So I have a Cherry Bomb Extreme (single in, single out) on my Chevy Silverado 2010 (V8 5.3L). I have a Y pipe running after the muffler and the 2 tips going straight out the back. It sounds really great but it's not nearly as throaty as some of the other trucks I've heard. It's also not very loud. The tone is good but it doesn't have that "blup blup blup" sound that I like.

I've heard REALLY loud trucks... so loud that it hurts and you can hear them from very far away. I'd like that, but I don't know how I can do it.

I live in Dallas, Texas and the muffler shops here say they can't put high flow cats on until I'm at 80,000 miles (which I'm not and won't be for a very long time). I can't install them myself either since I don't have the equipment nor the means. I figured high flow cats would be a good solution while at the same time keeping my emissions legal for Texas.

I'd love to cut the cat off but again, that's not legal in Texas.

I've heard that doing work on headers changes the sound and adds power but I don't know squat about cars so I don't know what is involved here or how much it will cost. It sounds expensive. I also am curious about how it will change the sound (if someone could give me details on this that would be great).

I also hear that shortening the pipes makes it louder, but this isn't an option for me since I've already paid for the layout I already have. Changing it again would be a waste of money. Also, the shop where I got my muffler & pipes installed said that for my specific truck they have to run straight back (I guess other parts of the truck underneath would have gotten in the way, I don't know).

What other things can I do? What makes these trucks so dang loud? I feel so puny compared to them. I want my truck to rumble when I rev it, but I just don't get that feeling. Is there a way I can take my cats off and still be legal in Texas (or at least get away with it)? I just don't see how these trucks I hear are so loud with cats on...

 

First of all you know you will hurt your performance by having an exhaust that is too open = loud. If you don't care about that most of the guys you are comparing your truck to are probably either running dual exhaust all the way back with free flowing mufflers or a number of other combinations which make them loud. Some may even have hollowed out their cats so they are still there for the state inspection. We used to have emissions testing in Florida and it was basically a joke. There were things that would make the vehicle pass even with hollowed cats. Hell my 5.0 mustang with "fake" cats on it passed without doing anything to it. My car actually benefited though in the performance category with the open exhaust because it had quite a bit of work done - it ran high 11's in the 1/4 mile.
If your state requires a muffler you could always take yours and run a pipe straight though it so it still appears to have one. This will make it loud alright!

 

So you're saying that if I take the Cherry Bomb Extreme off, it will be louder than it is now? Unless you meant cats. Texas requires cats but not sure about mufflers.

Also keep in mind that I cannot do any of this work myself (as I said before). I don't have the means. So if a shop somewhere won't do it, I'm probably screwed...

 

yes it will be louder straight pipe is allways louder
like shamrock said i would hollow out your cats and mufflers and put a straight pipe thru there
as if i remember correctly texas does require them i used to go there alot and got in trouble for not haveing them on my vehical
i worked in luisianna for the army so i would go to galvaston alot on the weekends
to do this
you can use an angle grinder to cut open the cats and take out the platinum which is worth alot at a metal recyling place place the same size exsausht tubeing iin there where the guts used to be make sure it is the same size as the one going into the cat and the same size as the exiting side mostlikely it will be different on both sides
take teh guts of it out and weld the cat back together make sure when yu weld it to make it look like it hasent been altered
and for the cats do the same thing with the mufflers its not really that hard to do just a pain in the butt soemtimes
let us no what you end up doing

 

I'm just not able to do that kind of work on my truck. I'd have to pay someone to do this for me. And unfortunately since this is "illegal" work, I'd not be able to go to an auto shop to have this done. Looks like I'm stuck.

 

well it is illegal to do that work here to but i have searched all over and i found a local small rinkey dink shop that is willing to do it off the books
i would look fro one of them kinds of shops or i would travel out of state if you live close enaugh to another state to do so
or if you have a friend that is mechanically inclined take it to them
if there is a will there is a way somebody will do it dont give up search around look on craigslist under the automotive services for some on who has a shop that does small repairs or does welding and exsauhst
that is how i found someone to do this for me but i ended up not doing it
and where i live you have to have mufflers and cats but we dont have inspection so we can get away with it unless you get puled over for your exsausht being to loud then they will look and youll end up with a ticket but 90% of the time you wont get pulled over here

if i were down in texas or luisianna i would do it for you but i moved back to iowa after i got out of the service

 

well I appreciate the help man. So basically I just need to run pipes through my muffler & cat after I hollow them both out. I think I can have someone do this for me in Oklahoma, which is pretty close and I have lots of family up there.

The only thing I worry about is that I see inspections in Texas attach a sensor to the tailpipes to measure O2 levels I guess. I wonder if these would get triggered. In Dallas I'm fairly certain they do more than just a visual inspection of your exhaust.

 

no problem and yes basically just hoolw them out and put tubeing in there
as far as the emisions go im not sure if it will send more reading on he 02
but when i had my car inspected in luisianna they just did a very very half ***
inspection where they visually looked at everything
when i baught my car the only thing they did was remove the 5% tint from the drivers and pass side window
if you can im not sure if they have them there but find a mom and pop shop to have it inspected my buddy found one close to the luisianna borer and they just did a visual check
and keep us posted on what you do and i would do some research als oabout what goes into an inspection call around to inspection places and ask
but yes basically hollow them out and put tubeing in there

 

So my last question for you is: how will all of these changes affect performance? Will it increase it or decrease it? How? And how much?

 

i have no cats on my 248 horse power 4.6lv8 05 crown vic intereceptor
and i in place i have the thrush tubes in place of cats
with mufflers i have noticed more throttle response and faster acceleration thats also because it is an ex police car
in my 94 silverado ext 4wd half ton i have true dual with only thrush tubes i cant really tell a big difference
some will say it robs your performance some say it helps
so i am not to sure of that
i have heard both sayings but me personally i think it helps
it may gain a small amount of horse power like 2-5
and it will help your exsuast to breath better not as much pluggin up the flow
but again im not sure i would ask some others for there opinion abotu the performance aspect on this forum
and if i find naything ill post it to let you no