Lesson Learned:Muffler Delete Drone
 

This is a long post but I felt with all that I have recieved from these forums, that I was obligated to give back. So this is for the benefit to anyone whos willing to read it all. Writen to help anyone in any way possible.

After doing TONS of reading on other peoples experiences with muffler deletes and spending lots of time hunting down videos with sound clips I decided to do the same but my outcome was not like what I read in other posts.

I will try and keep this as concice as possible. I did a muffler delete with a magnaflow Tru-X pipe and left resonators on my LS3. Paid $160 to install at a shop next to work that did a coworkers L99. It sounded pretty good, not as throaty as I wanted but good enough for the price. But then there was the DRONE. Drove it home 70 miles with drone at about 1900-2100 depending on loading. I get home and wifey hates it (I did too at that point). She goes off on how she doesnt like it at all and backs of finally when I make her realize how much I dont like it. She is understanding and supportive from that point on (I am lucky). Infact I think it got worse after parking it at home and then riding with her. The drone from the ride home and the 15min drive with my wife gave me a headache and left me feeling nauscious.

Anxious to get rid of the unbearable and unacceptable drone, I go to a local muffler shop the next day. I ask if he knows why its droning and for advice on how to fix it. I offer to take him for a ride so he can hear what I hear. "No, I know what your talking about...its because you dont have mufflers...there is no back pressure", he insists. In a state of drone induced anxiety, nausciousness and headache, he convinces me not only that I need a muffler but to put on Flowmasters (series 40). He charges me $400 installed with some nice chrome tips. After installation we fired it up and it sounded pretty nice on the outside. Nice deep tone (as some of you familiar with flowmaster know). I would have liked it...but then the drone.

I take it away with an agreement that I will call or come back if its still a problem. I call back as soon as I get home (<10min). I tell him that it's MUCH worse and undriveable to me. It was twice as loud and felt that, not only was it shaking the car, but also shaking my very important fragile brain. He responds with..."well what do you mean by droning?...maybe you should come back so we can go for a ride and I can hear it". :facepalm: :mad0259: I get back take him for a ride and with pleasure hit that resonance frequency and try to make his ears bleed...I think I almost succeeded before he said "oh wow thats annoying". He could not stand it. He doesnt know what is causing it nor has he ever heard anything like that before. A "muffler guy" that it not familiar with the word "droning". :facepalm: Oh BTW he is the owner and has been "doing this for 20years". My confidence in his knowledge drops way down, again.

At this point I am VERY frustrated, tired, hungry, nauscious and have a headache. Oh...and it gets worse...I did NOT want to drive my camaro at all....yes it was that bad. Researching a bit the night before I read of some that did muffler deletes and got droning with the Tru-X. They got rid of it by putting factory H back on. I asked him to do that, which he did for $30. With H-pipe back on droning was much better but only back to where it was to begin with(before the mufflers). He says putting on resonators (added to factory one still in place) will take that sound away. I foolishly believe him yet again that he knows what he is talking about and agree to pay $100 to do so. He does, and it has ZERO effect on drone. I just leave....more hungry, more frustrated, more of a headache and more ticked. Oh and more broke.

Some Lessons Learned:

1. Deal with a proffesional when you can afford it. Or become an expert and find someone to do exactly as you tell them.
2. You know when a "professional" is not one in the first 5min of conversation. Leave at this point, or at least recognize.
3. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me 2,3,4 times, shame on me. Shame on me.
4. If you dont feel good about a business transaction...walk away.
5. You most often get what you pay for...unless your lucky or its illegal.
6. 20 years of experience does not mean you know what your talking about. It Just means you have been doing something for 20years. Ever heard of the phrase "thats the way it has always been done"?
...
7. I have the best wife. She is all for another $1200 to get a drone free system like Corsa. Even after all the money I blew! I am lucky.
8...theres more but I will stop there.

In the end I do not blame him for his ignorance or lack of knowledge. He actually did good work but he does not know what he should know as a "muffler/exhaust" guy. There is a place for him in the world, he is an exhaust craftsman(flowmaster on a Camaro isnt easy, install was nice). I blame myself for my situation and loss.

Mayeb thats the way flowmasters sound. He actually really liked it, but its not for me. Or maybe I am just sensative to drone. :iono:

So, what to do now? Did I mention how bad it is?....I do not want to drive my camaro... No Camaro5 person should ever be in that state, I would never wish this on any of you.

So now that I have deeply rooted hate for drone and a loss of $750 I am considering going straight to Corsa or Borla cat back to replace my Frankendrone install. At this point I am done dumping any more money to "try one more thing". Money I put in at this point on will be with professionals who know what they are doing. For $1200(corsa cat back) I would normally wait but the car in my opinion is extremely uncomfortable to drive.

Well thats my story for the benefit of anyone who made it through that whole post.

To those that got muffler deletes done(with or without x-pipe) and are happy with it, good for you. I am really glad it worked out for most.

I missed the So Cal "100 Camaros" event today partially because of this :cry:

So to Corsa or not to Corsa (or borla...or...?). Oh I have a Flowmaster Axle back system for sale once I cut it off :D

Advice is welcome.

UPDATE: Ordered Corsa. Installed myself. Throaty, louder than stock, drone free! Very quality system. I would recommend to anyone.

I had the GMPP street version and it droned like mad, so bad that I put back the stock mufflers. I just ordered the Corsa, I should get it next week, I'll keep you advised.
=Bobby

Good post, but look on the bright side. Your a week ahead of your self the meet isnt till NEXT Sat the 24th, so youll still have to get her to the "Ball" on time.

I've heard really good things about Magnaflow and it's probably what I'm gonna go with.

But could you explain what you mean exactly by drone?

I have an L99 and I removed both the resonator and the mufflers. I'm used to the "drone" now. My car's loud as f*ck lol. I think you should've kept driving it for a few days, and then decide.

Strange.

I had the MD with tru-X and my resonators removed, and no drone whatsoever. At least not that bothers me. Only minor decel popping.

the muffler guy made some easy money off you.he should give your money back.

might be going with borla ATAK

Just read a DIT thread on insulating the trunk and it mentioned how it reduced a large amount of noise. Worth considering.

F*ck Borla, seriously. Never liked their products. Way overrated.

Go back to stock , all the systems drone ,

I think corsa makes a nice system. I have it on my jeep and challenger. No drone on either vehicle. I will be putting them on my camaro soon. Just installed headers and kept stock midpipe and slp axle back. No real drone just like the corsa system.

I had Corsa's on my 03' Z06 and it did not drone at all!

I had put Power Effects on my 85 Vette and it droned like H***

I have SOLO Mach X on my camaro now and it only has a little drone to it.
I put some dynamat in the trunk and it helped alittle.
Good Luck.

If i had it to do over I would go with the Corsa's

I had a Corsa cat back on my Pontiac G8 GXP and there was no drone at all. Good sound too. Almost ordered the Corsa for my Camaro.

I just ordered the Solo Mach X for my 2SS LS3. They claim no drone and good sound. Have read good things about this system. Have my fingers crossed.

Good luck with whatever solution you try. Unfortunately, one person's drone is another's music.

I typically wouldn't have seen this post as it was in the v8 section. I can tell you I just got the v6 Corsa cat back Friday, and couldn't be any happier. I took it for a 120 mile round trip tonight, and was very quiet on the inside of the car.

See if you can make the plea for any Camaro5 owner with the Corsa Cat back system in your area that you can check out! Most people love to show off their mods, and what better way to know if you will like it than to take a ride in it.