The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Mufflers or no mufflers ?

I was wondering... I going to run 2 1/2" pipes from the headers all the way out the back with flowmaster mufflers on my 51... and I was reading in classic trucks about a truck that was running straight pipes has anyone ever done this ?
Won't this mess up the engine or valves or effect the HP ? I always thought that there has to be some back flow, I installed a 454 in my 1986 C20 recently and ran 3' dual pipes & flowmasters and when I was shopping around for the 3" exhaust I was told from couple of shops that I should reduce it to 2" for back flow ! My buddy that has a muffler shop in town said that he never heard of such a thing and ended up running my 3" duals ( Runs awesome and sounds GREAT )

My question is can I just run 2 1/2" straight pipes on the 51 (because I think it would sound awesome) or should I have mufflers :confused:

Ive done a lot of work on the ol' 51 and don't want to mess anything up.

What's your thoughts ?

my son ran stright pipes for a year or so its a little loud and with flowmasters its not loud inside but still sounds real good outside and the cops will leave you alone

Some engines need a little back pressure to make better torque down low.

I recommend you use Flowmasters, they sound great. Straight pipes on a gas V8 can be a little annoying.

Grigg

Go ahead and try the straights. It won't hurt anything. If you like the sound good. If not it's easy enough to add mufflers. Personally I prefer it a little quieter.
Richard

I've got straight through on my '92 but it's also has a catalydic converter which muffles alot out and keeps the noise down making a nice low tone. All of my non-cat engines get Flowmaster 40 series mufflers,
Scott

It wont make a difference to your valves, it's the power curve that gets the real effect from tube size.
Small pipes make more torque in the low range, but restrict the top end flow. Big pipes are better for high end power, but comes at a loss for the low end torque.
The smaller pipe keeps the gas velocities up creating a vaccum that assists in scavenging exhaust gasses from the combustion chamber, making for a cleaner burn on the next cycle.
Larger pipes can have issues with back flow but that's where headers make a difference by keeping the gasses moving in one direction with a directional collector where typical stock manifolds get more interference without the smaller pipes to keep things moving. Once you open it up & get it turning high RPMs it's all about how well she can breathe.

Bottom line: It's up to personal preference when it comes to the exhaust and what size tubing you use. Dual 3" pipes on a V8 that doesn't see race duty have no advantage other than they sound better.
I'd go with what 50Deluxe says, try em straight, then if it's too much noise for you (or the local police) add on some mufflers.

Speaking as an individual who might have to be subject to the noise of straight pipes, I vote for mufflers. :blat:

straight pipes and a set of glasspacks.

I've been running straights on my 37 pickup, with a 350 in it, for about 7 years. It is a little loud but it sure does rumble. I've mentioned before that I have to Smithy's to put on and may just do it this year? I persaonally think there is a lot of "mufflers" out there that sound good and a lot less expensive than those flowmasters. Flowmasters around here are 60 for the the cheap ones and 80 each for the "best" ones installed. I paid 60 for both the Smithy's. Just my .03 cent.

I tossed round runnin straight pipes but decided to go with a set of Thrush straight mufflers to tone it down a bit , Just to keep the local Barney Fife of my but when I am tryin to relax and cruise .

I was at a truck show yesterday.
The guy beside me pulled in with a nice looking ford, if one form the 70's can be? I don't know the engine size, but it was a v8 and looked smallish.
He had straight stainless exhaust, it looked like 2", but I did not measure.
His truck was rather obnoxious just pulling in to park at an idle. It has a loud crack to the exhaust note that I did not think sounded good.

Now you must understand that my 61 ford has dual 3" straight pipes all the way out to the bumper, and is an ugly truck too.
I do have a pair of turbos that help smooth out the sound so it may not be quite as obnoxious. I think mine sounds good, but it may be to loud, as I get nervous when I see a cop car.
I am considering some aftermarket diesel pickup mufflers like Magnaflow or Banks or some one of the others like them.
My truck has a 6v53 Detroit Diesel, considered to be the single loudest engine Detroit built.
I guess I need to have someone else drive my truck by so I can hear what it sounds like.

You may want to listen to a similar engine to yours with straight pipes before you make up your mind. I still think Flow masters will be the best choice for you.

Grigg

Thanks everyone,
Im was thinking about Flowmasters or glasspacks, Im looking into smithy's now, I do want it to sound good but it's like everybody said I sure don't want to get hassled every time I leave the house


Thanks
Todd

I had a 92 chev with 350 with edlebrock cam package and was told the same back pressure story. I ran 3" pipe all the way with a magnaflow muffler. Had no problem burning the 295 wide 15" tires off the back.

the bigger the pipe..the more low and rumbly it will be. smaller pipe is loud and rappy. pick your preference

this may sound strange, but when I first fired off the 235, and for a while until we ran the rest of the exhaust, I ran it without mufflers. It really wasn't too loud. Strangely enough though, it is actually louder with mufflers on it! I'm seriously considering taking the mufflers off, running a couple pf lengths of strait pipe in place of them and letting it go at that.
BTW-just my own opinion, I don't care much for the sound of Flowmasters. They sound too much like a gurgly Q-Jet with the air filter lid on upside down to me.

Bill,
I don't understand how your 235 can be quieter with no muffler?
A friend of mine has a 261 in a truck he uses around the farm. The muffler rusted away and now it is just has the pipe going to where the muffler was, the truck is quite loud even when just puttering around the farm.

I had the exhaust system replaced on my 52 with a 235. It had a muffler on it to start with, and original looking one, but was probably a replacement.
The new exhaust was the same, with a similar looking generic muffler.
The new muffler made the truck much nicer to drive, as it was quieter and you could actually hold a conversation while driving. And I did not think the old one was bad till after I had it replaced.

Grigg

Does rusty Rod know what straight pipes are??

DUAL ROCHESTERS EDELBROCK MANIFOLD AND

STAINLESS STRAIGHT PIPES


The only way to go on my 50 Chevy

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/4hawkrod/CopyofDCFN0002.jpg

i prefer the sound of flowmasters over straight pipe v8. the straight pipe (to me at least) just sounds like a hopped up tractor haha. its all preference i guess.

Grigg, I know what you mean. It seemed weird to me, too. But yet it was queter without mufflers. now I will admit, we never took it out on the road, so that might be different. but just idling or at pert throttle in the driveway, there was a significant difference in the sound/vokume of the exhaust. I can't explain it either.

Theres a BIG sound difference between a V8 and a 6 cyl. A few years back my friend was getting his exhaust done and we ran it without mufflers for awhile, oh boy was it loud! Now my coe only has 5' of rusty pipe left on it and it sounds great unless your standing directly behind it, but even then it aint that loud, nothing like that 350 was.

For those of you who like straight pipes.......After you get them installed, have someone drive your truck, blasting by you while you sit in another car with you window down.

It's much louder when you put your ear nearer the exhaust exit than it is when it is your foot pumping the gas.

Some @$$ with straight pipes blasted past me while I sat at a stop light yesterday. My ears are still ringing.

I had a blast driving my truck to the exhaust shop with no pipes after installing the headers. Really not that loud when keeping the rpms low. But they do growl when you get on it! It's not much different than 2 old Harleys riding next to each other.

Since I have two dead exhaust manifolds for my 270, I'm thinkin of experementing with the old fashioned cut 'n splice method of makin headers for this beast. Figgure run one pipe down each side with a 24" cherry bomb & a turned out tip under each frame rail. Assuming I can get them to seal up, should sound pretty sweet when it's all said & done.