Performance Upgrades for 07 Tahoe 5.3l

[CHOO CHOO]

So after measuring twice before cutting once, I realized that the muffler I ordered is 6" shorter that the stock muffler on my tahoe. The magnaflow 12589 is 22" and the stock muffler that is on now is 28".

Felixgun: you said that the stock pipe is all I need, am I missing something? If I cut the muffler off and don't put the pipe with the tip back on, will that cause a problem? All the exhaust will be blowing on the shocks and axle.

Would it be better for me to take it to a shop or did I order the wrong muffler??

 

[felixgun]

Felix, what is a resonator delete and what does it do? I don't really want my exhaust to be loud at all. Also, SLP tips? Is there a way to have my exhaust tips not seen?

I just ordered the blackbear autocal and the magnaflow exhaust muffler 12589. The bb was $549 and the muffler was $107. Gonna order the intake in a few after dinner.

Awesome man! you will def be happy with the muffler. I had a muffler shop put my muffler in. The 12589 muffler is the 22" body but more importantly it follows the factory piping as far as having the right [Center/in/out] for your muffler. Go to a local muffler shop and they can add a LITTLE extra piping to weld it on there.

The "resonator delete" is when you remove that big canister looking thing (the resonator) at the rear passenger side by the rear bumper cover. The exhaust won't be overly loud. It sounds more like the 6.2L Esky/Denali exhaust really... The SLP Dual Tips and the Volant Super Tips are identical in shape but are different grades of stainless steel. When you cut the resonator off, you replace it with these tips that makes it look ten times better. Pics:









---------- Post added at 04:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:17 PM ----------

So after measuring twice before cutting once, I realized that the muffler I ordered is 6" shorter that the stock muffler on my tahoe. The magnaflow 12589 is 22" and the stock muffler that is on now is 28".

Felixgun: you said that the stock pipe is all I need, am I missing something? If I cut the muffler off and don't put the pipe with the tip back on, will that cause a problem? All the exhaust will be blowing on the shocks and axle.

Would it be better for me to take it to a shop or did I order the wrong muffler??

Your tahoe has a muffler AND a resonator. The magnaflow muffler will replace the stock muffler while the Tips (volant or slp or whatever aftermarket tip) will replace the resonator/factory tip. Here is a pic of where the muffler went:

 

[CHOO CHOO]

Awesome, Thanks man. the pics are awesome and thats what I thought. I think I am going to install it myself and not put the resonator delete on for now. If it is too loud then I might put it back on. Thank you sooo much for your help in this learning experience for me. I really appreciate all the help and will post pics with my before and after!!

 

[felixgun]

The resonator basically enforces the muffler... muting the sound of the exhaust system. When you cut the resonator off it is not as extreme as if you were to have 'straight pipes' and no muffler. The resonator delete is awesome because you get rid of the ugly canister that is plainly visible on your clean ass ride AND a deeper/lower rumble ONLY on start up and gassing it to 3k RPM. The magnaflow muffler will slightly change the sound but not too too much since it is a relatively bigger muffler (the bigger the width muffler the less noise you will get... 14" wide muffler is WAY louder then 22"). I didn't want anything loud either and the resonator delete/tips with magnaflow muffler is PERFECT... I know a few others on here will agree! PLUS the tips are a bolt on so if you didn't like it you can weld back on your stock resonator/tips (God forbid!). But yea man.. no problem let me know if you have anymore questions and yes we look forward to the pics

Side note edit: I also added the magnaflow muffler AFTER the volant tips at a seperate time. I did this to see if the muffler itself would change the overall sound of the exhaust. If anything it made it a little mellower/deeper. Over time the magnaflow muffler changed tones, but only in a good way. So expect that.

 

[CHOO CHOO]

I have another question:
as I crawled underneath and was looking at the stock muffler, How will I attach the new muffler and make it secure to the vehicle if I don't put the rest of the pipe back on. It seems like it just freefloats and is held on by the welds on the pipe.

If I cut the pipe before the muffler (closer to the engine) and do not put the resonator delete and tips back on, how should I secure it to the vehicle? I don't want this to be jury rigged, but would like to install this myself to save a lil money.

P.s. I don't want to cause trouble for asking this stuff. Should I be asking this in the tech section?

 

[ezdaar]

go to hardware store buy peice of 1/8" or 1/4" steel bar. Go to autozone and buy exhaust hanger bracket with rubber insert.

Weld bracket to vehical, form bar into L with a slight hook on short end of L part.
slide short end of L into braket, then weld long end to muffler while its supported to the hight you want.

 

[CHOO CHOO]

Unfortunately I do not know how to weld, is there a bolt on bracket system?

 

[felixgun]

Unfortunately I do not know how to weld, is there a bolt on bracket system?

The tips are bolt on but mufflers are usually welded. I'd say it's $40-60 well worth to go to a muffler shop and get it welded on.

 

[CHOO CHOO]

I just bought some pipe and some stainless clamps. I think I will try to bolt it on and see how that goes. If it doesn't look good or work, I can always have them weld it. Thanks everyone for the advice and will post pics tonight!

 

[CHOO CHOO]

Well, so much for posting pics tonight, the stock pipe that was supposed to be 3" is not. I bought a short tube of 3" pipe to fill the gap and I can't even get the pipe clamps to budge the pipe at all. I'm gonna drop it off tonight and have a place weld it on for me.

Oh well, it was fun cutting it off and at least giving it a try. You win some you lose some. Thanks everyone for all your help and I will at least post pics of what I done and the finished product for everyone to see.