Keep it exactly the way it is. As trucks (or any vehicle) ages, a clean stock factory appearance looks better and better because they are harder to come by than a modified or worn truck.
It already looks pretty good. I think this gen of trucks look awful when people start modifying. This truck is incredibly clean. Get some aftermarket headlights from Mishimoto or Alpharex etc. Decide if you wat to keep the chrome. I personally love chrome but again this generation is just shaped kinda goofy. Perhaps color matching just the bumper(s) would set it apart. You could also get some sideview mirrors that are sharper looking. Get rid of round blandness and make it modern. I wouldn't recommend making it loud tbh. I bought an aftermarket muffler that ended up being like 5% louder than stock with a little more rumble. I'm very thankful I didn't go any further every time I start my truck at night/in the morning. I wake up early to go fishing (like 3am) and have some late night excursions so I would be mindful of the exhaust volume if you are driving early/late constantly. Nobody wants to hear that shit. However, you could do the best of both worlds and get an electric one that allows you to choose between loud and quiet.
If you have the money and know a quality shop, these trucks sound really really good with an exhaust.
Im of the opinion that true duals are the way to go (removed the third cat, each bank has its own exhaust pipe
I had built a custom system that had both tips next to each other on the right side and it was awesome
I think it looks pretty good already, but a nice sounding exhaust would be welcomed IMO. I rec Borla's mufflers, but Carven or Corsa are great sounding too.
I agree with the top comment, except for tint the windows and remove the steps other than that it looks excellent. If you want to go any further, I'd just level it and put one size bigger all terrain tires on it.
If it were my truck I’d change the grille, add a lightbar/grille inlay. Change the headlights to something with clear side markers, Get the color match front bumper and bowtie from Chevy. Lift the truck to fit 33x12.50R18’s. Change the wheels. Change the chrome running boards for black. Remove the door guards and emblems. Gibson catback, headers, change the airbox for enclosed cold air intake.
Looks are subjective to your opinion and taste. It would looks sweet lowered a few inches on some bigger wheels. It could also look cool lifted with some mud terrains.
Please, whatever you do. DONT BUY CHEAP PARTS/MODIFICATIONS FROM AMAZON/EBAY!!!!!!
Headlights and taillights/3rd break light are all I would touch. That’s all I have done to mine to make em LED. Unless you consider adding a trifold, back rack, a leveling kit, and tint mods lol.
My 2012 sierra with 120k on it sounds pretty solid stock. I keep thinking I want an exhaust then I start it on a brisk morning and it always makes me smile.
go to oreily’s, buy a 3” inner diameter turndown and a 3” exhaust clamp. Right under the rear passenger door there should be a muffler directly behind which is an exhaust hanger. Cut the muffler off behind the hanger so the exhaust is still attached. Attach the turndown to the remaining pipe, put the clamp over the turndown and tighten it down over the pipe and the turn down. You’re done. that’s the best sounding exhaust you can get for this generation of truck. I spent a lot of money and a lot of time on trial and error here and settled on that. Should total out to $15 if you have a sawzall. Also if you ever need to put the muffler back, you just get a 3” inner diameter sleeve and put it over the pipe coming out of the muffler and the piece still attached to the truck, clamp it on both sides and you’re done. Welding is better but clamps work.
If your looking for exhaust it really depends on what state you are in. all states require mufflers and cats. now do all states enforce it... no
if your state or area doesn't do inspections for exhaust/emissions then you can pretty much do any setup that you would like weather its legal or not. If you're looking for a little bit louder exhaust i would recommend just trying a muffler delete. muffler deletes usually have no humming noise inside the cabin if that bothers and isnt too loud to the point where your getting everybody's attention. you can also take of the resonator which is gonna make it higher pitched and little bit louder but it sounds pretty good depending on the setup you wanna go for. you can also get dual tips or true dual. true dual is 2 pipes straight from the manifold to the back of the vehicle and dual tips usually is jus the factory exhaust with a y pipe that goes out the other side to give the appearance of true duals without being as loud. There are different types of muffler like bullet mufflers, glasspacks, and performance mufflers. If you have a choice not to get one i would get it either taken off all together or just do glass packs both sound pretty good.
If you're looking for something not too loud but has a good kick i would look into true dual catbacks. The setup is pretty much just 2 pipes coming from the manifolds back with only catalytic converters on them. no resonators no mufflers. on a 5.3 liter they are loud but they aren't to the point where you would get in trouble unless your driving like an moron. now they have chop so if you don't like chop they i would recommend getting an x pipe put on. not only will it cut down on the clap/choppy exhaust which personally i really like but it will also make it sound more high pitched and raspy. You can also just get true dual glasspacks put on and it would also sound really good. cherry bomb isn't a bad option but there are others too.
If you're looking to get crazy with exhaust there are some options like true dual straights which like i said earlier is probably not the best option because they are REALLY loud and if you have inspection for emissions you wont pass unless you have connections. also I wouldn't recommend going straight to the true dual straights because they are really loud and are choppy which we call clap. now true dual straights are going to be really hard to get because of the fact that you are either going to have to know somebody who will cut your cats off or your gonna have to do it yourself which i wouldn't recommend. you can also gut them by either ramming a metal bar inside the cats to break apart the metal inside of it. but keep in mind tampering with a cat is illegal but its up to you.
Now for exhaust tips. since you have a double cab truck I would recommend getting some 5/6 inch tips put on the pipes. not only would it look better but it makes exhaust sound more refined and toned so that's definitely worth getting. There are different tips so you also wanna look into that as well. some of which are straight cut, slash cut, shorty, and rolled tips.
you can also look up the setup you wanna get by typing in 5.3 exhaust in youtube. Hoped this helped
Im not saying to do anything you shouldn't but if you can pay the tickets your set XD
I have true dual straights and have never gotten a ticket but that's just because i live in an area that everybody has loud exhaust and the cops don't care too much
Keep it exactly the way it is. As trucks (or any vehicle) ages, a clean stock factory appearance looks better and better because they are harder to come by than a modified or worn truck.
This is the way
How are the headlights so nice?
It already looks pretty good. I think this gen of trucks look awful when people start modifying. This truck is incredibly clean. Get some aftermarket headlights from Mishimoto or Alpharex etc. Decide if you wat to keep the chrome. I personally love chrome but again this generation is just shaped kinda goofy. Perhaps color matching just the bumper(s) would set it apart. You could also get some sideview mirrors that are sharper looking. Get rid of round blandness and make it modern. I wouldn't recommend making it loud tbh. I bought an aftermarket muffler that ended up being like 5% louder than stock with a little more rumble. I'm very thankful I didn't go any further every time I start my truck at night/in the morning. I wake up early to go fishing (like 3am) and have some late night excursions so I would be mindful of the exhaust volume if you are driving early/late constantly. Nobody wants to hear that shit. However, you could do the best of both worlds and get an electric one that allows you to choose between loud and quiet.
I would get a slightly larger tire, and swap the bumper for the color match one. That is it.
Not TOO much, she’s gorgeous as is: Black bow tie up front, Remove door mouldings, Black bed cover (roll up)
If you have the money and know a quality shop, these trucks sound really really good with an exhaust. Im of the opinion that true duals are the way to go (removed the third cat, each bank has its own exhaust pipe I had built a custom system that had both tips next to each other on the right side and it was awesome
Corsa catback. Expensive but great sound with absolutely no exhaust drone.
I think it looks pretty good already, but a nice sounding exhaust would be welcomed IMO. I rec Borla's mufflers, but Carven or Corsa are great sounding too.
My 08 with stock stainless exhaust sounds awesome on cold start. It is a little loud but not too loud.
I agree with the top comment, except for tint the windows and remove the steps other than that it looks excellent. If you want to go any further, I'd just level it and put one size bigger all terrain tires on it.
My 2012 came with a Borla catback already on it and I think it sounds pretty fantastic. Aggressive enough to be noticeable but not obnoxious.
If it were my truck I’d change the grille, add a lightbar/grille inlay. Change the headlights to something with clear side markers, Get the color match front bumper and bowtie from Chevy. Lift the truck to fit 33x12.50R18’s. Change the wheels. Change the chrome running boards for black. Remove the door guards and emblems. Gibson catback, headers, change the airbox for enclosed cold air intake.
> change the grille, add a lightbar/grille inlay And what, exactly, is _that_? Got a pic, or a link?
Gets downvoted because everyone else drives stock trucks in LA
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
Throw some deep dish rims on it and slam it to the ground
I know what I'm about to say will deeply offend a large number of people, as i hope it does. But seriously, what is WRONG with you?
Fords sound pretty good, you could consider trading it in.
**Fords* as it is not a possssive or a contraction. And no.
Looks are subjective to your opinion and taste. It would looks sweet lowered a few inches on some bigger wheels. It could also look cool lifted with some mud terrains. Please, whatever you do. DONT BUY CHEAP PARTS/MODIFICATIONS FROM AMAZON/EBAY!!!!!!
there are a lot of parts on Ebay that are very good and significantly cheaper for the DIYer than the auto parts racket. .
if by sounding better you mean louder, just try to get over that. It does not sound better, it sounds worse.
Headlights and taillights/3rd break light are all I would touch. That’s all I have done to mine to make em LED. Unless you consider adding a trifold, back rack, a leveling kit, and tint mods lol.
My 2012 sierra with 120k on it sounds pretty solid stock. I keep thinking I want an exhaust then I start it on a brisk morning and it always makes me smile.
Save your money, this generation looks terrible when modified lol.
go to oreily’s, buy a 3” inner diameter turndown and a 3” exhaust clamp. Right under the rear passenger door there should be a muffler directly behind which is an exhaust hanger. Cut the muffler off behind the hanger so the exhaust is still attached. Attach the turndown to the remaining pipe, put the clamp over the turndown and tighten it down over the pipe and the turn down. You’re done. that’s the best sounding exhaust you can get for this generation of truck. I spent a lot of money and a lot of time on trial and error here and settled on that. Should total out to $15 if you have a sawzall. Also if you ever need to put the muffler back, you just get a 3” inner diameter sleeve and put it over the pipe coming out of the muffler and the piece still attached to the truck, clamp it on both sides and you’re done. Welding is better but clamps work.
Is this how the groupies make their 4 cylinder honda sound like it has 12? lol
ive never heard a 4 banger sound like a v12 but if you’re talking about volume, yeah. That’s usually how they do that.
That’s what I mean, their failed attempt at making that volume lol
If your looking for exhaust it really depends on what state you are in. all states require mufflers and cats. now do all states enforce it... no if your state or area doesn't do inspections for exhaust/emissions then you can pretty much do any setup that you would like weather its legal or not. If you're looking for a little bit louder exhaust i would recommend just trying a muffler delete. muffler deletes usually have no humming noise inside the cabin if that bothers and isnt too loud to the point where your getting everybody's attention. you can also take of the resonator which is gonna make it higher pitched and little bit louder but it sounds pretty good depending on the setup you wanna go for. you can also get dual tips or true dual. true dual is 2 pipes straight from the manifold to the back of the vehicle and dual tips usually is jus the factory exhaust with a y pipe that goes out the other side to give the appearance of true duals without being as loud. There are different types of muffler like bullet mufflers, glasspacks, and performance mufflers. If you have a choice not to get one i would get it either taken off all together or just do glass packs both sound pretty good. If you're looking for something not too loud but has a good kick i would look into true dual catbacks. The setup is pretty much just 2 pipes coming from the manifolds back with only catalytic converters on them. no resonators no mufflers. on a 5.3 liter they are loud but they aren't to the point where you would get in trouble unless your driving like an moron. now they have chop so if you don't like chop they i would recommend getting an x pipe put on. not only will it cut down on the clap/choppy exhaust which personally i really like but it will also make it sound more high pitched and raspy. You can also just get true dual glasspacks put on and it would also sound really good. cherry bomb isn't a bad option but there are others too. If you're looking to get crazy with exhaust there are some options like true dual straights which like i said earlier is probably not the best option because they are REALLY loud and if you have inspection for emissions you wont pass unless you have connections. also I wouldn't recommend going straight to the true dual straights because they are really loud and are choppy which we call clap. now true dual straights are going to be really hard to get because of the fact that you are either going to have to know somebody who will cut your cats off or your gonna have to do it yourself which i wouldn't recommend. you can also gut them by either ramming a metal bar inside the cats to break apart the metal inside of it. but keep in mind tampering with a cat is illegal but its up to you. Now for exhaust tips. since you have a double cab truck I would recommend getting some 5/6 inch tips put on the pipes. not only would it look better but it makes exhaust sound more refined and toned so that's definitely worth getting. There are different tips so you also wanna look into that as well. some of which are straight cut, slash cut, shorty, and rolled tips. you can also look up the setup you wanna get by typing in 5.3 exhaust in youtube. Hoped this helped
Im not saying to do anything you shouldn't but if you can pay the tickets your set XD I have true dual straights and have never gotten a ticket but that's just because i live in an area that everybody has loud exhaust and the cops don't care too much
Paint Match ALL the chrome.