Exhaust Drone Fixed! Spoiler Alert another 3.21 vs 3.92 discussion

[Bmags]

Just figured I’d throw this out there to the group.

BACKGROUND:
There are many reasons why folks love the 3.92 gears… (way lower 1st gear, lower reverse gear, better acceleration, etc) but for me I mainly was searching for ways to remove my highway drone from my Carven Competitor (which I love)!

Prior to this I had:
1) Solo Performane Mach 44 muffler (too quiet for me, and really the only loud sound was droning)

2) Carven Progressive (loud, but still not loud enough) with a fair amount of drone

3) Carven Competitor (louder still, and frankly the same drone as the Progressive)

In addition to (2) and (3) I also had installed the Mufflex Drone Supression pipe which made things a little better, but the truck was still frustrating to drive for more than 2-3 hours at a time.

I had heard good things about the Corsa Muffler, but it sounds more like a sports car than a V8 truck…

THE SOLUTION:
In general, 7th gear with a 3.21 runs at the same engine speed as 8th gear in the 3.92… which for me cruising at 65+ down the highway keeps my exhaust sounding loud and great with no drone!

What I ended up doing is reflashing my TCM to get rid of 8th gear, so now my truck only runs from 1-7th (giving me what amounts to be the same final gearing as I’d get with the 3.92).

Very happy with how things turned out, and I’m likely the only ZF7 in existence

 

[DILLIGAF]

Or, Hear me out, you could just get FRP to tune the trans properly...

 

[Bmags]

Or, Hear me out, you could just get FRP to tune the trans properly...

Haha. I will get a full trans tune at some point… but either way I’m still going to keep it out of 8th gear as a requirement.

To me exhaust drone = engine lugging (on top of it being annoying). Even if the tune helps with the constant 7-8th gear hunting I had I LOVE the responsiveness of the truck on the highway now.

And like I mentioned, it’s running the same engine RPM as it would be had I swapped to 3.92 gears so I can’t see any arguments that I’m hurting the longevity of the engine, drivetrain, etc…

 

[ramffml]

There are plenty of great exhaust options available where you don't have to eliminate a gear in your truck to enjoy it. Just sayin.

 

[Bmags]

Trust me, gear limit your truck with the steering wheels buttons to a max gear of 7th for a few days and keep track of your smiles…

Waaaaay better overall driving experience for those of us with the 3.21

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Based on ownership of both a 3.21 truck and a 3.92 truck, I'd rather spend money on putting these in, than gear limiting my truck. Thanks @Brandon-w and @Wild one .

 

[ramffml]

Trust me, gear limit your truck with the steering wheels buttons to a max gear of 7th for a few days and keep track of your smiles…

Waaaaay better overall driving experience for those of us with the 3.21

I've had my truck for 4.5 years. I'm well aware of what it feels like.

What you're missing is "way better" is user defined. I'm extremely pleased how my truck idles around through life. The few times I need more power when I'm passing someone I end up downshifting straight to 6th or 5th.

And "trust me", there are better exhaust options out there that don't require you to neuter your transmission.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter, you're welcome to do as you please of course.

 

[ramffml]

Based on ownership of both a 3.21 truck and a 3.92 truck, I'd rather spend money on putting these in, than gear limiting my truck. Thanks @Brandon-w and @Wild one .

Nice, is that a true shifting setup now or is it just paddles which wire up into the gear limiter buttons?

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

I will refer you to @Brandon-w I just installed he is the wizard behind the mod.

I will say, they are 100% functional and work as designed

 

[Wild one]

Nice, is that a true shifting setup now or is it just paddles which wire up into the gear limiter buttons?

Basically they tie into the limiter buttons,but are way more precise then the buttons are. I actually prefer the trucks paddles over the tiptronic paddles that are in my wifes last 2 Challengers.The cars paddles leave alot to be desired in my opinion,and i very seldom use them,while i use the paddles in the truck all the time.I hate the fact the tiptronic paddles downshift coming to a stop,then won't upshift unless you pull the paddle,the truck will downshift,but will stay in the gear you had it in,so will still upshift by itself,if you're not on top of things.The flucking paddles in the car have bit me in the rear a few times at the track,as it won't upshift,it just hits the limiter and stays there,so i've given up on using them,and launch the car in 3rd,then slap the shifter sideways,and let it do it's own shifting.
The 1320's when in Drag mode shift at roughly 6500 anyways,lol

 

[Brandon-w]

If you have hp tuners I can also adjust the shifts, speed and when it shifts. My truck will Drop a gear at 5500rpm and scream at 7000 if I want it to now.

 

[Wild one]

If you have hp tuners I can also adjust the shifts, speed and when it shifts. My truck will Drop a gear at 5500rpm and scream at 7000 if I want it to now.

I have mine set to make the 1-2 shift at 6400,the 2-3 shift at 6500 and the rest are set to 6600. Above 6600 it's not really making any power with the cam i have,with a bigger cam i'd definitely up the shifts though,as the 5.7 likes to rev,lol.You might be pushing it with 7,000 in your 6.4 with the stock cracked cap rods,they're your weak link,lol

 

[Wild one]

You can see the "drag" button ,beside the supertrack button in this pic,and when you push it,it totally transforms a 1320,they become alot more fun,lol.

 

[Brandon-w]

I have mine set to make the 1-2 shift at 6400,the 2-3 shift at 6500 and the rest are set to 6600. Above 6600 it's not really making any power with the cam i have,with a bigger cam i'd definitely up the shifts though,as the 5.7 likes to rev,lol.You might be pushing it with 7,000 in your 6.4 with the stock cracked cap rods,they're your weak link,lol

Yeah I have my shift up set pretty high too. With paddles I didn't care much about up shift I wanted instant response at almost any rpm at down shift.

 

[Brapasorus Rex]

Bmags - I understand and agree with you completely. I’ll pay you if you want to delete my 8 speed and make it a 7. I’m running 34s and run about 90mph any chance I get. It jumps between 7-8th way too much! Especially when slow people are in the left lane on the interstate! If you know what I mean, you know. Curious on what you’d recommend for exhaust set up too.

 

[Bmags]

Oh don’t get me started on slow left lane drivers!! They annoy me even more than some people that post nonsensical off topic messages on these forms (like Wild One for instance)

I could help with your transmission tune... You’d need to have an HP Tuners OBD device (MPVI2, MPVI3, RTD, etc) and be able to read off your stock tune and send it to me. The transmission computers aren’t locked but depending on your year (2018+) you need a bypass cable to access the data.

For my exhaust I’m overall really happy with the Carven Competitor. Really aggressive cold starts and sounds good both inside and outside the truck. I wouldn’t bother with the drone suppression pipe… running in 7th (or having 3.92 gears) is the key more than anything else.

 

[Wild one]

Oh don’t get me started on slow left lane drivers!! They annoy me even more than some people that post nonsensical off topic messages on these forms (like Wild One for instance)

I could help with your transmission tune... You’d need to have an HP Tuners OBD device (MPVI2, MPVI3, RTD, etc) and be able to read off your stock tune and send it to me. The transmission computers aren’t locked but depending on your year (2018+) you need a bypass cable to access the data.

For my exhaust I’m overall really happy with the Carven Competitor. Really aggressive cold starts and sounds good both inside and outside the truck. I wouldn’t bother with the drone suppression pipe… running in 7th (or having 3.92 gears) is the key more than anything else.

Count yourself lucky i didn't say anything about how stupid this idea is
BTW i wasn't the one who side tracked your thread,i never said squat about you,or your dumb idea,all i did was answer a couple questions,but you feel the need to slander me
Glad to see your buddy Tweedle Dee showed up to help you out Tweedle Dumb.
I'm starting to think you're buddy is "you" with another profile,as nobody can be that gulliable
Seems very suspicious that he showed up when you thought you needed back-up,so i'll give you credit for creating another profile,must be hard to keep them straight though

 

[Brapasorus Rex]

Haha thanks bmags! I did find your website and sent you my number. Appreciate the knowledge and expertise.

 

[Bmags]

No problem. You’ll find there are a lot of people in this world that say you can’t do something or shouldn’t do something that have no real reasoning behind their point of view.

Just crank up the tunes, put the pedal to the floor and smile as you pass them.

 

[Brapasorus Rex]

Being an engineer myself over the last 10 years, I couldn’t agree more!!!