maintainin

I have a set of four ramps that I had with my prior vehicle( A tahoe). I used to set one in front of all four tires and drive it up them. Worked like a charm if you eased it up them. I'm guessing like most anyhting else they are safe as long as you dont exceed the rating. Mine are rated at 8000 pounds each. I cant do that anymore with the Impala since it sits so much lower, I cant get the ramps in front of the rear tires. I was thinking if I could drive the front wheels up on ramps, that should give me enough room to unbolt the resonator from the cat. Then I could back it off those ramps and back it onto the ramps BEHIND the rear tires. That should give enough room to take it off the hangers. For installation, just do the whole process over again.

I think I'm just going to do like eddiemoney said and take it down to the local exhaust shop and have him put it in and weld it up. I've dealt with him in the past and he does good work. I need to remember to tell him about the tailpipe though. I dont want mine sticking out past the bumper either.

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

They stick out like 1/2"; it is nothing to worry about

Kazmaniac

On the MCSS we have the tails integrated into the rear facia / ground effects. Even the 3 1/2" tips were a little "loud" on my car. I could have used the tails as an impact warning to prevent my bumper from being scratched.

Sticking big things past a defined vertical surface such as the MCSS's looks ricer / pimp. I still consider having my extra 3" rolled stainless tips I have in my garage welded on the MF tails in place of the tips supplied as to not get in the debate of "my tail pipe is bigger than yours". To me subtle / clean is better.

I see the Imp has a different bumper. The Impala also gets a different tailpipe assy. The vid on the Magnaflow website looks like it may fit design harmony on the Imp, but there's not a side view to reference. Under the rolled bumper, the MF tails should look "non-stock". Just double / triple check / sleep on it before you set the tails. Look at it from the side, and follow the style line of the bumper - as long as the tails don't go past the vertical plane of the bumper and look like something you can step on to get into the trunk you should be OK.

I'm more in line with the Car and Driver mentality. But, some would disagree with me, so it boils down to whatever you personally like.

I think the ramps will be my next purchase. I can't stand the sound of the jackstands crushing the metal around the jackpoints on either of my cars.

BTW - I only jacked the back of my MCSS up, maybe a foot or two off the ground. I was able to reach the center of the vehicle easily. So, to back up the ramps in the rear of your car would duplicate me jacking up the rear only.

maintainin

Well, I got mine installed yesterday. First impressions, I'm a little dissapointed. Looks great, but other than getting on it, I dont care for the sound too much. It doesnt sound bad, but IMO at idle and just driving around town normally it doesnt have that distinctive V8 sound. It's a little too deep and doesnt have enough rumble. Know what I mean? But of course this is just me. I've already bought it and I'm going to leave it on for awhile and see if it grows on me. but I might look at something else down the road.

Kazmaniac

I think I have 3,000 miles on my system now. To me. it's louder (broken-in?) than when it was new. Sounds a lot louder than my stock system was. That rumble you refer to - like when the mufflers were under the rear seats like on the 80's MCSS? I don't think you will get that sound in the cabin on these cars because the mufflers are at the rear bumper.

You may want to disable the DoD, and remove the resonator to get the V8 rumble you're looking for. I think the resonator is there to dull the 4-cyl sound.

http://ls1sounds.com/magnaflow.htm has clips of MF systems on F-Bodys, which sound like just about any other high-perf system. Listen to the 5th one for a fly-by.

But, I still need to have one of my friends drive my car away from me to hear what it sounds like from outside the car.

maintainin

Well, maybe rumble is not the word I'm looking for. You know, to me it just doesnt have enough of that V8......whats the word I'm looking for........gurgle? I love it when you step on it, but the idle and normal driving leave something to be desired IMO. It's not that its not loud enough, just doesnt have that "gurgle". A little too deep and bland for me. Of course, this is totally subjective.

I had a 99 Tahoe before this and I had dual in dual out magnaflow muffler on it with the pipes going out the back. It sounded SOOOOOOOOOO good. Cruising, idling, getting on it, it was wonderful. Wasnt too loud, but deep and aggressive. I guess I was used to that and had it in my mind that this would be close to that. Two totally different setups though. Maybe it'll grow on me.

yuimyt

flowmaster has the rumble sound!
I must record now. It has been broken in with 3000 miles since I installed them.

maintainin

Flowmaster doesnt make a system do they for these cars? What did you do, keep the same stock exhuast, but just swap out the mufflers?

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

Yah to get a sound but little or no performance benefit

yuimyt

Yes, just the mufflers and tips. I just did for only sound purpose.
I want to change my tips, because they are double-walled right now, and making weird noise(like vibrating noise). I think single-wall makes better sound. Tips make final sound of the exhaust. Long or short, small or large. All make different sound.

BuffaloSS

iTrader: (3)

maintainin...i'll take it off your hands for $300...LOL

maintainin

LOL, Naw, I'll keep it for now. Do you all really think there is a "breaking in" period?

DUSTYWS6

I thought that it was the size of the tip that determined power. I thought power was equivalent to the square root of the tip diameter squared.

06MonteSS

yes, it is.. but only if it equals an even number on the 3rd Friday of the month when there's a full moon within the 3rd quarter of the year and less than .135 inches of rain had fallen in the previous month that had a blue moon...

Kazmaniac

Truth! The pipes after the "Y" are like 1 3/4" (Camaro's stock pipes are 2 1/2"). Never seen smaller pipes on a "SS".

Kazmaniac

I think there is a period of filling the packing stuff w/ soot and water, therefore reducing the effectiveness of "muffling" of the sound.

yuimyt

All has to be equaled out. Air(incoming, outgoing), fuel. Also backpressure?

Tips are like horn. the longer pipes are like pipe organ effect, the deeper. The little inch longer tip might double the sound because of the wave length. The little inch longer tip might not change at all. We have to experiment these stuff. To do that, time and $$$

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

Flowmasters always sound like that, from my experience. Unless you have a big block I have never liked the sound of flowmasters.

Stick with Borla or Magnaflow for good throaty sound on a smaller motor like the LS4

BuffaloSS

iTrader: (3)

Not a fan, but i just saw over at ClubGP that a new Dynomax system is out, too. It says it works with the '05 GXP and earlier model 00-05 Imp/MC/and 98-04 GP/GTPs. The 05 GXP is the same as the '06 GXP iIRc, so that may be an option for some (btw, anyone have a GXP parts list scanned?). I believe it's the same as the Imp, too but not certain. Look at the two diagrams below - one is a screenshot from Dynomax.com and the other is a diagram provided to me from Magnaflow. Only difference is the offset vs. center-in on the mufflers...if that is truly the case. I cannot remember what our Impala/MS is, though:

06MonteSS

I know the Monte Carlo is offset in, center out...