n8in8or
I never met a project I didn’t like
Hello all,
I'm new to the 6.5 diesel thing having just bought my 97 Tahoe in November 2013. I've been doing repairs and modifications based on what I've been reading on here and the info has been very valuable. There wasn't much info on installing a 4" exhaust on a Tahoe/Yukon other than "yeah it can be done", so I bit the bullet and did it this weekend and took many pictures to help those contemplating the same thing on theirs. The other thing I did was give an FTE 4" x 30" Resonator/Muffler a try. I had read other people with the Diamond Eye exhaust complain of drone and I definitely didn't want that since I drive this daily and I like my girlfriend to enjoy riding in my truck with me.
While I was at it, I also installed an IMCO 2.5" crossover. I bought a kit off a vendor on Ebay that sold the crossover with doughnuts and new studs and nuts. It fit great. The problem with that install is that at some point in its life the crossover must have been leaking because someone put bugger welds all over the crossover and the mounting bolts on the driver side so that had to be cut off and then I had to drill and tap the manifold. Also, I did find that it was easier to access the passenger side with the downpipe removed - it wasn't difficult to get a socket on the bolts with it in place, but it did give me much more room to heat up the manifold with a torch so I could get the bolts out. The crossover removal and installation took about 2 hours even with the downpipe removal and manifold drilling/tapping, so not too bad.
Installation results: It took much more modifying than I anticipated but most of that was due to the resonator installation. They recommend that the resonator go as close to the downpipe as possible to be most effective at reducing drone, so in order to do that I actually had to shorten the downpipe so it would fit in the cramped confines of where the cat used to be. All told I have about 5 hours in the modifying and installation of the exhaust (not including the crossover installation time), but I am very pleased with the results - it fits in there nice and tight and I don't have any rattles. Also the tailpipe exit looks pretty good as well. I would like it to be angled down just a little bit, but if I do that it hits the crossmember over the rear axle. I may be able to loosen the ball and socket connection at the front and then rotate the pipes out back, but for now I'm happy enough with the results - it's just a little above level at the moment. I also want to say that this is the first time I've used band clamps and they made the installation much easier since I could tighten everything down and then I could loosen it for slight tweaks to get everything just right. I will be using band clamps as much as possible in my future exhaust installs. One other note: all of the tubing, both the exhaust and the resonator, was nice and heavy so it made fabrication much easier. It also gives me good confidence in the longevity of the system.
Sound results: I am happy to report that I have absolutely no drone! I haven't driven it much yet, but I did do a loop yesterday with freeway 70mph driving and backroad 55mph driving, as well as in town and I didn't notice drone once – the resonator definitely works as well as advertised. At idle the exhaust is noticeable inside, but it's just a slight V8 rumble. I would say that the diesel clack is still louder inside than the exhaust. Once moving it's not much louder. When you get on it, it's still a manageable noise level until about 2700 rpm, then it starts talking to you - it startled me the first time I did it when I was getting on the highway! I'm also happy to report that with my stock K47 airbox and NAPA gold filter I have some pleasant whistle to taunt people with.
Here are some pics I took during the install, some of them are a little out of focus as I took everything with my phone and I apologize for that, but I think they're good enough to tell what's going on here. In the pics I have shown the portions of tubing that I cut off the end or sectioned out. I also have the crossover in there to show what it looks like and the muffler delete pipe that came with the exhaust kit but didn't use. In the installed pics you can see the hangers I added. The front hanger is a hanger from the stock exhaust that I was able to reuse. The second hanger is one that I cut off the supplied clamp/hanger with the exhaust kit. The last hanger on the tailpipe is one I made out of 1/2" solid bar. Some of the installed pics look kind of redundant, this is because it was hard to get good shots of how it fits so hopefully with enough examination you can see how it fits.
Enjoy.
I'm new to the 6.5 diesel thing having just bought my 97 Tahoe in November 2013. I've been doing repairs and modifications based on what I've been reading on here and the info has been very valuable. There wasn't much info on installing a 4" exhaust on a Tahoe/Yukon other than "yeah it can be done", so I bit the bullet and did it this weekend and took many pictures to help those contemplating the same thing on theirs. The other thing I did was give an FTE 4" x 30" Resonator/Muffler a try. I had read other people with the Diamond Eye exhaust complain of drone and I definitely didn't want that since I drive this daily and I like my girlfriend to enjoy riding in my truck with me.
While I was at it, I also installed an IMCO 2.5" crossover. I bought a kit off a vendor on Ebay that sold the crossover with doughnuts and new studs and nuts. It fit great. The problem with that install is that at some point in its life the crossover must have been leaking because someone put bugger welds all over the crossover and the mounting bolts on the driver side so that had to be cut off and then I had to drill and tap the manifold. Also, I did find that it was easier to access the passenger side with the downpipe removed - it wasn't difficult to get a socket on the bolts with it in place, but it did give me much more room to heat up the manifold with a torch so I could get the bolts out. The crossover removal and installation took about 2 hours even with the downpipe removal and manifold drilling/tapping, so not too bad.
Installation results: It took much more modifying than I anticipated but most of that was due to the resonator installation. They recommend that the resonator go as close to the downpipe as possible to be most effective at reducing drone, so in order to do that I actually had to shorten the downpipe so it would fit in the cramped confines of where the cat used to be. All told I have about 5 hours in the modifying and installation of the exhaust (not including the crossover installation time), but I am very pleased with the results - it fits in there nice and tight and I don't have any rattles. Also the tailpipe exit looks pretty good as well. I would like it to be angled down just a little bit, but if I do that it hits the crossmember over the rear axle. I may be able to loosen the ball and socket connection at the front and then rotate the pipes out back, but for now I'm happy enough with the results - it's just a little above level at the moment. I also want to say that this is the first time I've used band clamps and they made the installation much easier since I could tighten everything down and then I could loosen it for slight tweaks to get everything just right. I will be using band clamps as much as possible in my future exhaust installs. One other note: all of the tubing, both the exhaust and the resonator, was nice and heavy so it made fabrication much easier. It also gives me good confidence in the longevity of the system.
Sound results: I am happy to report that I have absolutely no drone! I haven't driven it much yet, but I did do a loop yesterday with freeway 70mph driving and backroad 55mph driving, as well as in town and I didn't notice drone once – the resonator definitely works as well as advertised. At idle the exhaust is noticeable inside, but it's just a slight V8 rumble. I would say that the diesel clack is still louder inside than the exhaust. Once moving it's not much louder. When you get on it, it's still a manageable noise level until about 2700 rpm, then it starts talking to you - it startled me the first time I did it when I was getting on the highway! I'm also happy to report that with my stock K47 airbox and NAPA gold filter I have some pleasant whistle to taunt people with.
Here are some pics I took during the install, some of them are a little out of focus as I took everything with my phone and I apologize for that, but I think they're good enough to tell what's going on here. In the pics I have shown the portions of tubing that I cut off the end or sectioned out. I also have the crossover in there to show what it looks like and the muffler delete pipe that came with the exhaust kit but didn't use. In the installed pics you can see the hangers I added. The front hanger is a hanger from the stock exhaust that I was able to reuse. The second hanger is one that I cut off the supplied clamp/hanger with the exhaust kit. The last hanger on the tailpipe is one I made out of 1/2" solid bar. Some of the installed pics look kind of redundant, this is because it was hard to get good shots of how it fits so hopefully with enough examination you can see how it fits.
Enjoy.
