I got a ticket today for my exhaust, I have a F150 4.6, all i have is a glass pack with dual pipes out the back, everything else is stock. The cop said anything that makes the truck louder than what it was stock is illegal. What type of muffler will sound good but legal, my dual exhaust will not be removed no matter what, also i'm from virginia, if anyone can help tell me what the law is on exhaust systems would be appreciated. Thanks alot.

 

that sux! my advice is you get a lotta mods and the next time a cop stops you... you run. (damn im glad i live in CA)

 

ChevyKiller...(love that name)...Get Flowmasters, great sound & not too loud. Was the cop driving a Caprice?

 

The cop was probably full of crap, but you need to check your state laws on the issue. The best place to start is your inspection stations (if you have those in VA).

Here in my Louisiana town, a couple of cops decided to start cracking down on load trucks. From what I understand, they were just doing this on their own and after several people complained bad enough to the city attorney's office, they stopped. I think more than anything, they figured they could just scare enough guys/gals into changing to quieter exhaust system. A friend of mine had just put duals on his Cheby a couple of days before. He had glasspacks and once he got the ticket, he put on flowmasters.

I'm running a 5.4L with nothing but pipes after my catalytic converters and I really don't think it's that loud. Supposedly, the way our law is written is that if you pass the annual inspection, then your vehicle is legal to drive on the road. I am almost suspicious of that because when I went to have my truck inspected at the local quick lube place, the guy in the oil change bay came upstairs and said that I would need to put some kind of muffler on my truck to have it inspected. I left and went to another quick change oil joint and they inspected my truck without even testing my headlights, horn, etc. Of course it had less than 500 miles, so everything should have worked.

So basically, I would check with the inspection shops or even with some of your local muffler shops and see what they have to say. Next I would do a check under your government section for VA on the net and you should be able to find some good info there.

Good luck

Creole

 

If you decide to fight the ticket you'll prolly beat it. This cop has to prove it was louder than the law allows. Like Creole says find out the laws in your area, How many decibles is allowable & measured how far away from the vehicle? I doubt he had a decible meter with him at the time nevertheless even measured off the proper distance for taking an accurate reading.

The ticket is based on his opinon of what is loud and is therefore totally subjective. Check the books, show up prepared for court, and stick it to the man!

BTW I asked the same question at the local DMV (which are very strict in NJ) and got "maybe 96 decibles @ 10 feet from where the pipe exits from underneath the vehicle" as an answer but they did'nt even have a decible meter anywhere in the station so they were content just to see that the cats were not tampered with.

Good luck.

 

BTW, chevykiller, if you decide to remove your glasspack and put on a muffler, you probably won't be happy with the sound.

I had a 99 4.6L with true duals and straight pipes. When I got my 02 with the 5.4L, I put a 40 series Flowmaster on it at 200 miles. If I hadn't been watching the guy do the work, I would have thought that he hadn't even touched my truck yet. You could tell the exhaust wasn't stock, but you had to really get on it to get any rumble at all out of it.

The next day I had him remove the flowmaster and run true duals with no muffs at all, just like my previous truck.

Much, much better, IMHO.

Creole

 

Not like we are out killing anybody!@! Up here in Canda the odd cop will say something but there is really no laws unless you running no exhaust at all! The cop was just having a bad day I guess......maybe not enough jelly in his doughnut...ha ha. Any ways I have glasspacks and I used to have the exhaust out the side but i changed it out the back. Its not as loud and sounds awesome. I have a 97 4.6l.

Take care,

D

 

Like some of the previous posts, check how many decibels you're allowed and the distance measured from the vehicle. You have to find the specific law. Radio Shack sells dB meters or try to bribe someone at a car audio shop to measure it.

If it's too loud then shove another glasspack in-line with your current arrangement so it's enough to pass the law in your State. Make sure you fix it before going to court, as long as the cop didn't look under your vehicle and write down how many mufflers/glasspacks you have. This way you can go to court and have it thrown out because its' quieter than required. Ha ha. Shove those donuts back in his face.

I can't stand donut carnivores. I consider most of them (especially traffic cops) "parasites on society" and nothing more than glorified tax collectors.

Always fight a ticket... put your tax dollars to work!

 

1. It is the job of the highway bandit to provide the court with the evidence that demonstrates your guilt. If he doesn't have any more then a 'hey, that thing is to . . . , well it's just an opinion

2. he will only enjoy it. What's that they say, oh yea, 'when you wrestle with a pig in the mud you may find that you are now muddy and he is enjoying himself'

3. well it may seem like they are just there to p1ss you off and take your lunch money and in some cases you would be right, BUT, many a serious criminal is caught in simple traffic stops. For instance one of the 9-11-02 hijackers was stopped for speeding in a Maryland radar trap, had the FBI forwarded his 'wanted' status to the state police HE would have NOT been on one of those planes.

4. Yes, fight the power. It is your civic duty, especially in bogus cases like this.

 

My brother in law called me today and said he had a decible meter and he thought the law was around 95 decibles in VA. Anyway I will see what I can come up with and let you guys know. Thanks for your opinions and help.

 

the "louder than stock" is a totally erroneous interpretation of the law.

Did you ask him if he was having a bad day?

Did you have to stop talking while the six bikers on modified Harleys drove by and drowned out your conversation?

What BS!

Had this happen to me after I first got my 97 4.6l. No muffler/cat back system. Cop pulled me over for going a little fast, and In the process of rousting me, read me the riot act for the noise. I wasn't even pulled over for that: he just was having a PMS moment or something. Ended up he didn't give me even a warning, and even after promising to get a muffler, I never did. Never saw him again, and after three yrs, still don't have a muffler.

 

You know what I can't understand is Bikes, like Harleys are extreamly load ( I do like them) but damn are they load but they get no tickets because there stock like that, but cops worry about a truck being a bit loader then stock.

Make it fair, cops should decide on a level of sound that is to load and make everyone conform or just SHUT UP....

I like it LOUD

 

Hey Jay, how did you post your pics on your reply. I am registered in the Picture Gallery but would like to know how to post my pics of my truck on my posts.

thanx,D

 

Sounds like a bum deal I got a BS ticket last month when on vaction in NJ I was going along I-80 going toward PA it was a rainy misty kind of day I was driving the limit of 65 I just got passed by a couple cars doing 70 or more seen the state trooper sitting there turn his lights on I figured he was going after one or both the speeders but no he pulls me over so I asked him what the hell he pulled me over for as I was doing the limit he said he pulled me over because I didn't have my headlights on when I had my wippers on I said I'm from out of state and didn't know of the law and he said I still got to write you a ticket pissed me off he let 2 speeders go and gets me for no head lights in the rain.

 

Man, that is one long sentence!!! Lemme guess, hmustang, you're still pizzed off, huh? ... LOL.

Sorry about the ticket, though. Louisiana passed the same law within the last year or so. At the risk of upsetting you even more, let me say that I really like having that law on OUR books. It makes everyone much, much more visible.

The new kick around here for the cops is to ticket people who are driving around with driving or fog lights turned on when conditions don't require them. Even if the lights are factory, like my fog lights in the lower air dam, they will write you up.

This kind of crap goes in cycles. The cops will find a new pet peeve and move on and eventually come back to the same old stuff (back in the mid to late 80's, they pushed the auxilliary light issue real hard).

Good luck in getting out of the ticket (if you can),

Creole in Louisiana