91hatchgt

So I put on my flowmaster cat-back about 4 months ago, and I got a BBK X-pipe that I put on about a month or two ago. I didn't really have any problems putting them on, and everything was cool. I took a 600 mile trip to AZ and back, and on the way home I could hear a rattle coming from the back of the car.

The rattle was the exhaust pipe hitting the frame rail where the exhaust goes over the rear diff. I check it out to find that the flange that joins the X-pipe and the mifflers together was loose. I went to tighten it up but the bolts were as tight as they could go (the nut was tightened all the way up to the shoulder on the bolt) I though maybe they gave me the wrong bolts soI put on some washers to space it back and tightened it up even more, however both of the flanges and the muffler can still rotate. How can I fix this without cutting out the flanges and welding in a straight pipe??? Has anyone ever had this problem? I have always used BBK H pipes, and flowmaster cat-backs, however this is the first time going to a BBK X-pipe. Please help.

91hatchgt

bump

91hatchgt

ttt

mattdel

get different bolts.

91hatchgt

I stated that I put on washers so that I could tighten them even more. The bolts are very tight, however the flanges still rotate around the pipe. I am going to try to mess with it a little more today, I guess no one has any input on this situation?

mattdel

if the bolts were tight, you wouldn't be able to rotate the flange.
i had the same problem after i installed my H pipe. the passenger side kept coming loose.
new bolts fixed it.

FivePointOhh

is the bell of the muffler completey covering the ball of the X pipe end? i had to get my bell flared more because it was not covering completely making an exhaust leak and the flanged were loose yet the bolt were tight.

OnyxCobra

are both sides tightened down evenly? If the one side is a lot tighter than the other it might cause a problem with it being too loose.

91hatchgt

I fixed it today. I had the whole day to look at it and see what the problem was. The problem was that the flange slipped over the bell of the X-pipe on both sides. This allowed me to completely tighten the bolts, however it was not pinching the X-pipe and cat-back together properly because the flange had pulled all the way off of the bell. What I did was press the flange back onto the X-pipe, then I welded a bead around the lip of the bell so that the flange could no longer slip off. Tightened up the bolts and viola' perfect seal, very tight, no more rattle.