[FLYNAVY30]

And most recently, round 4 of my battle with the exhaust on this truck. After the LS swap, I started out with a set of Doug Thorley headers, as they were the only ones (at the time) that would clear the LS mounts needed in the 3/4 ton chassis. I used a Flowmaster exhasut kit that utilized a cross over and 40 series mufflers. I never liked those mufflers....they sounded good at idle, but droned something fierce on the highway.

Round 2 of my battle was to remove the mufflers and tail section for a set of Borlas and some turn downs in front of the axel. I decided to get rid of the over axel and tail pipes because it just complicated maintenance as it pertained to the gas tank, suspension, rear differential, etc. And I never thought the pipes sticking out behind the wheels looked particularly good anyway. The Borla's sounded great on acceleration, but they were just too loud across the RPM range.

Round 3 saw me pull the Borlas and install a set of Flowmaster Super HP-2 mufflers....the longest ones they had available, to which, I welded on a set of turn down tips. This was by far, the best the set up had sounded. Start up and idle had a proper growl, without being obnoxious. WOT was absolutely perfect. The problem was that at highway cruising RPM, there was still this 1000 PRM band of resonance and volume between 2000-3000 RPM. I've been running this set up for 2 years now, and maybe I'm getting old, but it was time to find something better...we drive this thing enough that its important to be able to carry a conversation at cruising speed.

Round 4 was completed today. I'm running a set of 14x9 MagnaFlow mufflers on my Corvette, and both the wife and I have commented on how good they sound on acceleration, and at idle, but how unobtrusive they are at highway speeds....and with a 4 speed and 3.73 gears, that car is turning 3-3.5K RPM on the highway. So I ordered up as set of 14x9 MagnaFlows for the truck, a set of 90 degree turn down extensions, and two hangers from Deeds Engineering. These hangers are terrific....a little spendy, but they are the nicest set up I've seen that doesn't require welding...and they are infinitely adjustable.

After getting everything buttoned up and installed, I fired the truck up and took a quick test drive around the neighborhood. Initial impressions:

1. Start up....sounds exactly like the Super HP-2s....people are going to know who you are, but in a good way.

2. Idle....initially, this is the biggest draw back. From outside the truck, it sounds great. The chop of the cam is exactly what you want to hear. But the resonance in the truck hits the exact pitch in your ear drum that would cause a massive head ache within 15 minutes.

3. Cruise...absolutely perfect! As soon as you get above 1000 RPM, the resonance goes away, and the exhaust tone virtually disappears. This is absolutely the muffler for highway cruising!

4. WOT...sound is exactly what you would want...loud with no resonance. Aggressive but refined.

So in the end, I'm still reserving judgment on the Magna Flow mufflers...I'm hoping that the resonance and tone at idle will mellow with use. I also think that I may shorten the tail pipe extensions and turn them to 90 degrees, pointed straight out the side of the truck as opposed to down at a 45...I think some of the resonance at idle may be sound wave bounce back off the street. More to follow.