Swap worth the labor?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

maxse01

maxse01

10 Year
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Threads
30
Messages
996
Location
Nazareth, PA
So my wife's LX has developed an exhaust leak. Original exhaust system after 11 years and 118k miles, so not terrible. It sounds awesome right now, not loud...just a nice burble. Should be how it sounds stock in my opinion. Obviously she doesn't like it, but I do. My exhaust is perfect and silent, 11 1/2 years old and 103k. Does it make sense to swap them out? I'm sure my mechanic would do it for not too much.

The alternative is I use this opportunity to put my exhaust on the LX and get me a Doug Thorley setup. :worms:


Thoughts/suggestions?
 
So I take that as, swap in the LC's and throw away the LX's. Then I can get the DT for the LC.
 
maxse01 said:
So my wife's LX has developed an exhaust leak. Original exhaust system after 11 years and 118k miles, so not terrible. It sounds awesome right now, not loud...just a nice burble. Should be how it sounds stock in my opinion. Obviously she doesn't like it, but I do. My exhaust is perfect and silent, 11 1/2 years old and 103k. Does it make sense to swap them out? I'm sure my mechanic would do it for not too much.

The alternative is I use this opportunity to put my exhaust on the LX and get me a Doug Thorley setup. :worms:


Thoughts/suggestions?
Click to expand...

Get the DT system and put your exhaust on her vehicle :)
 
bucfl said:
Is there that much an improvement to the DT to justify the cost?
Click to expand...

If you like the grumble (as the op has suggested), then yes. Rob Red did some dyno testing on DT headers and the EMS system (unfortunately no longer available):

http://tlcfaq.com/main/2013/04/cat-back-exhaust-dyno-testing-100-series/

I imagine the DT catback would produce similar performance increases vis-a-vis the EMS catback. Exhaust tends to be the "low hanging fruit" of horsepower...best bang for your buck.

I'm very happy with DT headers and EMS Cat-back exhaust...it is, however, much louder than stock, so it depends on your tolerance for exhaust noise. It doesn't make your 6,000lb Land Cruiser into a Ferrari, but the horse power gain is still noticeable. In my opinion the exhaust is worth the cost.
 
After 11 1/2 years in PA, I'll bet the exhaust on your '04 is not "perfect". Is it really good enough to make it worth re-installing in the '05? At the very least, consider a new muffler if you keep the rest of the system. In any event, don't even think about keeping the leaky '05 system. Besides the potential dangers of a leaky exhaust, mine became only a bit noisier before the muffler blew out and got real noisy! Likely a similar situation for you.
 
CanadianRockyCruiser said:
If you like the grumble (as the op has suggested), then yes. Rob Red did some dyno testing on DT headers and the EMS system (unfortunately no longer available):

Cat Back Exhaust Dyno Testing 100 Series

I imagine the DT catback would produce similar performance increases vis-a-vis the EMS catback. Exhaust tends to be the "low hanging fruit" of horsepower...best bang for your buck.

I'm very happy with DT headers and EMS Cat-back exhaust...it is, however, much louder than stock, so it depends on your tolerance for exhaust noise. It doesn't make your 6,000lb Land Cruiser into a Ferrari, but the horse power gain is still noticeable. In my opinion the exhaust is worth the cost.
Click to expand...

Performance isn't really a concern for me, it's slow...10hp isn't going to make it fast. I don't do a lot of towing right now, so it's enough to get me around town. I do want the sound though. I also don't want it to be annoying. I've listened and read all the DT threads and vids, I really like it. I'm just concerned about living with it every day. My cruiser is my dd.

Sandroad said:
After 11 1/2 years in PA, I'll bet the exhaust on your '04 is not "perfect". Is it really good enough to make it worth re-installing in the '05? At the very least, consider a new muffler if you keep the rest of the system. In any event, don't even think about keeping the leaky '05 system. Besides the potential dangers of a leaky exhaust, mine became only a bit noisier before the muffler blew out and got real noisy! Likely a similar situation for you.
Click to expand...

This is a solid point. Also, if I do go with the DT and get sick of it I can always swap this back in.

Looks like I'll be buying a new exhaust system for the LX. I traced the leak to right before the muffler. I'm hoping that means I just have to buy that piece and not the entire catback setup.
 
Any exhaust shop could weld up the hole for cheap as well, but depending on the rust situation, that may just be a short term fix.
 
Good call. The rust doesn't look that bad actually. I'll slide under there later and post up pics. It's been garaged it's entire life, so it still looks good for an 11 year old north east truck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom