Diesel "loudness"?

[GordonThree]

Do diesel trucks get louder as they age, or were ones built years ago that much louder than today's diesel?

I test drove one recently, a 2016 ram 2500, and it was rather quiet... only a bit louder than my 2013 ram gasser.

But most every diesel that I come across driving by my house, or at a campground, sounds more like a semi tractor than a private use vehicle.

Why is that? Are most diesel owners modifying their trucks for more "performance" and removing sound/emission control equipment? Has there been some major improvement in quieting down diesel only discovered in the last few years?

[WTP-GC]

Some of you could do yourselves good by reading the statutes. In general, they can be summarized as follows:
You cannot sell a vehicle that's been tampered with (exceptions exist, of course)
A motor vehicle dealer cannot legally perform emissions deletions without having a waiver signed for off-road use.
An entity cannot sell items specifically to defeat an emission systems (except for off-road use).
You cannot tamper with gasoline powered vehicles that are used on-road.
You cannot have continuous visible emissions longer than 5 seconds unless under acceleration, lugging, deceleration.

There are other things, but that's the gist of it. I've yet to read a statute that prohibits the on-road use of a diesel truck in which the owner has modified/removed emissions equipment. Not to say that one doesn't exist, but I've not seen it. There's been tons of discussion of this for years, but no one has ever seemed to find a statute that says if you (private person) perform your own work to modify your vehicle, then you are in violation of the law. I could be proven wrong, which I would actually welcome. I'm not against knowing the truth, even if it means I'm 100% incorrect.

There's no advice implied above, and I'm just referring to the statutes I've read (both federal and state). Your state might have different rules/regs, so that's up to you.

Note that this entire argument originated with the personal vendetta of someone who believes their privileges outweigh someone else's, which is the saddest and most arrogant position to take.

[FlatBroke]

Had new injectors put in a few months back in my 03 GMC and it was noticeably quieter for a couple thousand miles. Now it has a some clatter. Sometimes louder than others, some times not at all. Funny, hear it in the cab but not so much outside. Took it to the dealer. They checked every thing and found it all checked out. Starts and runs great. Guess it's just the nature of the beast.

[Sprink-Fitter]

352 wrote:
I had a 96 F-350 7.3 that I thought was loud. But when I bought a Dodge 2000 5.9 diesel it was REALLY noisy. I am a really happy camper now. Guess which one I liked the best?

Chevy?

[bucky]

My 98.5 24v Cummins is stupid loud.
I have spent time and money to quiet it down for both passenger comfort and less neighbor irritance. The main culprit is the oil pan, followed closely by the valve train, injection pump, and turbo/down pipe area.
There is a co in CA named Advanced Thermal Products that sells noise suppression blankets custom made for various diesel applications. Their products are expensive, but I love this truck and I am saving a ton of money by "fixing" this one rather than buy a newer one.
There is a poster on the Cummins forum that has spent a lot of time researching all of this, and a lot of it applies to Fords as well.
Read it here

[Cummins12V98]

This is FACT. The 1994 Dodge/Cummins trucks that were made prior to 1/1/1994 DID NOT have a CAT, the ones that were made 1/1/94 and thru mfg date of 12/31/1997 DID have a CAT. The pre Cat 94's had a section of exhaust pipe where the Cat would go starting 1/1/94.

So my question is it a "sin" to remove the CAT and buy the section of pipe that Chrysler has sitting on their shelves and install in place of the cat on the ones that came with a CAT?

[Cummins12V98]

Me Again wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Hondavalk wrote:
I kinda miss the "Bad A$$" sound of the old diesels. :C:B

I never heard my 2002 Dodge 2500, when on the road. Only while it idled, rattle, rattle, pull like hell.

In the late 80s when Ford came out with their diesel they had the old IH 444 combine engine in them, and they were loud. as were the early Cummins.

The loudest Cummins/RAM were the 1998.5-2002 24V models. They had among other things an injector rattle that was very distinct. I owned one for 14 years!

Chris

I completely agree. My 12V's were a bit more "throaty".

[Cummins12V98]

hitnderoad wrote:

Hondavalk wrote:
I kinda miss the "Bad A$$" sound of the old diesels. :C:B

Not when one of those old Dodge's cranks up at 5 in the morning at the campground and lets it run till they get ready to hook up!

Plenty of MotorHomes do the same thing with loud engines. The MH has to build air but the pickup idling is just causing engine wear.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Gdetrailer wrote:

WTP-GC wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


MANY diesel owners DO remove sound AND emission equipment..

I see AND HEAR that pretty much on a daily basis, my house is only 40ft from the road, well insulated, double pane windows and yet have MANY PICKUP TRUCKS fly by making MORE NOISE AND BLACK SMOKE than the 18 wheelers that drive the same road by my house.

In the summer it gets so bad on the weekends I can't even sit out on my front porch :M

Have you ever wondered about the diesels leaving the big black clouds of smoke when accelerating? Yep, those owners HAVE indeed not only removed emission equipment but HAVE also added a "programmer" which tricks the computer into thinking the emissions stuff is present AND dumps tons of fuel into the cylinders to create that lovely choking black cloud..

Its called "rolling coal".. Look it up and read about it.

Sadly, those folks have done this to satisfy their ego's, giving diesels yet another "black eye"..

Sorry to hear that you live next to the road and your quality of life is so poorly affected. Stop and think for one minute that MANY diesel owners make modifications to their trucks to increase power and/or performance for a good reason...and its doubtful that they did this specifically to make you angry. I'll take it that you've never made any modification to anything you've ever owned to positively affect its characteristics? Now we wouldn't want to be throwing rocks at our own glass house, of course.

Naturally, your rant includes some falsehoods that displays your way of thinking. Essentially anyone that has a vehicle louder than you like, smokier than you like, etc. apparently has an uncontrollable ego. Its reasonable to understand that your privileges should easily trump theirs, I guess.

Here in FL, you have to "roll coal" for 5 consecutive seconds before your in violation. Simply removing the emissions equipment isn't always against the law.

YOU are "full of arrogance".

I DO OWN a diesel powered tractor, sure it isn't a huge displacement but even on a cold winter morning it BARELY smokes on cold startup and even when lugging under load at max RPM it does not create a thick black smoke cloud that is strong enough to hide the noon sun.

A PROPER RUNNING diesel even under full load should not be rolling coal.. Even over the road 18 wheelers built in the past 20 or even 30 years will give off a slight puff of smoke when under heavy load..

You are also very arrogant to believe that altering OR removing any part on your vehicle does not "violate" any laws.. It IS called TAMPERING with emissions.

Tampering with anything that alters the operation of your vehicles emissions IS a FEDERAL OFFENSE.. Your state may not "regulate" diesel emissions NOW, but some day soon you won't be able to escape the fact that it WILL eventually.

Now granted if you are playing with OLDER NON EMISSIONS diesel engines then there is no violation.. BUT still adding excessive fuel just to MAKE smoke is being foolish, doing so is creating more harmful soot along with other smog..

Overfueling DOES NOT "CREATE" MORE POWER, it simply wastes more fuel than the engine can burn properly, hence the huge cloud of thick choking smoke.

Your arrogance is one of the reasons why new diesels have so much mamby pamby emission equipment..

You were batting a 1000 until you made the statement "Overfueling DOES NOT "CREATE" MORE POWER"

It does. A diesel does not really have a stoichiometric ratio. The more fuel you put to it the more power it makes until it hydro locks or melts down.

These people don't spend 100's of thousands of dollars to look cool by rolling coal. They make power by putting the fuel to it and boy to they make power!

Here is a truck I race against. And believe me, this guy can tune a diesel. At over 140 lbs of boost, he's putting about as much air through it he can! :E I pick the left lane when I can. :B

BTW there is nothing louder than a 12V with the timing cranked up IMHO!

[debraindi]

Me Again wrote:
Well, I went from one of the noisiest RAM ever built(2001.5 with Magnaflow 4" exhaust, stage 1 injectors and timing box) to one of the quietest ones just like Ram4Sam.

May the quiet be with you! I will now be again allow to go for donuts on Friday mornings at 5:30AM in the snowbird park. No more rides to Bashas in friends CRV!
Chris

I bet the n th neighbor where happy, I'm always happy to have a neighbor move away who has a loud truck or big heligon lights. No class or respect for others.

[sonora]

Gdetrailer wrote:

WTP-GC wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


MANY diesel owners DO remove sound AND emission equipment..

I see AND HEAR that pretty much on a daily basis, my house is only 40ft from the road, well insulated, double pane windows and yet have MANY PICKUP TRUCKS fly by making MORE NOISE AND BLACK SMOKE than the 18 wheelers that drive the same road by my house.

In the summer it gets so bad on the weekends I can't even sit out on my front porch :M

Have you ever wondered about the diesels leaving the big black clouds of smoke when accelerating? Yep, those owners HAVE indeed not only removed emission equipment but HAVE also added a "programmer" which tricks the computer into thinking the emissions stuff is present AND dumps tons of fuel into the cylinders to create that lovely choking black cloud..

Its called "rolling coal".. Look it up and read about it.

Sadly, those folks have done this to satisfy their ego's, giving diesels yet another "black eye"..

Sorry to hear that you live next to the road and your quality of life is so poorly affected. Stop and think for one minute that MANY diesel owners make modifications to their trucks to increase power and/or performance for a good reason...and its doubtful that they did this specifically to make you angry. I'll take it that you've never made any modification to anything you've ever owned to positively affect its characteristics? Now we wouldn't want to be throwing rocks at our own glass house, of course.

Naturally, your rant includes some falsehoods that displays your way of thinking. Essentially anyone that has a vehicle louder than you like, smokier than you like, etc. apparently has an uncontrollable ego. Its reasonable to understand that your privileges should easily trump theirs, I guess.

Here in FL, you have to "roll coal" for 5 consecutive seconds before your in violation. Simply removing the emissions equipment isn't always against the law.

YOU are "full of arrogance".

I DO OWN a diesel powered tractor, sure it isn't a huge displacement but even on a cold winter morning it BARELY smokes on cold startup and even when lugging under load at max RPM it does not create a thick black smoke cloud that is strong enough to hide the noon sun.

A PROPER RUNNING diesel even under full load should not be rolling coal.. Even over the road 18 wheelers built in the past 20 or even 30 years will give off a slight puff of smoke when under heavy load..

You are also very arrogant to believe that altering OR removing any part on your vehicle does not "violate" any laws.. It IS called TAMPERING with emissions.

Tampering with anything that alters the operation of your vehicles emissions IS a FEDERAL OFFENSE.. Your state may not "regulate" diesel emissions NOW, but some day soon you won't be able to escape the fact that it WILL eventually.

Now granted if you are playing with OLDER NON EMISSIONS diesel engines then there is no violation.. BUT still adding excessive fuel just to MAKE smoke is being foolish, doing so is creating more harmful soot along with other smog..

Overfueling DOES NOT "CREATE" MORE POWER, it simply wastes more fuel than the engine can burn properly, hence the huge cloud of thick choking smoke.

Your arrogance is one of the reasons why new diesels have so much mamby pamby emission equipment..

People, please play nice in the sand box.......

[RVcrazy]

New Chevy & GMCs are very quiet. That's why we own one!

[GordonThree]

Thanks everyone for the information and opinions!

Those that pointed out I'm only likely noticing older / modified diesel and not new ones driving by have a good point, the ones that don't stand out I probably just dismiss as gassers, without paying attention.

[carringb]

Ford 6.0's have gotten louder with time, and you can thank Ford for that. After the first few years, Ford dialed back the pilot injection to try to get more life out of the injectors. Side affect is more clatter, but it helped the injectors make it though the warranty.

But generally, each generation of diesel has gotten quieter. I read a Q&A with a Cummins engineer about the new light truck diesels, and he stated they could be even quieter, but the focus group studies found that some buyers don't want a completely gasser-like sound, so they turned diesel sound-track back up a tad. And the "drive-though test" is an actual field test they do when developing new revisions!

[mich800]

WTP-GC wrote:
Simply removing the emissions equipment isn't always against the law.

WTP-GC wrote:

As I said, it isn't "always" against the law. The law is a funny, and often misinterpreted creature. You have to pay attention to the wording regarding gasoline powered vehicles vs. diesel powered. There's a difference in legality and liability regarding a private person in lieu of a dealer/mechanic. There's also a difference between simply driving and selling. I don't profess to be a legal expert, but I've read enough to understand that you're likely to not get in trouble for deleting your truck.

I am all for modifying your vehicle to suit your personal preferences. But this is bad advice. Removing, eliminating, or rendering ineffective emissions equipment is a violation. Just because you do not get caught does not equal "lawful". That is the whole idea of CARB compliant aftermarket parts and equipment. They have been certified that they do not alter the emissions for the intended vehicle.

Deleting a post DPF diesel is a violation. Nothing ambiguous in the law regarding that. Again, "you're likely to not get in trouble for deleting your truck" is not the proxy for legal. Just that they are more likely to go after those selling the equipment not the user. Just ask Edge or H&S

[davidaf]

Just because I didn't want to work anymore and our phones do more than they used to:

Went outside, started truck, waited about a minute. Fired up Decibel 10th app on my iphone 5. These are all "eyeball subjective" since the app doesn't record avg/peak over a period of time.

Inside truck door closed chest height
Avg 55db, peak 58db

Outside Truck 2 feet from grill back turned to wind
Avg 80db, peak 82db

20ft from truck
Too windy to get any type of accurate reading.

Truck off
Avg 38db, peak 41db

Now If I could find my old 5.9 to do the same non scientific test. I know it was louder but would be "fun" to compare with the same app.