ok regarding the rubber boots that are on the exhaust , i saw 4 of them .

2 on the muffler itself and another 2 close to the xpipe on the stock exhaust.

my question is are these used for reducing drone and vibration?

if you put axlebacks did you have the shop mock the boots back up ?

i was thinking once i switch mufflers , ill have the boots from the mufflers mocked onto the exhaust pipe itself close to the muffler for added quality.

your thoughts plz?

 

They are called exhaust hangers, and any aftermarket axleback should be designed to fit into some of them maybe not all depending on the shape and size of the new mufflers.

They reduce vibration and isolate the exhaust from the body for a number of reasons

 

This is your first car, isn't it? Look under other makes and models and you'll see rubber hangers. Kinda neat, huh?

 

Not sure the hanger is what the OP is referring to. I think what he is referring to hangs down from the muffler section itself or maybe event the hanger. I'm not where I can look under my car. Anyways, there is a metal attachment, that hangs off each muffler and and the attachment has a circular rubber device approximately 2-3" in diameter that protrudes from the attachment. the only section of the car this device touches is the muffler itself.

My assumption was this was some sort of damper attached to muffle or cancel out resonant noises such as droning that might otherwise be caused by the muffler without it. If this is the case there is a chance that it could help but it wouldn't be a guarantee. These type of dampeners typical are highly dependent upon placement, size and frequency of the of the resonant noise you're trying to eliminate.

It would be interesting to see if it could help. My Magnaflow Competition exhaust drones like a **** between 2200-2900 rpms.

 

From the OP's description and from what I've seen, the ONLY rubber associated with the exhaust ARE the hangers.

 

And that very well could be. I don't know if you've seen the exhaust of a 2011 V6 though. From what I saw there are a few of these devices and they're definitely not used to hang the muffler or exhaust from the chassis. They touch nothing but the mufflers and another one is up by the x-pipe. Picture a tab hanging down from the muffler, not up, and on that tab there is a circular metal housing about a 3" in diameter. Inside that housing is a circular solid rubber device that protrudes from the housing. It extends out from the muffler and touches nothing but air.

 

Yes, they are vibration dampeners. When I put on my MRT system, I reused them by slipping them on the ball-clamp bolt and securing them with an extra 10mm nut. It helped the interior resonance but only slightly.

 

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I found a thread on some Pontiac forum that discussed them on different vehicles. The ones on the 2011 V6 look a lot like these

http://www.g8board.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25896

 

Yep..