header rattling... what to do?

[knightowl73]

my truck has a set of hooker headers on it, that dont leak, and arent that old, but the driver side one rattles horribly when the truck is sitting at idle. whether in gear or neutral it just makes the truck sound like something fred sanford would drive, just kills the beautiful exhaust note.

ive heard of the wrap, but didnt get too many good things about using it, so i was urged to stay away from that. i do know that if i put my foot on the header right before the collector i can get the noise to stop. so far im thinking of making a bracket to bolt to a few trans bolts and clamp it to the right pipe that is rattling, hopefully it wouldnt look too jerry-rigged. but what do you guys do to actually cure this, or does everyone just live with it till they get a new set?

[lindstromjd]

Might sound a little stupid, but do you have a good gasket on it? Or else maybe the pipes are hitting the frame when the engine is running... I've heard the driver's side header can be known to do that.

[knightowl73]

ill check to see if it is that close, it could be hitting i guess, and i know the gaskets are good

[notrailerqueens]

i got the same problem. well kinda mines on the passanger side. but after some adjustment i got a LITTLE (emphasis on little) more clearance. i had to grind down right at the frame rail where the headers pass to get the clearnace so the didnt rattle on the rail. pretty much a pita but hey the scarafices we make

[knightowl73]

yeah im going check mine out now. i didnt think it was hitting anything, just thought the header itself was making the noise. ill find out soon.

[cableguy0]

Dropped any bolts recently that you couldnt find? I have seen bolts end up down near the collector and rattle like crazy. just make sure theres clearance everywhere

[knightowl73]

actually found a piece of broken spark plug in the same collector when i firs got the truck, wonder if theres another piece in there or something. i didnt take it off, just got a screwdriver and pushed it up and out of the tubes. could still be a piece in there. i got a magnet on a stick that the magnet is pretty small, il try to stick it in between the pipes and see if i pull up anything.

[Panelman55]

I'm still running open headers so I really can't hear a rattle. If you take off the mufflers maybe you won't have a rattle anymore!

[TheWhiteElephant]

Might be the collector bolts, too. Check the torque.

[pig rig]

Im running hooker super comp headers on mine and I had to tourch and grind a little clearnce on my frame rails and notch for the collector flange. all on the drivers side

[qu1cks1lver56]

hmmm all this talk about touching frame rails makes me wanna go look at mine. mine rattles something fierce when it's in gear and under a load.

[knightowl73]

ill have to do the same, tho i dont see where anything has been hitting ori close enough but as the motor flexes when its lumping i guessit must hit. ill jack it up n see tommorrow if it isnt raining like it was today. i got nada done

[knightowl73]

well i finally fixed the rattle. out of 5 pieces of old spark plug, i finally got all the rattle out. i guess the previous owner wasnt so good at changing plugs. 2 and a half spark plugs were just hanging out near the bottom of the collector. thats wild, i had already took one plug from there when i first got the truck.

and i know they are hooker headers and they are for my truck, but i have no clearance issues whatesoever and if i had a digicam id tae a pic. i dont think i could get a better fitting header on this truck, and they dont even hang very low at all so i can still go lower if i please. thanks for all the help and suggestions guys !