Gibson Dual Exhaust 2020 Silverado 6.2L

bearded_warrior · February 18, 2020

Just wanted to post some thoughts/info about the Gibson Exhaust I just installed, I'm working on getting some decent sound clips together but i'll give the general review.

Install process wasn't too bad, make sure to take the time and triple check all the alignments before cranking everything down, I thought I was good but of course things shifted a little after my first test drive and one of the pipes was tapping the heat shield for the spare tire. Just had to loosen everything from the muffler back and rearrange. Probably could have saved a bit of time if I would have wiggled on everything while I was down there. I'm not a fan of the clamps that were provided, they do ok, but you really have to torque them down or they wont bind the pipes. The Borla clamps on my previous truck seemed much easier to install.

My opinion of the exhaust system is that it's overall really good. Really turns the bass up from stock. Not overly loud but puts off a nice aggressive tone that you can feel and hear in the cabin. If you're coasting/cruising it's almost not noticeable. Any light throttle you'll know it's there and it definitely turns up the volume. You can hear it rolling down through the gears on the 10 speed when coming to a stop which puts off a nice note on the gear changes. As far as drone, there really isn't anything bad, I had an MBRP cat-back before and that thing sounded like there was a helicopter in the car with you. In certain light throttle cruising situations, generally between 20-35 MPH, DFM will kick in and you'll hear a "glug glug glug" bassy chugging sound, kinda makes it sound like it's thirsty. Not so much annoying as comical. My father in-law described it as sounding like it had a cam upgrade.

I had a '16 with the 5.3 GM Factory exhaust (Borla Touring) and compared to that this seems to have slightly more bass and a much more pronounced volume increase than the Borla touring did.

If I had any gripes it'd be the clamps and the cruising volume is just slightly higher than i'd prefer but something i'll easily become used to, once you have some music going at about 1/4 volume + it pretty much covers it up unless accelerating.

Purchased for $535.28 after tax with no shipping charges from realtruck.com

https://realtruck.com/p/gibson-exhaust-systems/v/chevy/silverado-1500/2019/

Part #: GPE-65692 - Gibson Dual Exhaust System (Factory Tips)

Edited February 18, 2020 by bearded_warrior
fixed typo

DuRsT · February 19, 2020

That's pretty much spot on with the Magnaflow I had installed on mine. Extremely deep, bassy sound.

I had to drive my '04 F150 to the shop (imagine that) yesterday and even with a bad roller follower (think rocker arm) it sounds really good in comparison with shorty headers and a super 44 SIDO.

truck_newbie · February 19, 2020

22 hours ago, bearded_warrior said:

Just wanted to post some thoughts/info about the Gibson Exhaust I just installed, I'm working on getting some decent sound clips together but i'll give the general review.

Install process wasn't too bad, make sure to take the time and triple check all the alignments before cranking everything down, I thought I was good but of course things shifted a little after my first test drive and one of the pipes was tapping the heat shield for the spare tire. Just had to loosen everything from the muffler back and rearrange. Probably could have saved a bit of time if I would have wiggled on everything while I was down there. I'm not a fan of the clamps that were provided, they do ok, but you really have to torque them down or they wont bind the pipes. The Borla clamps on my previous truck seemed much easier to install.

My opinion of the exhaust system is that it's overall really good. Really turns the bass up from stock. Not overly loud but puts off a nice aggressive tone that you can feel and hear in the cabin. If you're coasting/cruising it's almost not noticeable. Any light throttle you'll know it's there and it definitely turns up the volume. You can hear it rolling down through the gears on the 10 speed when coming to a stop which puts off a nice note on the gear changes. As far as drone, there really isn't anything bad, I had an MBRP cat-back before and that thing sounded like there was a helicopter in the car with you. In certain light throttle cruising situations, generally between 20-35 MPH, DFM will kick in and you'll hear a "glug glug glug" bassy chugging sound, kinda makes it sound like it's thirsty. Not so much annoying as comical. My father in-law described it as sounding like it had a cam upgrade.

I had a '16 with the 5.3 GM Factory exhaust (Borla Touring) and compared to that this seems to have slightly more bass and a much more pronounced volume increase than the Borla touring did.

If I had any gripes it'd be the clamps and the cruising volume is just slightly higher than i'd prefer but something i'll easily become used to, once you have some music going at about 1/4 volume + it pretty much covers it up unless accelerating.

Purchased for $535.28 after tax with no shipping charges from realtruck.com

https://realtruck.com/p/gibson-exhaust-systems/v/chevy/silverado-1500/2019/

Part #: GPE-65692 - Gibson Dual Exhaust System (Factory Tips)

I have had this for a while. I too like it. It was fairly loud a few days after install but has quieted down a bit over time. It is a tame exhaust which is what i was looking for. You can read my review below.

bearded_warrior · February 20, 2020

18 hours ago, truck_newbie said:

I have had this for a while. I too like it. It was fairly loud a few days after install but has quieted down a bit over time. It is a tame exhaust which is what i was looking for. You can read my review below.

Thanks your review was actually one of the reasons I went with Gibson. Well see if it tames out a bit. Today is only my 3rd day driving it and it's been pretty aggressive so far.

truck_newbie · February 20, 2020

3 hours ago, bearded_warrior said:

Thanks your review was actually one of the reasons I went with Gibson. Well see if it tames out a bit. Today is only my 3rd day driving it and it's been pretty aggressive so far.

That's good to hear. I'm sure you will still like it long term.

bearded_warrior · February 20, 2020

Yeah, hoping it tones down a little, I love the sound but either my ears are sensitive to the pitch or the minor drone but I haven't been able to pin it down. Got some ear fatigue today and have a bunch of pressure in my inner ear like it needs to pop and is still present a couple hours after getting out of the truck. Gonna recheck all the connections tonight, maybe something is loose.

My commute is in pretty heavy traffic so i'm stop/go and coast for most of it and in the car for over an hour. Started noticing my ear about 20 min into the ride today.

truck_newbie · February 20, 2020

5 hours ago, bearded_warrior said:

Yeah, hoping it tones down a little, I love the sound but either my ears are sensitive to the pitch or the minor drone but I haven't been able to pin it down. Got some ear fatigue today and have a bunch of pressure in my inner ear like it needs to pop and is still present a couple hours after getting out of the truck. Gonna recheck all the connections tonight, maybe something is loose.

My commute is in pretty heavy traffic so i'm stop/go and coast for most of it and in the car for over an hour. Started noticing my ear about 20 min into the ride today.

That's definitely not good. Ear protection is paramount. I don't remember experiencing anything like that but If it continues to bother you, you should switch to something else. It is tuned for low revs so it's louder when moving from a stand-still and gets very quiet at high revs. Before you switch to something else, you should check if you have general sensitivity to louder exhausts or this specific exhaust. Maybe try to convince your dealer and take one of their trucks with the GM Performance exhaust for a 20 min test drive.

bearded_warrior · February 20, 2020

Thanks @truck_newbie, great suggestion and for understanding what i'm experiencing. I think it's probably a sensitivity to louder exhausts, I know i'm sensitive to high pitches, I had the GM performance on my 5.3 and it didn't bother me at all. Even watching a video on my computer is getting my ears lol... Here's a link for some cabin noise so you can compare to yours maybe. (sorry for the shaky video)

I've gotten the dealership to price match me before so maybe i'll do that since i've got accessories credit from the purchase. Trying to tough it out to see if it quiets down like you were saying. It's definitely not as "tame" to my ears as I was expecting.

Flatblack83 · February 21, 2020

I have this exhaust on my 5.3, it sounds good. Two things I dont like is the same minor drone but it drives me nuts and the other is its rusty brown within months.

Really thinking I'll remove it and put the stock exhausts back on with a straight pipe...

truck_newbie · February 21, 2020

2 hours ago, bearded_warrior said:

Thanks @truck_newbie, great suggestion and for understanding what i'm experiencing. I think it's probably a sensitivity to louder exhausts, I know i'm sensitive to high pitches, I had the GM performance on my 5.3 and it didn't bother me at all. Even watching a video on my computer is getting my ears lol... Here's a link for some cabin noise so you can compare to yours maybe. (sorry for the shaky video)

I've gotten the dealership to price match me before so maybe i'll do that since i've got accessories credit from the purchase. Trying to tough it out to see if it quiets down like you were saying. It's definitely not as "tame" to my ears as I was expecting.

Just listened to it. I would say that sounds like mine. I think your ears are probably just sensitive to this pitch range. FYI, if you know you are sensitive to high pitches, you should do an extended test drive with the GM Performance Exhaust before you get it because it's higher pitch and louder than the Gibson especially when you put your foot in it. This way you don't end up with 2 exhausts systems you don't like. This is the approach i took. Before getting the Gibson, i did an extended test drive with the GMPE. The GMPE has absolutely no drone but exhaust pitch was higher than i liked. The fact that the Gibson was almost a third of the price also didn't hurt . Sound is very subjective but with the GMPE, at least you can try before you buy. I will try and add a cabin sound capture to my original Gibson thread so i don't mislead anyone.

You could give it a week or two to see if you get used to it (not at the detriment to your ears of course). Honestly some days i forget the exhaust is even there.

truck_newbie · February 21, 2020

32 minutes ago, Flatblack83 said:

I have this exhaust on my 5.3, it sounds good. Two things I dont like is the same minor drone but it drives me nuts and the other is its rusty brown within months.

Really thinking I'll remove it and put the stock exhausts back on with a straight pipe...

The Gibson is 409 stainless steel, so is the factory exhaust. 409 stainless steel develops surface rust over time but it's just cosmetic. I am no exhaust expert but i did a lot of research about exhausts before getting the Gibson. Below is one of the websites i came across that explained the differences between the different types of stainless steel.

https://help.summitracing.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3932/~/what-is-the-difference-between-304-and-409-stainless-steel%3F

bearded_warrior · February 21, 2020

8 minutes ago, truck_newbie said:

Just listened to it. I would say that sounds like mine. I think your ears are probably just sensitive to this pitch range. FYI, if you know you are sensitive to high pitches, you should do an extended test drive with the GM Performance Exhaust before you get it because it's higher pitch and louder than the Gibson especially when you put your foot in it. This way you don't end up with 2 exhausts systems you don't like. This is the approach i took. Before getting the Gibson, i did an extended test drive with the GMPE. The GMPE has absolutely no drone but exhaust pitch was higher than i liked. The fact that the Gibson was almost a third of the price also didn't hurt . Sound is very subjective but with the GMPE, at least you can try before you buy. I will try and add a cabin sound capture to my original Gibson thread so i don't mislead anyone.

You could give it a week or two to see if you get used to it (not at the detriment to your ears of course). Honestly some days i forget the exhaust is even there.

I have spoken with borla reps and they say sound doesnt really change much between GMPE and borla touring. I've been trying to do more research and think i'm more drone sensitive than pitch sensitive when it comes to these exhausts. I also will try to chat with my dealers and get a ride in a GMPE equipped vehicle.

It's all too bad, love the feel and sound of the exhaust at most times. I think it's just more persistent than I can handle, WAF (wife acceptance factor) has dwindled as well.

truck_newbie · February 21, 2020

11 hours ago, bearded_warrior said:

I have spoken with borla reps and they say sound doesnt really change much between GMPE and borla touring. I've been trying to do more research and think i'm more drone sensitive than pitch sensitive when it comes to these exhausts. I also will try to chat with my dealers and get a ride in a GMPE equipped vehicle.

It's all too bad, love the feel and sound of the exhaust at most times. I think it's just more persistent than I can handle, WAF (wife acceptance factor) has dwindled as well.

Lol. Gotta keep the wife happy. Let us know how everything shakes out.

bearded_warrior · February 21, 2020

2 hours ago, truck_newbie said:

Lol. Gotta keep the wife happy. Let us know how everything shakes out.

Decided to revert back to stock. I'm taking it to an exhaust place next week to have it welded back together (of course I cut it when removing it) _facepalm_. I wanted to try the GMPE or Borla touring (basically the same thing) but I don't really want to gamble $1,200 to find out. No dealers in my area have any trucks listed with the GMPE so that's not an option to go check out.

Oh well... Stock is way better IMO than my eardrums being messed up, I guess good hearing is a blessing and a curse. . Thanks for the advice and open discussion.

bearded_warrior · February 21, 2020

I spoke with Gibson, they suggested adding a resonator to the line, they said either in front or behind the muffler will do the trick. It'd quiet it down quite a bit they said, but it'd remove the drone.