Flowmaster on Tow Vehicle????

[Dewey Leggett]

I just bought a new tow vehicle (GMC 2500HD) and was thinking about having a Flowmaster system installed. Does anyone out there have one? Likes? Dislikes? Where do you have them installed? Is it really worth it? Thanks for any info you can give me.

 

[C C]

I had them on my last 3 Dodges. Just about any chain muffler shop now days carrys Flowmasters they run $325 up depending on which chamber system you go with and how far back you go. If you live in an area where you get snow you will want to add in the nickle plated tips anything else will just rust and look like crap in a season. Those add an extra $40+ per tip. The shop you take the truck to will advise you which system will make your truk sound the best. Chevy usually go for the 2 chamber systems which help with the sound. If you are looking for better gas mileage save your $$ and buy something else nice for your truck, I have yet to see any improvement.



Cass

 

[Bob G.]

dewey,



I've read that the Flowmasters cause some interior drone at highway speeds. What motor do you have?? I have the 6.0L in my Chevy CrewCab and is great for towing. Do a search at the Heavy Duty forum at www.gm-trucks.com.



Bob G.
http://www.gm-trucks.com

 

[Jim B]

I am not a big fan of flowmasters, i have had them before and i think theres better mufflers to be had. Having had them and a gibson system i think the gibson is a much better built system They fit better and arent nearly as loud. The flowmasters are loud for sure, much louder in the cab and can get annoying if you drive alot. If you get the two chamber ones you will loose low end torque, i dont care what anyone says i have seen the dyno results that prove it. Any exhaust system isnt going to give you any appreciable horsepower gains to speak of on a stock motor. You will gain some "mental horsepower" form the noise but nothing that can be measured, once gain been there done that with a dyno. On a stock motor with out any other mods i think they are a waste of money, if you upgrade the intake and heads then its a good upgrade. If you want noise then go for it but you will loose bottom end. For my tow vehicle i leave the stock one on until it falls off then replace it with something else.

 

[Frank Daniel]

IMHO, Expensive and noisy. That's all there is to them.

I bought a used F150 with a Flowmaster already installed.

I couldn't stand it for long. At highway speeds the noise in the cab would give me a headache.

I paid to have it replaced with a stock muffler.

The neighbors appreciate it as much as me.

Frank

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

I like Gibson products for exhaust. Sounds good, lasts a long time, helps with gas mileage, and does not cost an arm and a leg.



Carlos

 

[Shannon Daves]

dewey:



This isn't very informative, but a buddy at work has a 1500hd with the 6.0. He had flowmasters installed and he didnt like it...too loud. Dont know the numbers but I would guess 40 series. Went back and "quieter" fm (50 series?) put on. Still too loud. Eventually had a Raven Z55 put on. I had this in my 2001 f-150. Now it sounds tough. Midas sells the Ravens and charged me $299 for Z55 with dual outs with 15" long 3 1/2 tips.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Here we go.... There's TONS of good systems out there. Just do a little research and see what ya' like. Flows are good and I would recommend them from my buddy's experience. Myself I settled on the Edelbrock RPM catback system. Dual side exit. I put my first set on in 99'..They just replaced it under warranty(Lifetime) and I couldn't be happier with it. I heard a few guys said that they thought they were louder than Flows...NOT! Trust me..been there and done it..and still am

Edelbrocks would be worth checkin out....Gibs are good too

TEE

 

[Dewey Leggett]

Thanks everyone. Good info!!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Remember, the purpose of high flow exhaust is to reduce back pressure on your engine, not to sound "good". I ran open headers for a time on a street rod and had to wear earplugs!! Go to the manufacturers websites and read up on them but take with a grain of salt the HP gains and so forth. If you want to do it just for the sound, there are cheaper ways. Run duals with high flow cat's and mufflers for example. Exhaust "systems" like Flowmaster, Gibson and so on, are more than just loud....I like the idea if stainless since I am constantly dipping my rig in the lake.



TOXIC

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Moneywise..The Edelbrock was a LOT cheaper. $278 for aluminized...about $600 for SS.Unless you plan on keepin' it forever..Lifetime for aliuminized is good for me

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Here's a pic..it also has SS case muffler. True flow-thru..

 

[Jim B]

Tox, you are right about exhausts being more then just loud but there is something you are missing. On a stock out of the factory engine any gains you may see from an exhaust will be minimal at best. Believe it or not some backpressure can be a good thing if you want to make torque and horsepower you can use on the street. Installing a dual exhaust is a sure fire way to kill the bottom end torgue on a truck. you MAY gain some horsepower but at a high rpm that you will never use in the real world or you can even loose some. If you want high rpm horsepower a free flowing exhaust is the way to go but the motor needs to be built to take advantage of that. if you want torque you need some backpressure and the way the trucks are built today the factory stuff is pretty good. There is a reason the Nascar guys run mufflers on thier cars, they figured out that they make better power with them then without.



People need to keep in mind that a motor can only flow so much volume thru it( think as in an air compressor) and no matter what you do on either end it still can only pump so much. To be able to truly benefit from that extra flow the motors volume needs to me increased as well. Things like head work and cams help that.



When i was going to college i worked at a friends speed shop building motors and cars for people. Having built lots of motors and run them on the dyno i can speak from experience. I can also give you a great example of backpressure as it relates to torque. I had a 93 gmc sonoma with a 200hp 4.3. I decided because i couldnt afford anything else i would hop it up and make it my drag car. The motor got a lot done to it head work, cams, different pistons, rods, crank, injectors, headers etc. I wanted my power to come at a higher rpm so i installed a free flow muffler and yea it helped but the motor was highly modified. I was running in the mid to low 13's i nthe 1/4 with a v6 truck all motor( no nitrous). I decided to try removing the cat to see what almost no backpressure got me and when i put it on the dyno to see where i stood i saw i lost so much torque down low that the 2 hp gain i say at 5500 rmp wasnt worth it and back on it went. That bottom end torque i lost would have actually slowed down my times.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Excellent point and something to remember. I just don't understand then why all of the manufacturers push these units on tow vehicles?



TOXIC

 

[Bill McElroy]

My guess it's because of gov't CAFE requirements imposed on the mfgr's. They can't put the best towing exhaust systems on them as standard equipment because it would skew the mileage and emissions requirements....but,..once it leaves the dealership, it doesn't matter what the customer does to it. So,..they offer them as "after market" so you can get the hardware you need to make the vehicle do what you WANT it to do. This is just my guess though,...



Mac

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Also remember comparing TRUE duals with dual exit mullers. Not the same

 

[Jim B]

Its just marketing to try to sell more products Tox. The power gains they claim are at rpm's you would never see drivin on the street. thats why i call it "mental horsepower" because people think that if its loud it must be making more power. Perception is a big part of it. The company i work for does the same thing with our speakers. If you go to a store and listen most expensive speakers and the other speakers on that rack that actually are cleaner and sound better dont get turned up as loud in an effort to sell the more expensive one. They do it because people associate loud with sounding good regardless of if the sound is "clean"

 

[Jim B]

For sure not the same Tee. Any time i talk duals its from the motor back. True dual exhaust is the easiest way to kill bottom end torque that there is. I cant tell you how many people i talk to that have said i just installed my duals and now my truck dosent pull as good why? Thats what happens when you loost all your backpressure.



I forgot to mention thats one of the things i like about the gibson single outlet systems. The single side outlet system still maintains enough backpressure to keep the motor still making some bottom end torque and they arent too loud. they get for ~450 for a full stainless system. Someday when my stock one falls off thats what i will go with, not too loud and will maintain low end. If i wanted loud id just buy a harley.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I don't know about the exhaust itself but, the gains I got from a K&N filter, torque tube(removes old air box for less resriction) and cat back exhaust...I noticed a BIG improvement mostly when you nail it And I do like the sound..nice tone but, not annoying.

TEE

 

[Jim B]

Tee define improvment. When it comes to stuff like this unless you can prove it with numbers like a dyno run or et on a strip you really cant quantify an improvment in power.



im nnot trying to be a jerk, i just dont buy anything without the numbers to back it up.

 

[Tony Payne]

I notice alot of improvements everytime I wash mine or change the oil...then after a week or two it all seems normal again...



Improvement is sometimes very hard to quantify... I appreciate this thread, becuase until now I had planned to "upgrade" my exhaust to the Flowmaster based on the commercials, etc... now I'll just buy another rod/reel...



Tee... I'll try to call tonite... definitely still planning to come down... I have every friday in April scheduled as a vacation day... should be good!

 

[Rich Stern]

The folks over at the Sport Trac sister site are always looking to get more HP out of their V6s. I let one of the vendors use my Sport Trac as a test bed for a high performance cat converter and exhaust. The gains were impressive. I couldn't live with the noise, but the truck sure was fast while that stuff was on there.



Gibson is a very popular choice, and the Raven system that Midas sells is hard to beat for the price.

 

[Dan J.]

I'm running a Gibson muffler back exh. on my '02 6.0L HD Crew and am very impressed. Used Flowmasters on every tow vehicle prior until I heard my buddy's and thought I'd try them out. Not near as loud as the 3 baffle Flowmaster with almost identical performance and a deep solid tone. I like it!