Riboflavin

So I bought a V2 J-pipe and and catback exhaust from XLR8 and had a local Meineke install it a few weeks ago. I noticed I'd been having some pretty loud metal-on-metal clanging over bumps and metallic rattling at idle and low rpm 1st gear starts. I figured it was the pretty common front crossmember interfering with the J-pipe, but after lifting the car and checking underneath, I had more than enough clearance between the J-pipe and front crossmember, but both pipes were actually rubbing on the rear subframe instead.

I spoke with some Excelerate Performance customer service reps, and was told it might just be a minor alignment issue with the hangers, but I couldn't get anything to really adjust by the hangers and OEM rubber mounts. I ended up solving the problem for now by wrapping the pipes with exhaust wrap and steel zip ties for cushioning at the points of contact.

While running a forum search to figure out the noises, I've seen multiple hits on the J-pipe/crossmember interference, but not a single person mentioning the rear subframe...

Am I really the only one who had this problem after install?

BTW, the setup sounds amazing.

ExcelerateRep

Glad you're happy with the sounds, but sorry to hear you're still having troubles with vibrations. If you wanted to take a couple pictures and send them our way I'd be happy to take a look and see if we notice anything off! Like I said, I haven't heard any reports of sub-frame contact, just the crossmember from an alignment that was a little off; interested if there are more cases like this out there now.

If you did want to send me some pictures, you can send them to performance@excelerateperformance.com and we'll go from there!

Riboflavin

Thanks! I only managed to get 2 pictures while I was doing the exhaust wrap, and they're at a slightly awkward angle, but it at least shows where the contact is happening. If you need wider shots of other components, or just these in full-size, let me know and I can make some time this weekend to jack the car up again.



^ this is facing toward the rear driver's side corner (rear diff is in the upper right corner), and that's where the pipes are coming into contact with the rear subframe.



^ this is a closer view, facing the driver's side, again showing where the contact happens. I was able to pull the pipes down and slide some exhaust wrap between the pipe and the subframe to wrap it with 2-3 layers.