exhausting question

hey guys, i have a question. i have a buddy of mine that has a blackwidow widowmaker "neighbor hater" muffler that hes giving me for free (he hears my yukon start and says it needs to be louder haha) my question is has anyone ran this muffler and if so how is the drone say at about 3k while cruising, i tow my camper 7-8 times a year and would really hate to have that drone for hours at a time.

my plan would be to just cut the stock muffler out and weld/slip the new muffler in its place and leave the resonator and cats so would knock down some of the drone concern i think. any advise would be awesome thanks guys!

I would rather stay stock and be covert when I roll in to any place. At 73, I am done with loud exhaust. Plus, droning exhaust can hide other warning noises a worn out part/component can make and that ends up costing more money to find and repair.

With a name like 'widowmaker neighbor hater', it's hard to imagine it not droning?

Installed a Flowmaster cat back 3 weeks ago. The sound clips I heard before install did not accurately reflect reality and made the classy Yukon sound like a cheap ‘68 Camaro beater. Went back to stock and a nice quiet ride. Was a $700 mistake but glad its gone. So keep that in mind as it may take time and expense to get the tone and drone just as you want it. Also, see if you can find some interweb clips of your vehicle and engine with a Windowmaker installed.

EDIT: one benefit of this exercise is that i found the old stock flapper valve was barely functioning so that with increased throttle, the truck was sluggish and produced a whistle sound as the engine struggled to push exhaust gasses out. The flow through was a significant improvement …currently creating files for a Blackbear tune so looking forward to that result.

According to Dr. Google:

Yes, the Black Widow Widowmaker "NeighborHater" does produce some exhaust drone, though its patented hourglass design helps minimize the deep, continuous hum compared to similar straight-pipe style mufflers.
However, because the Widowmaker (6" x 5") is Black Widow's loudest and most aggressive muffler, it is notably loud inside the cabin at cruising speeds. The experience is highly dependent on your setup:

• Drone levels: You may experience a distinct interior hum at specific RPM ranges (often around 1,500 RPM), but it is largely considered more manageable than equivalent systems like a Flowmaster Super 10 or a pure muffler delete.
• Other Factors: Drone intensity will heavily depend on whether you have an H-pipe, X-pipe, aftermarket headers, or the factory resonators still installed.

Spend a like cash and get the remote exhaust valve. U can run stock when towing the hit the button and get loud!

thanks guys! thats what i was thinking to is it would make it too loud and make it obnoxious. looking at it i wouldnt even consider it a muffler. it is literally a giant pipe with 2 triangles welded on the inside with 2 holes drilled in the triangles. its also over half the size in length of the stock muffler and the stock muffler is 2-3x larger in diameter. i think removing that muffler and installing the blackwidow will make it wayyyyy to loud given how and where i drive. would also hate to waste money on something that i already have an idea i wont like in the long term. im sure it will sound good but not for what im wanting.

mikez71 said:

With a name like 'widowmaker neighbor hater', it's hard to imagine it not droning?

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With that name, it's hard not to imagine it being obnoxious in general; but I've never been a fan of loud exhaust.

joe

I don't get the loud exhaust rave with folks...TBH.

The PO from my 06 Suburban 2500 was a car enthusiast and had a small collection of F bodies and towed with them to shows and stuff. He'd installed some Flowmasters or something. The truck was frigging loud and obnoxious as hell. I drove it for a few months like that and finally got fed up with the noise.

I once went to a jobsite meeting at a parking garage and got laughed at by the client and contractor (I think that were just shocked that I showed up with a loud muffler vehicle 'cause my Silverado didn't do that). You can imagine how much louder the damn thing was in there. And my wife said her sister made a joke that she could hear me before getting to her house 2 blocks away. Lmao

So it took me a while but I finally found another 2500 SUV stock muffler. Apparently those are different than the 1500 mufflets. I took it to my local muffler shop and they charged me $100 to weld it back one. I left the aftermarket rusty POS muffler (and the claimed 25 ponies) in the scrap bin of the shop and drove home a happy man!

I've since added some LizardSkin and that damping material to some parts of my trucks, and enjoy driving them with a quieter ride. If anything i want them to ride quieter NOT louder...

It is nice to have options available to accommodate everybody's preferences. Some like it loud, some don't.

Joseph Garcia said:

It is nice to have options available to accommodate everybody's preferences. Some like it loud, some don't.

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What a country.

joe

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who wants an exhaust system that is both quieter than OE, AND also scavenges better for improved power.
Guess the aftermarket apparently cannot effectively market discretely tasteful / quieter exhaust systems,
and automakers will never need to release the last few horses or torques because they're more interested in MpGs.

Marky Dissod said:

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who wants an exhaust system that is both quieter than OE, AND also scavenges better for improved power.
Guess the aftermarket apparently cannot effectively market discretely tasteful / quieter exhaust systems,
and automakers will never need to release the last few horses or torques because they're more interested in MpGs.

Click to expand...

Trust me, you're not alone. I've read, and seen on 'Engine Masters', that Dynomax offers the best combination of power from a quieter muffler.

For decades now, I think automakers have been MOST interested in keeping the federal monkey off their backs. That includes noise regulations.

joe

Drawing attention to oneself can often not be a good thing.

My neighbor, a large Insurance Company IT manager, came to that same way of thinking when he didn't think he should lay off the throttle on his Fat Boy blasting up a hill with a Trooper sitting on the side of the road.
He joined several other like minded fellows in court the following week.

If you want just a "little louder than stock" I went with the big Magnaflow: 5x11 oval, 22" long. I also eliminated the rear resonator and put a stainless tip on it.

I like a little rumble at idle and the throaty roar when I get on it, but I abhor the 1800-2200 rpm drone. So far the big Magna is doing the job with all. It's a little too quiet at idle, but again, I'll take that over no drone.