Aftermarket Exhaust Illegal in NJ?!

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Got pulled over today for no apparent reason. Well, not completly I had no front plate. Additionally the officer said your exhaust is illegal and proceeded to tell me, and I quote, "anything louder than stock is illegal in the state of NJ". Is this true?

Ironicly enough I have a fairly quiet exhaust (cobb catted TBE). He even asked me to rev the engine when I gave him a blank stare after him telling me the above statement, confirming it with "it'll illegal, not that YOU didn't know that".

The odd part was when I drove past him (prior to being pulled over) I was in a high gear at a slower speed. In other words the exhaust was almost silent. So the whole exhaust bit was an afterthought after being pulled over for the lack of front plate.

Anyway I was very polite and was let off with a written waring accompanied by an oral warning- "You WILL be pulled over for this (exhaust) again."

Is there any validity to his claim? My exhaust is VERY conservative if anyone has heard a cobb catted TBE before. ?????

[SRT42EnVy]

any aftermarket mod is considered illegal, if its not stock then it hasnt been approved to be driven on the roads of NJ.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Are you serious?! How about aftermarket wheels, bodykits? How about turbos, sparkplugs, intakes? Even if it doesn't affect my emissions?

[xEJ20x]

Technically....as long as the aftermarket exhausts are CARB approved then they are legal.

However, I believe the decibal level has to be below 100dB @ idle.
But in order to be ticketed for the exhaust decibel, the officier has to actually use the sound measuring device which may not even be calibrated correctly.

But many cops use the exhaust to give you a ticket if they don't have anything else to go on.

[D Money]

I would say yea if you arent meeting Nj's MV requirements. Maybe something like if you were catless or something, other than that it shouldnt be illegal for just noise. I am sure if the cop wants to be a dick then sure why not, he can give you a citation.

[DocEwww]

Anything aftermarket is they can give ya a ticket for...just never heard of them doing so. Every time I get pulled over I get "warned" too.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

The same question was answered in the "Ask the Law" forum with the resident TST officer stating any and all aftermarket exhausts are illegal no matter how quiet they are.

This is what I don't understand- say if you have high milage and your exhaust goes bad and needs replacement. If you go to Midas and have a new exhaust installed that in itself is considered aftermarket (non-OEM). So under this law you can be pulled over for having your exhaust replaced.

How do we check with our local laws...the county municipal building? I'd like to further investigate this. I want to see this in writing, and exactly the way it's worded. It just doesn't sound right.

I've been driving for 11 years and have had aftermarket exhausts on almost all of my previous cars, most of them louder than my current setup. I never once got pulled over and/or heard of this "law".

[accord_racer90]

thats retarded dude they only throw that at you if they dont have anything else on you i get that all the time when i get pulled over but im from pa and you can get away with that but i swear thoes pigs need to leave people alone

[mostasteless]

I did some research on this a few years back for a class project so things may have changed but at that time (90's) in NJ you could modify your exhaust as long as none of your emissions equipment was removed and the aftermarket parts are CARB legal. Also as of that time their was no state wide ordinance as for as exhaust volume but local noise ordinances could be used to ticket you.
I remember hearing about a proposed law like 2 years ago that would set the exhaust dB level at something like 95dB 20" from the exhaust at a 45% angle at 3/4 throttle or something crazy like that but I dont know if it ever passed.

[2point4DSM]

To me, it sounds like if your exhaust is relatively quiet but has a big tip and shiny muffler then cops are going to continue to bother you about it. Time to get that black muffler and simple 3" or smaller tip, lol.

For those that have loud exhaust it might be time to look into a quieter one and a cutout, lol.

Unfortunately, this is trend that seems to be following me from MA and the reason I went with a restrictive system. Oh well, nothing a bit more displacement and a bigger turbo can't overcome, lol.

Btw, in MA getting a ticket for exhaust noise violation was a surchargeable offense on your car insurance. Hopefully, that kind of thinking stays in MA.

[OptiCon]

I have a 3" SS system with a straight through "Sebring Tuning" muffler. When I start the car you can hear the droning idle for a good distance out here in the country. But since I have it tucked up under the car and the outlet is a stock style turndown (no chrome tip), the police (and most other people) don't even notice.

[2point4DSM]

I've been through countless systems for my DSMs. My current DSM, (I've had 5 DSMs over 15+ years) has probably seen a half dozen. The system that seems to work best for me is a 2.5" downpipe, 3" flex, cat, 24" 2.75" ID resonator, 3" cat back and superturbo muffler that is chambered, fiberglass packed, painted black with a 3" dirty tip.

It is relatively quiet, even though DSMs are generally loud, but kind of stockish Lexus IS300 looking. It was put together that way in hopes cops wouldn't notice it.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Originally Posted by 2point4DSM

To me, it sounds like if your exhaust is relatively quiet but has a big tip and shiny muffler then cops are going to continue to bother you about it. Time to get that black muffler and simple 3" or smaller tip, lol.

Here's a kicker for you- I think my stock STi muffler tip is larger than the Cobb muffler tip, though it is fully polished (tip and canaster).


Even more irony, while I was waiting for the officer to run my info two harleys (blazing LOUD) drove by and a lifted Dodge Ram pickup with what sounded like straight headers drove right by us. The Ram easily being 4 to 5x louder than me and the Harleys...at least 10x louder.

[thewake]

Actual NJ state statutes

39:3-69 states in part: "...No person shall install or use on the exhaust system of any motor vehicle any device which emits an audible sound unless authorized to do so by the commission. ..."

39:3-70 states: "Every motor vehicle having a combustion motor shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and annoying smoke, and no person shall use a muffler cut-out, bypass or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway."

39:3-76 states " Every motor vehicle shall be equipped and maintained so that exhaust gases cannot injure any person or animal, and no person shall use any motor vehicle so as to cause or be likely to cause any such injury."

There are also all the environmental statutes that I have not quoted, since some are Federal and all are long.

So you can't have anything like the infamous "whistle tip", cut-out, smoke, or loud mufflers. You can not pipe the exhaust so that it will burn or asphyxiate animals or people as you drive. You also can not change emissions equipment (catalytic converters) unless you follow the federal rules, which prohibit changing any cat in working order for annother, or removing a non-functioning cat without replacing it.

You should be legal if you only changed parts after the final cat, and it is not loud and there is no smoke. There is nothing I could find about having to remain OEM in non-emissions equipment.

Look it all up here: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/

[Fastrick25]

If the officer says its to loud your stuck paying the ticket ,i've never seen a NJ cop pull out a decibel meter.Those tickets are handed out based on the cops opinion and trust me any motorcylce is louder than a turbocharged vehicle but the fact is its an import so they love to bust our stones cause if you had a 600hp Chevelle with slicks on it this would never happen.Time to blackout your muffler or get a more innocent looking one.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Thanks for the insight everyone. Much appreciated.

[Orbit]

out of curiosity what town was this in? i have been pulled over and they have never gave me a problem.

[Francesco]

95 or 98 db is the legal limit

most exhaust are made to coincide with the CA emission laws so their legal...

only way your exhaust will be 100% illegal is if you run no kitty

[JSPECFC3S]

not too get off track, but before i moved to NJ, i got whacked for the same thing in NY - I actually got s fix it ticket too!!!

Now i am scurred to be driving in NJ! Especially since i shoot fire!

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Originally Posted by Orbit

out of curiosity what town was this in? i have been pulled over and they have never gave me a problem.

Atco, NJ.