so i have a 1996 camaro rs convertible can I have been dealing with a rattling or banging noise for about a week now and yesterday i finally discovered that the noise is coming from my mid pipe behind my cat is banging up against my sub frame connector. i was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what i can do to stop it. i have not yet had time to take my sub frame off and investigate but i know that when i put tension on the pipe the noise stops.

 

I have the same issue as you. Ive owned my car for 2 years and have been dealing with it and have not come up with a solution. Its how my car earned the name of Rattle Factory... mine rattles against the part circled in the picture (Yes, its a plastic model of a 4th gen but it will suffice for demonstration purposes) not sure if that's what yours rattle against but thats my issue.

From what I can tell the mid pipe just kinda droops over time because its only hung to the body from a hanger above the rear axle and from the headers. Its the only theory I came up with. Aside from replacing the entire exhaust Ive tried everything. Note that my Camaro is the V6, not sure how different the V8 exhaust is routed.

 

yes that is where mine was rattling it and i also of a v6. but i solved my problem when i got home. i dont know if you tried this but i took the bolts out that are holding the back of my subframe on and got some thick lock washers and stuck those between the frame and the subframe. this totally solved my problem and it didn't cost me a dime. you can get 1/2 inch lock washes at lowes for 26 cents.

 

thats the tunnel brace. exhaust is sagging. make sure all your hangers are ok and not bent or damaged. is exhaust welded in or do you have bolt on spots you can adjust. you might try losing the connection at the cat and see if it will shift up and then re tighten while holding up on the pipe.

 

so i want true dual exhaust on my 1996 v6 and i call the best exhaust shop around and asked them if they could do it and they told me that they couldn't because there isn't enough space under the car for a second pipe. personally i think its bs because ive seen 1996's with true duals but is there any truth to what they told me?

 

Anything is possible with enough time and money, whether or not its worth it is the question. IMO you would be better off taking the money you would spend on true dual and getting a nice after market exhaust that fits where the OEM fits. I currently have a Z28 muffler on my car so it has the dual exit pipes and I think it looks good. If your trying to make it sound good and have rumble I can safely say it wont. At idle it'll sound decent, but once it gets up in RPM's it sounds raspy rather than throaty. I cant speak as far as performance gains, but I doubt it will be a noticeable difference.

 

yea i look at those first but the only ones that i found that have an OEM fit and **** magnaflow or flowmaster and they sound like thrash for there price tag. but i found a video of a v6 camaro with a slp louth mouth 1 cat-back and with the cat replaced with a bullet muffler and it sounds incredible for a v6 ( ill include the link) but the slp loudmouth system is $383 and the slp bullet muffler is $100. so i decided to try and make my own by straight piping it and putting an slp resonator on the mid pipe which is like $73 and then replace my cat with a short cherry bomb glass pack.

 

Thats more or less what mine sounds like atm. I had to remove my cat because it had broken apart, and I was to poor to buy a new one so I just straight piped it to get me through winter. I only have a cheap Z28 "OEM" replacement muffler on it and it sounds pretty good at idle. I personally dislike the raspy noise of the V6 and will be replacing my entire exhaust back to stock minus the Z28 muffler, I like the dual exit. Also in my adventures with this exhaust routing is it will rattle on that tunnel brace unless it is perfectly routed. That's the main reason im putting it back to stock.

 

Autozone sells everything for a cat back much cheaper then a slp kit cost ,there the same when they go straight through,had one on my 99 was ok,just not the same as a v8 when you hit the gas ,at idle was ok.

$125.00 ,a 4 in resonator made bye joe shom that is 4 inches round by like 20in or what ever is ,same sound,less money ,i got a all stainless kit for my 2002 z28 for less then slp ,an only thing stainless on there kit is there resonator ,the rest galvinized $250.00 vs 375.00 for slp

 

Kooks makes a true duel kit but it costs some $$$. IMO, it's not worth it, especially not for a V6 car.