Gibson Exhaust Review

[Obi-4runner]

UPDATED 8/17/2015

Okay guys, first off I want to apologize to Gibson and everybody else that I may have misled.
After my initial review, I just didn't feel like something was quite right with my exhaust. My experience seemed to differ so much from every other that I called the shop to give my exhaust a second look. The shop that did the original install insisted that they did everything right and refused to even look at my car. I was even willing to pay for any work if they needed to adjust anything. I eventually found another exhaust shop to take a look at it and as they expected the original shop F'd up the install. The muffler was installed backwards. They also found that the original shop didn't even try to line things up properly. The banging I was getting was from the exhaust hanger closest to the center differential. It was basically sitting 1 inch above my rear sway bar and every time I hit a decent bump in the road they would hit and bang. Well, after this 2nd shop fixed everything I am now completely satisfied with the Gibson exhaust. The 2nd shop didn't even charge me and said to just bring my car to them the next time I needed something done.

Once again, sorry for jumping the gun and blaming the Gibson exhaust.

 

[CXS]

Honest reviews are always appreciated. Unfortunately I was expecting what you said about the drone as I had heard that about Gibson. Since I do a lot of highway driving with my travel trailer any drone would be painful. Thanks for verifying what I'd been led to believe and sorry you had to find it out this way.

 

[Marfy]

Thank you for the review!

 

[LTDSC]

Thank you for the honest review. It is much appreciated and I too will probably stay away because of the drone. Everyone says it is the bees knees but I drive 300 miles a week so I can't have the drone. Thank you for your honesty and sorry you had to find out the hard way.

 

[badbasser98]

I really wish I had seen this before ordering mine. Hopefully it is not as bad on the V6...

 

[TORCH]

It's definitely a personal opinion and tolerance for road noise. Why buy an exhaust system if you don't want it to be louder? The performance gain is minimal so I don't see any other reason. Some people think all terrain tires are too loud on the road.

I've never been bothered by any noise from the exhaust on the highway and I do a lot of driving. It sounds awesome when you want it to and is quiet when you are just cruising. It is louder than stock at all times but nothing I'd ever get annoyed by.

My mustang 5.0 with straight pipes was annoying, the Gibson exhaust on the V8 T4R is just right for me. Again, it's all about personal preference and tolerance.

*As far as the banging goes, I did not have this problem but may be solved by buying a different hanger rubber at your autoparts store that doesn't allow the exhaust to hang down as far and will keep it off the rear axle. I assume that is where you are having problems with clearance.

 

[CXS]

Why buy an exhaust system if you don't want it to be louder? The performance gain is minimal so I don't see any other reason. Some people think all terrain tires are too loud on the road.

The people that think AT's are too noisy are also the people that never take their 4Runner off the pavement.

If there's no performance gain there's no reason to do it IMHO. I won't change a muffler for noise but I will let an experienced/knowledgeable shop install a new exhaust system that will allow the truck to breather better and improve performance as long as there's no drone.

 

[LTDSC]

also, just because its an exhaust doesnt mean it is OK to be annoying and drone like a motha'.

 

[TORCH]

The people that think AT's are too noisy are also the people that never take their 4Runner off the pavement.

If there's no performance gain there's no reason to do it IMHO. I won't change a muffler for noise but I will let an experienced/knowledgeable shop install a new exhaust system that will allow the truck to breather better and improve performance as long as there's no drone.

What I am trying to say is some people notice and are bothered by something others are not. I don't think the Gibson exhaust has drone, the OP does. If I can hear my duratracs (which are not loud) over the exhaust on the highway, I don't consider that exhaust drone or exhaust noise significant enough to bother me in any way.

Again, it's personal opinion.

 

[TORCH]

also, just because its an exhaust doesnt mean it is OK to be annoying and drone like a motha'.

Lets put it this way, my wife, who I consider to be "sound sensitive" has never complained about the exhaust sound in my truck. In fact, she has noted on numerous occasions that my truck seems to be significantly quieter than hers (Honda Pilot) on the highway. I wouldn't bullshit you man lol.

 

[t-man]

The Gibson definitely bangs the crossmember above the rear axle. Drives me half insane sometimes. It has nothing to do with the hangers, they actually don't have one of the bends completely right and it is just to damn close to that crossmember.
As for drone, i drove 38k miles last year and never seemed to notice any drone. But, now that I have the muffler off and the straight pipe in it's place I can definitely say that there was a little drone, although very minimal IMHO.
P.S. Loud exhausts save lives! :girl:

 

[wnelax04sr5]

I really wish I had seen this before ordering mine. Hopefully it is not as bad on the V6...

theres almost no "drone". like others have mentioned its simply louder, drone is different in there are vibrations and its annoying as all hell. i can't speak to the v8 but the v6 sound is really only loud if you want it to be, which is perfect to me

The Gibson definitely bangs the crossmember above the rear axle. Drives me half insane sometimes. It has nothing to do with the hangers, they actually don't have one of the bends completely right and it is just to damn close to that crossmember.
As for drone, i drove 38k miles last year and never seemed to notice any drone. But, now that I have the muffler off and the straight pipe in it's place I can definitely say that there was a little drone, although very minimal IMHO.
P.S. Loud exhausts save lives! :girl:

i can't say that mine has the same issue, theres certainly not much space but i haven't noticed any points of contact

 

[LA_Runner]

Black Widow Exhaust

I hadn't seen anyone use black widow mufflers on a 4Runner, but decided to give them a try based on the fact that I never saw a single bad review on them. Their slogan is "all tone, no harsh drone" and their mufflers do just that. It gives the v8 a great sound and isn't too loud, especially at highway speeds. Actually took a 7 hour round trip last Saturday and not a single comment about drone from my 2 friends. Definitely reccomend these mufflers.

 

[t-man]

I hadn't seen anyone use black widow mufflers on a 4Runner, but decided to give them a try based on the fact that I never saw a single bad review on them. Their slogan is "all tone, no harsh drone" and their mufflers do just that. It gives the v8 a great sound and isn't too loud, especially at highway speeds. Actually took a 7 hour round trip last Saturday and not a single comment about drone from my 2 friends. Definitely reccomend these mufflers.

Never heard of them. Can you make a sound clip?

 

[dleeallen]

I would agree with louder but don't think I would call it drone. It's not the best exhaust sound out thee but it's a good value if you want a little more sound. I would not do it if I was towing long distance with a heavy trailer though. The additional engine load would make it too loud for me on the highway. I pull a 5k+ trailer around town and the exhaust is always there even at a 50mph cruise since you are in the throttle a bit the whole time. Overall I like the system at this price point.

 

[Jagerzel]

at 37sec is when you want to turn the speakers up. i wish they would make one for our trucks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzXs11YctnY

 

[badbasser98]

theres almost no "drone". like others have mentioned its simply louder, drone is different in there are vibrations and its annoying as all hell. i can't speak to the v8 but the v6 sound is really only loud if you want it to be, which is perfect to me



i can't say that mine has the same issue, theres certainly not much space but i haven't noticed any points of contact

Thanks for the info, that's good to hear. I have no problem with the exhaust being louder (that was pretty much the point). I came from several WRX's and an STi all of which had modified exhausts and the last one had no muffler. I just didn't want it to drone like crazy as I do travel for work quite a bit. I will post my opinion after I get it installed later this week.

 

[sonerick]

I just installed the Gibson exhaust this weekend. It's a little louder than stock, but it's a performance exhaust, of course it's going to be louder than stock. It drones a little bit if you hold the engine at certain RPMs, but so does almost every other performance exhaust I've had experience with. On the highway I do not hear any drone, which is great because my daily commute is ~120 miles. I have noticed a slight uptick in MPGs.

As far as the exhaust banging the rear crossmember, I have not experienced this. If you rotate two pipes downstream of the muffler a certain way you can gain some additional clearance if needed. Clamps need to be as tight as possible to prevent flex and sag.

I had to slide my spare tire over a little bit to avoid contact with the exhaust. Not an ideal situation, but not really an issue.

At the joint with the stock Y-pipe, the bolts that Gibson supplies are not long enough to re-use the stock tension springs. I left them off for now. How is everyone else handling this?

 

[sonerick]

Also wanted to mention that the reason I installed the Gibson exhaust was also due to my stock system rusting apart and more importantly an expiring state inspection sticker. There were several holes in the muffler, the tailpipe had fully separated from the muffler, and the mid pipe was on its way to doing the same. No way it would pass inspection. Also the gasket between the mid pipe and Y-pipe had disintegrated, so it rattled loudly at low RPMs.

Stock replacement was very expensive, while the Gibson kit was ~$375. At almost 200k miles, I'll put up with a loud exhaust if it means I can save some cash and pass inspection.

 

[ZOMBRNR]

If you think the Gibson "drones" then you likely haven't had any other performance exhaust system out there. The gibson is the quietest system on the market. It does NOT drone, it simply has a more resonant tone than the stock exhaust.

You put an exhaust on a V8, what were you expecting?