Truck Exhaust Systems

An exhaust system comprises of a pipeline which creates an outlet for exhaust gases from combustion, to be released in the air. The gases are produced from the burning of fuel in the combustion chamber of a vehicle. The basic work of the system is to create a channel for exhaust fumes resulting from combustion of fuels, to be efficiently discharged to the atmosphere through the exhaust pipes. The outflow of exhaust gases may take place through cylinder heads, catalytic converters, muffler and/or exhaust manifold. It all depends on how the system has been designed. For ones which are used to minimize air pollution, the gases pass through catalytic chamber. The others which have the feature of reducing noise, exhaust gases are released through a muffler or silencer pipe.

Before we go into the discussion of exhaust systems in trucks it is essential to know a few of the technical terms. An exhaust system is the general assembly of all or most of the following parts:

  • Manifold or header: The manifold is used to channel exhaust gases from the cylinders of the internal combustion engine into one pipeline. Cast iron is the raw material used for the production of manifolds. Manifolds are often found to be inefficient because of their restriction in design which results from the objective of reducing production costs. In such cases they cannot effectively do the work of venting. This is where headers come in. Headers are manifolds designed with the prime concept of performance. The headers are more expensive but work more efficiently than manifolds.
  • Header-back: The exhaust gases are carried from the header outlet to the open air, through the header back.
  • Turbo charger: The purpose of the turbo charger is to make the air entering the internal combustion engine denser and thus increase the power. Although it is not a part of the exhaust system itself, turbo chargers are intricately related to turbo-backs.
  • Turbo-back: It forms the part of the exhaust system which starts from the opening of the turbo charger to the vent to open air.
  • Tail pipes: Tailpipes carry exhaust gases from the silencer to the back of the car.
  • Catalytic Converter: A catalytic converter is a device used to reduce pollution. It changes pollutants into water and oxidizes toxic carbon monoxide into a less harmful carbon dioxide.

Although the primary function of the exhaust system remains the same in all kinds of vehicles, there are minor deviations depending on the type automobile we are dealing with.

Exhaust systems in trucks are visible. It can be often seen that the tailpipe of a truck is covered by a perforated metal casing. The perforated metal covering is simply installed as a safety feature. The hot silencer pipe may cause serious burns and the casing helps to avoid contact from people. The casing might be plated with chrome, which is basically an element only for display purposes. The pipe from the engine to the muffler is usually made from flexible metal with the exhaust pipe often found to be perpendicularly adjusted. This is a safety feature which helps to avoid people coming in contact to hot gases emitted from the engine. Flex connectors joined to the exhaust pipes helps to reduce the engine vibration to be transmitted to the exhaust system.

There are no such things as ‘the best exhaust system’. An exhaust system which might perfectly suit a particular model of a truck, may not deliver the same performance with a different one. Therefore, it is imperative for one to find out which brand would be the perfect match for the specific vehicle while the owners having a clear idea about their expectations from the vehicle’s exhaust system.

Addition of a performance exhaust system is one of the first steps of upgrading an automobile. When dealing with performance exhaust systems, consumers usually search for one or all of three distinctive features, power, quality and sound. Although, all the brands names claim to have an optimal blend of the three characteristics, user ratings of different companies exhibit a different story.

The most popular brand names for truck exhaust system are:

  • Mangaflow exhaust systems
  • Borla exhaust systems
  • Gibson exhaust systems
  • Flowmaster exhaust systems
  • Spin Tech exhaust systems
  • JBA performance exhaust systems

All of the performance exhaust systems mentioned in the list above have a customer rating of at least 4.5 out of 5. The ratings are based upon four criterions, namely: appearance, ease of installation, price or value and quality.

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