Rips 4" is on, before/after decibels

[krabman]

First off I have to say what a great guy Rip is to work with. I told him that I had been reading conflicting information in regards to whats quieter 4" or 5" and wanted to try comparing them on my truck. I also wanted to try it with a resonater and muffler to start with but possibly throw a second muffler in there if that was too loud. Rips answer,"no problem, Im kinda intersted in seeing how it will sound on these 03's myself". Not a lot of vendors would be willing to go to that extra work. Then there was the quick (bit of a pun) ride in his truck. Oh, did I mention he bought lunch? All testing was done with my cheap but works radio shack spl meter that is not at all calibrated on the same day on the same truck under the same conditions. I took measurments at idle in and out of the truck and cruising at an indicated ( speedo is off due to tires) 30, 50 and 70 mph. I did not get full throttle measurments because I was unable to figure out a way to do a good repeatable test. This is on the stock exhaust and what I had rip install, 4" with 24" muffler and resonator. I will get back to the 4 versus 5 later as that involved a second set of measurments. First measurment was taken with truck at idle in drivers seat, stock exhaust and Rips were both 87. Second measurment was taken outside the truck at the exhaust outlet, stock 84 and Rips 88. Third was in the drivers seat (all cruise were drivers seat) cruising at 30mph in 4th gear engine at 1550 rpm, stock was 86 Rips 87. Fourth was cruise at 50mph in 6th at 1400 rpm, stock 88 Rips 88. Last was cruise at 70 mph in 6th at 2000 rpm, stock 89 Rips 91. Now going back to the 4 and 5 comparison. I couldnt very well expect Rip to fully install a 4" and then cut it off and put on a 5" so I had to settle for measurments taken in his shop, on his lift. Both were muffler and resonator setups. First was in drivers seat at idle, stock and 4" both 89, 5" 90. Second outside truck at exhaust outlet, stock 88, 4" was 87 and 5" was 92. As far as the 4 versus the 5 that little bit of testing was enough to convince me that the 5 was definetly going to be louder and I settled on the 4". I also decided that the muffler and the resonator were going to be quiet enough and didnt have the second muffler swapped in. One thing that the numbers dont tell since I was unable to find a good way to test it is that the truck is louder when you start honkin on it. You can begin to see this on the 70 mph cruise numbers where the rpm is higher. This however IMO is a good thing as the extra volume is not that great and the sound is pure music. That brings me to the tone, much better. I no longer have that constipated sound the stock exhaust had and added that nice deep throaty sound that most of us know and love. No drone at any rpm unloaded and not a hint of ricer sound. Overall I am very pleased. A good percentage of the time its no louder than stock and when it is louder (when its honkin) its only moderatly so and all in a good way.

 

[rashwor]

Ought to run...

with the resonator only. That is what I have done on my '99. It is a little louder when "honkin" on it or loaded, but not unpleasant. I realize your's is an '03, but I suspect it would be a little louder and the sound would be great. I suspect that where you get the ricer sound is with no muffler or resonator at all.



Congrats! I am glad you are happy with the setup.

 

[krabman]

Its hard to believe for a lot of folks here but some of us heathen enjoy the quiet. To be honest if I didnt already spend all day listening to diesel engines I think I would enjoy turning up the volume. As it is its nice for me at least to be able to have it diminish into the background. I was trying to type fast and got a little boat talk in there. Honking is what we call the sound a diesel engine makes when your pulling solid load. The sound your truck makes under hard acceleration or when your pulling a TT up a hill or whatever. One engineer to another I might say something along the lines of "boy, I was pulling 270 amps with one of my 3406's and she was really honking".

 

[RankRam]

rashwor I have a 99 with 4 inch from the resonator back and the drone is BAD. I have considered losing the muff and just running with the resonator. Do you have a problem with the dreaded drone?



I had an Allied and the shop switched it to a Magnaflow, this did nothing for the drone, but did make it a deeper sound and I lost the turbo whistle at idle and deceleration. I miss that alot!!

I been thinking about losing the muff ever since

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

My '03 doesn't have a resonator, just a big friggin' 80-pound, 30-gallon muffler



Vaughn

 

[Prairie Dog]

From one noise heathen to another I sure appreciate your feedback here. Its interesting that while you have no more drone, it sounds as though it's still at about the same volume at highway speeds.

Do you know what Rips final price will be for the 4"?

 

[krabman]

I paid 515. Thats muffler, resonator, 4" welded all the way. Im anti tip so I think that took 30 or so off the price. If I recall correctly he is advertising 479 for 4" all the way, welded, muffler, and chrome tip. Pulled my boat yesterday for the first time since I had the exhaust put on and didnt get any drone there either so it appears that little resonater really does do the trick. One other small benefit is the lower tone makes it easier to hear the radio out on the freeway even though its actually a couple of dbs louder. IMHO a worthy bomb.