best exhaust for 5.3

What would yall recommend for less than $300?

It all depends on what type of a sound are you looking for. Do you want aggressive, mild, or mellow. There is a lot of different brands to chose from. I believe the two of the more aggressive are Flowmaster, and Edelbrock. Mild I would have to say Borla and Magnaflow, those will have a good tone with very little resonance, mellow would be something like a stock set up. The biggest flow and power increase will be between the Flowmaster, Borla and Magnaflow, Those all have proven numbers. There are many on here with a lot of different opinions. Let us know what you are looking for and we can tell you what we think.

This question has been asked a few "Umpteen" times. Do a search as you will see that this thread is aged well......

I took out the huge factory muffler on my 2000 K1500 5.3 and replaced it with a small Borla Turbo muffler and gained three things. Better mileage, a better sound when under power but soft at idle, a little bit of resonance in the cabin.

My feelings on exhaust notes lie in the same line as Homer Simpson's, "When I step on the gas, i want people to think the world is coming to an end." I live near Dobbins Air Reserve Base, and I am highly jealous of the engine noise coming from the fighter planes.

Yeah...lucky b@$+@rds!! No air filter and no muffler, just pure jet power and lots of noise and speed not to mention you can blow up stuff with it!!!!

Which state is that air reserve base located in, I know what you mean about the sound of jets, Ive been working around all types of Military aircraft for 7 years now, and seeing the Blue Angels never gets old. you cant beat unbridled power like that. I unfortunaly havent had the opportunity to work on jets, I started in helo's and now i work on big prop driven aircraft, oh well maybe one day.

The base is in GA... they threaten to shut it down every few years, and, supposedly, it's on a list of bases to be shut down now.

Well i definitely want aggressive, i dont mind if i can hear it in the cab, because ill either have the music up or hell i even like listening to the way the exhaust sounds.... At a shop here they are charging $129 for either flowmaster 70's with turndowns or magnaflows with turndowns, not sure of the sizes or whatever. What do yall think of turndowns?

Well i definitely want aggressive, i dont mind if i can hear it in the cab, because ill either have the music up or hell i even like listening to the way the exhaust sounds.... At a shop here they are charging $129 for either flowmaster 70's with turndowns or magnaflows with turndowns, not sure of the sizes or whatever. What do yall think of turndowns?

My radio is usually off so i can hear the engine/exhaust... Plus, about 99% of my passengers don't like my music

same here... what's so bad about texas country?

If you dont mind loud and dont mind some in cab resonance go with the 40 series, I belive they have two different styles now. The Delta Flow and regular, im not sure what the difference is but they are loud and very distinct. the turn downs will give you bounce back noise off the road, but if you want people to see your pips you can go side exit or rear exit. If you do that get polished stainless. I spent 381 on a full system for my truck (cat back) 3" to flowmaster 40 series dual outlet to 2 3/4" pipe to 3.5 inch stainless tips. you can see what they look like in my link in my sig on page 2.

Plus, about 99% of my passengers don't like my music

I thought I was the only one who had that problem.....

Alright i just found out that the exhaust on my brothers old truck was a 40 series... and i loved the way that sounded so thats probably what im going with. The muffler was tiny though, like maybe 8 inches long if i remember correctly, do the mufflers come in different sizes or what?

same here... what's so bad about texas country?
I can tell you, I'm from Texas and I absolutely cannot stand Texas Country. It all sounds exactly the same.

As far as exhaust goes, anything stainless. I'm partial to Borla, but really anything but Flowmaster.

also, whats the big difference between single out and dual out, if im getting turndowns will it even make a difference?

also, whats the big difference between single out and dual out, if im getting turndowns will it even make a difference?
The dual out will be slightly louder. I have single in dual out on my Borla with turndowns. Loud enough for me, but definately not that much resonance in the cab which is nice.