyJC]

Originally posted by JConley

I looked into this, and in Texas, a turbo is considered a muffler.

I guess my question is, just because one has what is legally termed a "muffler", is one exempt from an excessive noise citation? For instance, glass packs were "mufflers", but the Odessa police still ticketed us for excessive noise. Ditto some 3-1/2" "low restriction" mufflers on Street Hemis, 427 Fords, etc.



In other words, is the presence/absence of a "muffler" critical, or is the noise level emitted by the vehicle (regardless of whether it has a muffler or not) going to be the determining factor at the end of the day?



Rusty

 

[BK]

RustyJC,

Based on the fedral act, the p/u must have the components in it that it had when it was qaulifed to meet the noise emmision levels.

So unless you redesign it, requalify it with your new parts or lack of. . it's based on the fact the muffler has to be there, as well as NOT modified. Same goes for the intake has I mentioned earlier. . of course the BHAF is an intake filter, but it constitutes modifing a part that part of the noise supression system which makes it in violation of the act.

 

[RustyJC]

Originally posted by BK

RustyJC,

Based on the fedral act, the p/u must have the components in it that it had when it was qaulifed to meet the noise emmision levels.

No disagreement at all insofar as EPA noise levels are concerned - you can't modify anything from the OEM configuration. However, I think the question that started this thread was, "Can one pass Texas vehicle inspection without a muffler present on the vehicle?" My point was that, even if you can convince a Texas vehicle inspection station that a turbo is a muffler, you're quite likely still at the mercy of a Texas law enforcement officer's subjective determination of what constitutes excessive noise.



The typical Texas law enforcement officer's response isn't going to be, "Sir, you're out of compliance with the EPA noise regulations under which your vehicle was manufactured and certified. You're exceeding the Federal standard by 6dbA as I measured you at 30 meters perpendicular to the curb side of the vehicle at a speed of 50 kph. " Instead, what we're likely to hear, "Boy, yore d@mned truck is too loud!"



Rusty

 

[BK]

Originally posted by RustyJC





No disagreement at all insofar as EPA noise levels are concerned - you can't modify anything, but I think the question that started this thread was, "Can one pass Texas vehicle inspection without a muffler present on the vehicle?" My point was that, even if you can convince a Texas vehicle inspection station that a turbo is a muffler, you're quite likely still at the mercy of a Texas law enforcement officer's subjective determination of what constitutes excessive noise.



The typical Texas law enforcement officer's response isn't going to be, "Son, you're out of compliance with the EPA regulations under which your vehicle was manufactured and certified. " Instead, we're likely to hear, "Boy, your d@mned truck is too loud!



Rusty

Rusty, I get what you mean. But I wont say one way or the other what a certain Texan inspector would say, (I'll stay away from that) and we in this thread can say one thing, no matter what state it is,, we are at the mercy of the inspector and how he looks at it, whether he's right of wrong. But the real answer is in the manaul, even though the turbo is considered a muffler. . the truck wasnt qualified with just a turbo. . so the muffler has to be there. So if the inspector thinks it's noisey and it's all stock, he has no reason to fail it, unless he can prove it's not stock.

So as you say to answer the orignal question, if the inspector is educated and trained correctly and doing his job correctly, your gonna need the muffler. Other than that, we're trying to second guess how the inspector is gonna feel that morning, what he thinks and likes. . if he has a hang over... that ISB is gonna make him feel worse, modified or not! no arguement from me... just MHO.



We had inspectors failing brake hoses if they "looked" to old cause he was sued after he passed a car that lost it's brakes and crashed from a failed hose. The person's family and NYS went after him.

 

[Deezul1]

OK guys, who has passed state safety inspections numerous times without a muffler besides me? Has any one been ticketed for no muffler?