Stainless Works Exhaust Rattle

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Shelton90

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Hello all, I have been searching on here for a while now, and I hate to come in swinging but I needed to reach out for help. I am having a terrible rattle after installing 1 3/4 stainless works long tubes, and is pulling timing about 6 degrees according to Jay. I’ve wedged header wrap between the primaries/collectors, wrapped the trans lines and cinched them up, upgraded the exhaust clamps and had some connections welded while leaving access to trans pan for service, and retorqued everything about 5 times after heat cycling. It’s driving me crazy after such an expensive system. Dip stick tube is bent out the way and also wrapped just in case it contacts anything. The exhaust shop I bring it to says it’s resonance from so much flow going through the mufflex 24” single in causing the rattling sound? I’m looking into the j pipe just to try, I’m out of options. Help is much appreciated and sorry for the long post.

Mods:
5.7 8 speed 4x4 3.92 gears
1 3/4 Stainless Works Catless
Mufflex DOD24
Vararam
E-fan/clutch delete
180 thermostat
ECM/TCM 93oct Tuned by Jay Greene

6” Lift
35x12.5x20 Micky Thompson P3
Bilsteins


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pacofortacos

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Well, if it's a rattle, it isn't from so much flow.

Try crawling under there with a soft rubber mallet and smack the exhaust in several places to see if you can duplicate it.

You will hear the exhaust more in the pipes vs. stock manifolds but it really shouldn't be a rattle sound in most cases. The note is different than stock though.
 
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Shelton90

Shelton90

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I’ve been under there a dozen times, beating on it, tightening, trying to replicate it, it’s most prominent driving around 1700-1900 rpms and sounds like a “tinging” until it shifts or you give it more pedal. Sounds likes it’s from the passenger side
 

pacofortacos

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I am assuming you have MDS turned off via the tune?

Will it make the sound just revving it to those rpms or do you have to be moving?

Your exhaust should be pretty loud with headers and no cats I would think.

It might be popping inside the pipes.
 

pacofortacos

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Maybe a gasket leak at the head?
It's definitely a lot noisier than my stock truck :)
 
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Shelton90

Shelton90

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MDS turned off, revving in park is hardly noticeable unless in drive and binding it up while holding the brake but while driving at 1700-1900 it’s like tin cans rattling.

No leaks from heads to header, I’ve verified it multiple times, it’s got oem 6.1 gaskets and silicon from stainless works on the surfaces, and torqued multiple times.
 

pacofortacos

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That's the prime rpm range that people complain about drone at too.
It might just be the exhaust and the way it is going to sound.

Hard to tell by a video.

If some one covers the pass side tailpipe, do you hear any exhaust leaks out of that side?

X pipe installed or anything?
 

pacofortacos

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Since he can see that it is pulling timing, can he see if it is pulling timing due to the det sensors telling the computer that the motor is pinging?
 
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Shelton90

Shelton90

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Haven’t attempted covering one of the pipes. It’s the factory connect from stainless works so it’s 3” into a 3” dual in single out 3” to mufflex DOD24, no x-pipe or anything.

Jay is confident it’s ‘false knock’ due to something rattling or knocking around by the sensitive knock sensors. We’ve eliminated possibility of bad fuel by using race fuel. Still pulling timing.
 

pacofortacos

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This is going to sound crazy, but could it be a bad serpentine belt or something up in that area?

Or motor mount play that is letting the motor move just enough to touch something?
 
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Shelton90

Shelton90

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At this point nothing is crazy sounding to me. Belt is pretty much new, are you saying it could be slipping on a pully? And motor mount worn out would show at park while revving wouldn’t it?
 

pacofortacos

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Motor mount will not usually show in neutral, no real load to move it.

I have seen mounts in other vehicles move enough to barely touch something under light load and really touch it under heavy load - so that you only heard the noise on light load.

Belt can slip, can have a sticky spot, could be a pulley noise hard to tell.
Easiest thing to do is to remove the belt and start it and see if there is a noticeable noise change. Running it for a few seconds with the belt off won't hurt anything.

Your one video sure sounded noisy in the wheel well to me but it might not be that loud in real life.
 

ScLeCo

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Check the little Stainless Works emblems that they spot weld on. Mine had a couple of broken spot welds and the emblem would make a vibrating/rattling sound.
I pried them off with a flat head screwdriver and some pliers. No more vibration.
 
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Shelton90

Shelton90

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I didn’t think of the emblems, thanks I’ll check tomorrow. Although the stainless works headers are supposed to be top of the line with ARP, between wedging wrap between primaries and collectors, and issues I’ve heard from multiple people I’m not so sure. And I am not one to slam a company it’s just that these headers aren’t exactly cheap.
 

Wild one

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I didn’t think of the emblems, thanks I’ll check tomorrow. Although the stainless works headers are supposed to be top of the line with ARP, between wedging wrap between primaries and collectors, and issues I’ve heard from multiple people I’m not so sure. And I am not one to slam a company it’s just that these headers aren’t exactly cheap.

If it's not the emblems about all that's left would be to wrap them with header wrap.I'm amazed Jay didn't tell you to wrap them.
 

pacofortacos

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I looked at those emblems in his pictures and thought, well those look like they are attached well.
lol so much for looks.
 
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Shelton90

Shelton90

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If it's not the emblems about all that's left would be to wrap them with header wrap.I'm amazed Jay didn't tell you to wrap them.

Jay recommended to try and wedge the exhaust wrap between the collectors/primaries, he even watched a video I sent him of the whole system to see if something caught his eye. I pray that I don’t have to wrap them because it was hell installing these things. If I could go back I would have wrapped them while they was sitting on my work bench. :favorites68:
 
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Shelton90

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Wasn’t the emblems unfortunately. Here’s a video of me replicating the noise.
 

Nick@GotExhaust

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Ok so it may not be it but I had something very similar on my SW x pipe on my Mustang. Check you band clamps. There is that hour glass shaped spacer on the open end of the clamps that the bolts go through. 1 of the clamps that spacer cracked and half. It drove me nuts as it wasnt easy to see until I fully loosened the clamp, then I could see it was cracked. Plus the rattle sound would resonate through the entire exhaust so I couldn't pin point where the noise came from. I had some Vibrant clamps laying around so I swapped it out and the noise was gone.

I would go through each clamp and loosen them so you can spread the clamp and take the pressure off the spacer. Check the spacer then tighten it back down, then move on to the next one.
 
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Shelton90

Shelton90

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Ok so it may not be it but I had something very similar on my SW x pipe on my Mustang. Check you band clamps. There is that hour glass shaped spacer on the open end of the clamps that the bolts go through. 1 of the clamps that spacer cracked and half. It drove me nuts as it wasnt easy to see until I fully loosened the clamp, then I could see it was cracked. Plus the rattle sound would resonate through the entire exhaust so I couldn't pin point where the noise came from. I had some Vibrant clamps laying around so I swapped it out and the noise was gone.

I would go through each clamp and loosen them so you can spread the clamp and take the pressure off the spacer. Check the spacer then tighten it back down, then move on to the next one.


Thanks for the tips, I actually did upgraded the clamps and had some connections welded at the exhaust shop. Is vband clamps what you used? I am not apposed to changing them again if that’s the solution, does anyone recommend a certain style of band clamp and brand? Sleeve style? Lap joint? V-band? And I have the bolts about as tight as they will go on all clamps with and impact, hand tightened first to make sure the aluminum spacer in the middle sits right.
 
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