Exhaust

[torpedo]

I have a 1978 K-20 with a 454, it has true duals coming straight off the headers (one side has a muffler and the other one rusted off and I just haven't fixed it yet) that end a little in front of the rear axle. My brother and a friend's dad told me that 2 12" glasspacks would sound really nice, it's already pretty loud already and another friend said they'd probably actually make it quieter even though they're glasspacks. I was planning on just getting the 2 12" glasspacks but I was just wanting to see if anyone else knew if anything else would sound better

[MidwestMan]

Flowmasters, I have glass packs now and hate them with a passion.

[torpedo]

Originally Posted by MidwestMan

Flowmasters, I have glass packs now and hate them with a passion.

What don't you like about glasspacks?

[Corts60]

If you want that flow master sound but only want to spend under $100, get some Thrush welded mufflers from Napa. $30 each. They sound fantastic I think and they are all welded construction.

[MidwestMan]

Originally Posted by torpedo

What don't you like about glasspacks?

The sound in general, the popping and that horrible farm truck twang. Had true duals with 40 series flows dumped before the rear end on my 98 silverado. Loud enough for me, nice growl, no popping.

[torpedo]

Originally Posted by MidwestMan

The sound in general, the popping and that horrible farm truck twang. Had true duals with 40 series flows dumped before the rear end on my 98 silverado. Loud enough for me, nice growl, no popping.

She is a farm truck when she's not taking me to school or work but from some of the videos on youtube the 40 series sounds better, I think I need to see some more though to make a decision

[mattybilt79]

My truck has dual glass packs on it and I really can't stand them at idle. Sounds like I have an exhaust leak but I don't and fairly quiet. Do like how they sound going down the road cause they are obnoxiously loud. My current 454 came with Doug thorley tri y headers already on it. Little pricey at like 650 for them new, I paid 750 for the whole motor! Wife's Tahoe has a flowy on it, thought it was neat to set off alarms in parking garages at first but have grown out of that.

[natedogg]

I have headers with strait pipes and dual flowmasters on my 85 with a 305. Its not loud, but sounds nice and throaty. I had a 2004 Silverado with 5.3 and a previous owner put glass packs on it and it was loud and popped when I let off the gas and slowed down. Took it to exhaust shop and replaced it with a single flowmaster and it sounded a lot better. Hope this helps.

[torpedo]

What would be some good headers to get? The muffler shop told me my exhaust needed completely redone but they wanted $500 to do it so my dad said screw that, if I do need new headers what would be the ones to go with?

[torpedo]

Originally Posted by natedogg

I have headers with strait pipes and dual flowmasters on my 85 with a 305. Its not loud, but sounds nice and throaty. I had a 2004 Silverado with 5.3 and a previous owner put glass packs on it and it was loud and popped when I let off the gas and slowed down. Took it to exhaust shop and replaced it with a single flowmaster and it sounded a lot better. Hope this helps.

What would be some good headers to get? The muffler shop told me my exhaust needed completely redone but they wanted $500 to do it so my dad said screw that, if I do need new headers what would be the ones to go with?

[83swb]

Any muffler will reduce noise, hence "muffler", especially considering your only running one.
It's all about personal taste, in my opinion you should spend some time on youtube searching around for the sound your looking for. You have more than a few options.

[torpedo]

I've seen some people say flowmasters are the way to go and some people swear by glasspacks

[mongoose]

anything sound better than a glasspack.. then again most things sound better than a flowmaster.. its your truck.. make it sound how you want it to.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by torpedo

I was just wanting to see if anyone else knew if anything else would sound better

Depends is a good answer until you tell us what you mean by better. For example to a mechanic to tune your car, stock is "better" as he knows what it should or shouldn't sound like. However better to my wife would mean "quieter" however better than stock to me would mean deeper rumble, in which case I would go for Flowmaster 40s. If you want a bit higher pitch sound than the glass packs, are "better".

Not being a smart ass, just trying to help.

[torpedo]

Originally Posted by Gregski

Depends is a good answer until you tell us what you mean by better.

I'd kinda like for it to have a nice rumble at an idle, also I just want it to sound smoother. One straight pipe and one with a muffler sounds kinda weird as you can imagine. I was thinking about cutting the muffler off and seeing how that sounds until I decide on the new ones. I like the glasspacks that I've seen on youtube but I'd like to see some thrush welds and I can't find any videos of them

[Your41Plague12]

Thrush Welded, all day. Cheaper than a Flowmaster, better sound (to me; "better" is subjective), and no annoying drone inside the cab like every Flowmaster causes.

[cadillac_al]

Originally Posted by Your41Plague12

Thrush Welded, all day. Cheaper than a Flowmaster, better sound (to me; "better" is subjective), and no annoying drone inside the cab like every Flowmaster causes.

Those will be my next mufflers. They sound better than Flowmasters. Up here glasspacks are illegal because they last too long. I'm old so I like the machine gun sound of glasspacks. On my street driven GMC I have gone through 2 sets of mufflers in 4 years. My plow truck did street duty for 12 years and plow duty for the last 10 on the same glasspacks. I may be forced to register my street truck as an antique and run glasspacks just so I don't have to replace them so often. I'll give the Thrush welded's a try first though.

[walls]

My opinion is if your car/truck is 65 or older, it should have glasspacks. Steelpacks if it's got a flathead or it's a post war style car.
Flowmasters and turbo mufflers fit better to me on a muscle car/truck. I put these trucks in that category.
On a side note, I believe the loudness of the exhaust should be in direct relation to the performance level of the engine.
Meaning, if your engine is stock, put a muffler on that has a nice rumble.
If you've got a built motor with a crazy cam, put some on that'll piss off the neighbors.

[77K10Silverado]

Well said walls!

[Orion88]

What about Dynomax Race Bullets? I think the Muscle Truck from Roadkill runs 3" dual exhaust to 12" Dynomax Race Bullets and that truck arguably has the best sounding exhaust on the planet for a street truck. Then again they are running a hyped up LS under the hood, which have their own signature sound on their own. Is anyone running these mufflers on their truck with an original style motor?

[donut]

Sound is subjective, IMO, hang a good sounding muffler on a stock vehicle you may as well get a neon sign that says "poser". Just my opinion, don't flame me for it.
Being a little older and spending 1-8hrs behind the wheel....
I'm old enough now that not having a full exhaust is a temporary thing.

I actually like the glasspacks coupled with a full exhaust (was about all you could get back in the day,). Like mentioned, they do last forever. Flip side to that is the pipe doesn't. I also lived in Maine and grew to like the sound of a cheap turbo muffler. Yes, I'd have to replace them yearly, but if the pipe wasn't OEM, it had to be replaced about every 2 years anyway.

My dually currently has glasspacks and duals. Actually what O'Reillys said was replacement for the truck. They were on it, so they stay for now. My old K-20 had cheap turbo's, driver and a plow truck.

[motornut]

Well i'm running 2.25 true duals on my C/K Jimmys.
the K 78 has Cherry bombs with a 350,got a whole lot nicer with the tails replaced with turndowns.
the C 79 has Flowmasters 40s with a 305,(plus H pipe) dosn't sound stock.

If I didn't want a loud exhaust I'd go to Speedy! lol
kidding they built the 79s exhaust for about 6-700$.
but the C 78 burb had dynomaxs on it......couldn't talk till i had tails put on.
I've done the headers to 2.5 pipe, didn't seem as loud as 2.25 pipe,more rat tat tat

[Oregoon]

Totally subjective. I prefer a six to an eight--always have--and I like a split-header running into straight pipes with no crossover or balance tube, and no mufflers at all.

But I only like that on a rod or a custom.

For anything remotely daily-driver, give me a nice quiet exhaust system so I can listen to that lovely gear-whine my six makes!

[trappermat]

Straight pipes anyone?