Afe muffler replacement 5.3 10 speed trail boss lt

Firehawk99 · September 15, 2020

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I purchased a 2020 Trail Boss 5.3 10 speed LT. I installed an Afe stainless muffler and thought I would post a video of a cold start and rev. I was looking for a deeper growl from the exhaust, nothing too loud or anything that would drone. So far I am very pleased. Inside the truck there is absolutely zero drone and you can barely hear a nice deep rumble. Outside you deffinatly know its there but not obnoxious at all. Your neighbor's will not want to slash your tires.

BossTaco2020 · September 15, 2020

Sounds good. You should do an in-cab at 65+ MPH to give us a taste of that. I've considered a muffler delete but I'm not sure if it'll be too loud.

Firehawk99 · September 16, 2020

1 hour ago, BossTaco2020 said:

Sounds good. You should do an in-cab at 65+ MPH to give us a taste of that. I've considered a muffler delete but I'm not sure if it'll be too loud.

I can do that for ya tomorrow. I also decided to cut up the stock muffler and make covers for the resonators. I burned them on and it worked great. It deffinatly made it a little louder. I will also get a cold start tomorrow as well.

Firehawk99 · September 16, 2020

Firehawk99 · September 16, 2020

Well I had to run out so here ya go.

I also debated just doing the muffler delete but I'm very happy I didn't. To me the sound now with the resonators welded shut is perfect.

BossTaco2020 · September 16, 2020

12 hours ago, Firehawk T/A said:

Well I had to run out so here ya go.

I also debated just doing the muffler delete but I'm very happy I didn't. To me the sound now with the resonators welded shut is perfect.

Wow that sounds great getting up to speed and then, wooohooo breakin the law! Nice vid and I do like that sound. No drone at cruising.

Firehawk99 · September 16, 2020

4 hours ago, BossTaco2020 said:

Wow that sounds great getting up to speed and then, wooohooo breakin the law! Nice vid and I do like that sound. No drone at cruising.

Thanks. I am very happy with it. Absolutely zero drone and at any speed.

Firehawk99 · September 16, 2020

https://youtu.be/MUgixiGwoX8

Cold start with resonators welded shut.

econometrics · September 17, 2020

Sounds really good! Has a similar tone as the new GM Performance Exhaust I just put on my 5.3L for a lot more $!

Bigman21 · September 19, 2020

I put the same setup on my trailboss this week it fit and went on really easily but I was disappointed with it is actually quieter than stock once warmed up and has that overly muffled sound I’m hopping some packing burns up a little after a little bit!!! I put some sheet metal over the screens tonight which made it a lot louder but not real clean sounding but i am used to my Camaro with no cats and borla atak so it has that rich muscle car sound!!! But it is a good option for the money

Firehawk99 · September 19, 2020

58 minutes ago, Bigman21 said:

I put the same setup on my trailboss this week it fit and went on really easily but I was disappointed with it is actually quieter than stock once warmed up and has that overly muffled sound I’m hopping some packing burns up a little after a little bit!!! I put some sheet metal over the screens tonight which made it a lot louder but not real clean sounding but i am used to my Camaro with no cats and borla atak so it has that rich muscle car sound!!! But it is a good option for the money

Oh I get it! When I want loud I drive this.

I still say its louder than stock and has a much deeper tone for sure. Looking at the muffler you would think it would be a lot louder than it is, but i think you are right not clean is a good way to put it. I also think it will get louder as time goes on. This is my everyday family truck so I'm happy its not too loud.

Edited September 19, 2020 by Firehawk T/A
Miss quote

Jason Pepin · October 3, 2020

On 9/15/2020 at 3:45 PM, Firehawk T/A said:

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I purchased a 2020 Trail Boss 5.3 10 speed LT. I installed an Afe stainless muffler and...

Thanks for doing this review and posting the videos. I already had the flapper valve propped open and the resonator screens covered on my 2019 Sierra 5.3L but I was looking for a little more sound and a deeper tone. Based on your posts, I ordered the AFE muffler and got it installed today. The sound is exactly what I had hoped for. My only concern was that I found a very slight harshness in the cabin at certain RPMs. It wasn't bad enough to even call a drone and I think I could have lived with it but for the heck of it, I removed the covering from the last resonator screen on each side. The result was a slightly quieter, but still deep, exhaust note and a much more pleasing in-cabin sound. Extremely pleased with this set-up.

Firehawk99 · October 4, 2020

9 minutes ago, Jason Pepin said:

Thanks for doing this review and posting the videos. I already had the flapper valve propped open and the resonator screens covered on my 2019 Sierra 5.3L but I was looking for a little more sound and a deeper tone. Based on your posts, I ordered the AFE muffler and got it installed today. The sound is exactly what I had hoped for. My only concern was that I found a very slight harshness in the cabin at certain RPMs. It wasn't bad enough to even call a drone and I think I could have lived with it but for the heck of it, I removed the covering from the last resonator screen on each side. The result was a slightly quieter, but still deep, exhaust note and a much more pleasing in-cabin sound. Extremely pleased with this set-up.

No problem! I'm happy they helped you decide what exhaust to go with. That what I love about those built in resonators, it makes your exhaust totally tunable to your liking.

hertge · October 15, 2020

Did you have plenty of room to install the muffler and cut out the flapper? What i am basically asking is did the stock pipes have plenty of length to clamp onto? I would hate to cut too much and the new muffler be too short.

Firehawk99 · October 15, 2020

15 minutes ago, hertge said:

Did you have plenty of room to install the muffler and cut out the flapper? What i am basically asking is did the stock pipes have plenty of length to clamp onto? I would hate to cut too much and the new muffler be too short.

Yes. When you cut the front, cut right before the flapper and after the muffler as close as you can. When you go to reassemble it it will seem as if it will come up short. What happens is the rear section will get pulled toward the back of the truck from the hangers pulling on the pipes. Just clamp up the front pipe to the front of the muffler first, and then the extension pipe to the back of the muffler, pull the back pipe towards the front of the truck to fit it in the back of the extension pipe