Going catless, how loud?

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I would like a more aggressive sound, but no drone. Has anyone looked into other mufflers beside magnaflow or flowmaster?
 
I've got header, no cat, MAF muffler, and I too have the 2500ish drone at highway speeds...

This is starting to sound like a 12-step group!
 
I pulled my CAT off and had a pipe fabricated to fill the void by using the original flanges. I had a brand new stock Toyota OEM tailpipe and muffler. I hated the drone...sounded like one of the old school busses. I bought a CATCo Stainless steel Cat, gutted it and put it in. It helped cut the drone some, but it is still louder than the original Toyota CAT. I am hard of hearing and wear hearing aids most of the time. That means that background noise is a greater nuisance than with normal hearing. Your decision is going to be based on what you like. If you like more exhaust sound, replace your CAT with a straight pipe, regardless of what others are telling you, it will be there.
 
my 62's cats are hollowed out with an aero turbine muffler and it mimics a v8. no joke, sounds gr8
 
I finally got my exhaust redone about three weeks ago. I have ~800 miles on it since then. I am very happy. We made a y pipe off the manifold out of 2" (old was 1.75") then brought it up to 2.25" for the rear o2 bung and up to 2.5" for the remainder. I errored on the side of quiet for a muffler and also went super cheap. I got a cherry bomb from the local Fleet Farm. It's a muffler, not a glass pack. 2.5" center in, offset out, oval body that is 13" long so just under 19" total. We bent the exhaust entirely above the bottom of the frame rail and did not use many of the OEM hanging positions. If we did use one we didn't use it in the orientation that Toyota did. My tail exits through the left rear leaf spring in front of the shackle and goes up above the frame again and then dumps down in front of the bumper. I literally can not possibly land on it or crush it anywhere unless something is hitting my frame or t-case skid. The tone is mellow at idle with a bit of a burble. At speed (70mph) the exhaust is not noticeable at all. On the trail you can hear it a bit but it sounds fine and stays mellow. I have no drone at any speed. I think our good hangers have a lot to do with that. As stated above the fan is the loudest thing on the truck. I will be addressing that this winter although I don't have a plan yet. We got new 02 gaskets from Carquest as well as rings for the manifold to flange. I ground the original 02 bungs out of the old pipes easily. Just a note, when removing the o2 sensors from the pipe be careful not to get any penetrating oil in the sensor. If you look closely there is a little vent hole near where the wires come out. If you get a penetrant in there you will be treated to purchasing new sensors. If my 150xxx mile rusty midwesterner nuts came off easily most of yours should be fine.

Another note, after we took the old exhaust off and discarded it we took some time to clean up the underside of the truck. Between the outside the frame heatshields and old hangers and fasteners we probably pulled another $5.50 worth of scrap off the truck. We also eliminated eleventygajillion rattles and clunks. I highly reccomend this.

Go blow it out your tailpipe!
 
Over the weekend, someone came through the neighborhood stealing catalytic converters. They hit my girlfriend's 4runner, the neighbor's 4runner and then must have gotten spooked (or an eyeful of rust :flipoff2:) halfway through stealing mine as they left it half cut off....... I'm debating on going the straight pipe route as I don't partake in emmissions testing and don't want anyone stealing my new one.... How loud is a straightpipe to a flowmaster going to be? Any disadvantages running without a cat and the added back pressure?

Thanks

WTF?!? If I found some joker under my vehicles, they would not be crawling out under their own power. Louisville Slugger, cheater pipe, or Colt will see to that...

(sorry for the Chat, but this is friggin incredible) :mad:
 
I have a flowmaster 40 with 2.5" exhaust, and straight piped cat. I did the cat after I had the exhaust done and it is a little louder but a much more full sound. I love it, but it does make some noise. I've had people ask me if I have a V8. I just smile and say "no, its the stock carburated inline-6." I'd do it on my next cruiser.
 
My personal experience on my DD fj60=

Huffed 2F, stock exhaust: very quite.

4.4L 2F, Downey chrome 6-2-1 header, no cat, stock muffler & exhaust: godawful loud drone at 2500RPM on the highway. Hafta either drive 63MPH or punch through the sound barrier and go 73+. Need to do something about this before the next long trip.:frown:

lol, I have the same setup, but I have never noticed a drone because a) I can't run that fast, and b) the roar from the 35's is will wake the dead. The engine is so quiet though that I have to look at the tach to make sure its running.
 
If it was my truck I would keep the cat on. One because in most states it is a legal issue to be driving around without a catalitic converter. 2. Keeping the air clean in your area is only good for your health. If you want drive around in a area where there are no cats, goto Bejing china. You would change your mind.

Three, As soon as the truck is inspected by the next owner or the emissions station your truck will fail.

The point is if you are wanting more hp or torqe just buy another cat that is less restrictive and it will satify the local authorities.

If I knew somone was stealing Cats in my area I would rig up explosive dye packs within a foot of the cat. Should somone remove them then thay will be convered in red dye. There are other areas of secuity of the CAT that can be employed but the dye idea I think works well..especially when mixed with synthetic skunk oil.
 
If it was my truck I would keep the cat on. One because in most states it is a legal issue to be driving around without a catalitic converter. 2. Keeping the air clean in your area is only good for your health. If you want drive around in a area where there are no cats, goto Bejing china. You would change your mind.

Three, As soon as the truck is inspected by the next owner or the emissions station your truck will fail.

The point is if you are wanting more hp or torqe just buy another cat that is less restrictive and it will satify the local authorities.



that's all fine&good on paper, but on a truck that has most if not all the smog stuff already removed, removing teh cat will harm nothing more.

i gutted a cat on mine...due to needing one that "appears to function".
very little change in sound level, the tone stepped up a bit though.
 
I think you guys who gut the cats are all nuts. They are like gold these days, sell them. A properly tuned motor does more for the environment than a cat. When I put the 350TBI in my 60 I could pass the emissions test without the cat. The cat is just burning off excess waste from the engine. If you don't have excess waste you shouldn't need the cat. Cats are not a state issue, it is a federal law, but enforced by some states, counties, etc...
 
My personal experience on my DD fj60=

Huffed 2F, stock exhaust: very quite.

4.4L 2F, Downey chrome 6-2-1 header, no cat, stock muffler & exhaust: godawful loud drone at 2500RPM on the highway. Hafta either drive 63MPH or punch through the sound barrier and go 73+. Need to do something about this before the next long trip.:frown:
Hey, I'm replying to my own post. :rolleyes: :princess:
As an update, a good used cat was pulled off a parts truck and installed in place of the 'test pipe' on the Puff,the Tragic Wagon. It cut the 63MPH drone by 50%. Drone still comes on at speed, but is only mildly annoying now, as opposed to grating. Power & mixture is unchanged, so no noticeable restriction.

This is also w/ 32" Uniroyal AT's on the truck. W/ the 35" Swampers it would probably disappear entirely.
 

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