Biceps

Hey guys,

So 5 months ago, I purchased the FRPP true dual exhaust kit for my 08 v6 mustang...and the nightmare began. Here are the symptoms, and the solution (for me) will be below it. OMG....FINALLY!!!

Symptoms

1. Vibration only when car was warmed up. Never cold.
2. Car would vibrate when idling at a stop light.
3. Car would vibrate when allowing the idling RPM's to carry me in reverse.
4. Car would immediately vibrate when A/C turned on and idling at a stop light.
5. Upon converting to duals, my idling RPM's dropped from 750 RPM (with a single American Thunder Flowmaster muffler on) to 500-550 with dual exhaust.
6. When idling and vibrating, if I held my foot on the brake while applying a little gas to raise the idling RPM's, the vibration would completely go away.

My Solution

The solution that ultimately fixed the problem was purchasing an SCT SF3/X3 Power Flash Tuner from American Muscle.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/sct-x3...ash-tuner.html

I purchased this because with this tuner, you can adjust your idling RPM's. When I was submitting my vehicle information to American Muscle/Bama tuning, I explained that I wanted my idling RPM's raised to about 800 and told them why. Got the tuner, installed the 91 Race Tune (we don't have 93 in our area), and BAM, problem is now 100% solved


Previously I had the FRPP cold air intake with the FRPP tune on it. I had to reinstall my factory tune on my car and then download the bama tune on to my car. All in all, the FRPP Pro Cal tune is WEAK, WEAK, WEAK, compared to the bama 91 race tune! Holy crap, my back tires feel like they can barely keep up with my car. First, second, third gear? Forget about it. the 91 race tune blows through them and puts you up into your higher power band so fast! Love it.

What didn't work for me

Along the way I found numerous people who had a very similar, if not identical problem. Each seemed to have found a different solution that was not the solution for me. I'll detail out below what I tried so others in my same boat can be aware.

1. Welding hangers. Yes, this eliminated the symptoms completely. However, the rigidity of the metal hangers didn't allow the pipes to move and breath as they normally would, resulting in a nasty resonance/vibration at 850 and 1500 RPM's. Enough to make me remove the welded hangers. Solved one problem, created another.

2. Having a "h-pipe" brace welded between each mid-pipe for stability. My passenger side pipe would vibrate harder than the drivers side, so a shop recommended that I try this. Did not work, and it created a bad rattling underneath my seat. Had it removed.

3. A number of people had noted that when their exhaust system warmed up, one of their muffler hangers (typically the drivers side) would move back and make contact with the back bumper. Oh how I wish that was the solution to my problem. It was not for me. Had plenty of hanger clearance and no contact was being made at any point throughout the system.

4. In speaking with Ford Racing, they said this problem is very common if the hangers are put on upside down....that is, circular edge must be up, square edge must be down. Nope, my hangers were placed on there correctly.

5. On the 08 v6's, where the two hangers were placed on the drivers side, there were two holes that were not threaded. The kit came with two bolts per hanger on the passenger side, one bolt per hanger on the drivers side. So I had a shop tap some holes and drilled in two additional bolts on the drivers side hangers, but that did not solve the problem either.

6. Transmission crossmember assembly mount. This is the piece that a TSB was released about. On all mustangs built after 12/03/07, ford removed the exhaust hanger mounts/isolators. Because of the vibration I was experiencing, every shop said I needed more support. However, Ford Racing said I did not....that the bolts at the cats and at the mufflers were all this kit needed.

I spoke with Ford about purchasing a transmission crossmember assembly mount, and they said they could not order one...that my best bet would be to call a junk yard and pull one from a junked 05-07 stang.

7. Bumper cut outs. I actually made the bumper cut outs a little bit bigger with the help of a dremmel tool, just in case one of the muffler tips was making contact with the back bumper. Did not work in my case.


So after having tried all of this, the solution for me was to purchase a tuner that allowed me to increase my idling RPM's, as when my RPM's dropped down to 550'ish, that's when all the vibrating happened.

All in all, no more rattles, no more shakes, and a whole hell of a lot more rubber is being laid down to the pavement with this purchase!

I hope this helps somebody out.

Twstones

Wow, your persistence finally paid off. On mine it was the hanger rubbing on the bumper bracket. My kit was the GT take-off/Pypes from New Take Off. Pretty similar kit. Glad you like the SCT tuner. I'm about ready to order the combo kit with the FRPP CAI, and that tuner.

Biceps

The FRPP CAI + SCT tuner is UNREAL! You will love it. It's been 3-4 days now...still have a big $hit eating grin on my face

I really do wish that for me, it was as simple as a hanger making contact with the back bumper. But then again, I would have never ordered the SCT tuner had it been, so it worked perfectly. Thanks again for your help along the way