Hey all, I have a terrible vibration/rattle that I think is coming from my exhaust hitting the crossbrace in front of the transmission. Of course, I've hit it several times while wheeling and I'm unsure if it's actually bent up causing it to hit, if the exhaust is sagging or a combination of both. I just had new motor mounts installed and have already shimmed it down but it's still making a helluva racket. Does anyone make a stronger one that has more built in clearance than the OEM one? This is for a 2014 JKUR auto w/ 2.5" lift.

 

One option is to re-route that exhaust cross over to behind the cross-member. There are products that do this with a Y-pipe (AFE and a couple other options I believe), but you could also just have a mom & pop muffler shop do this as well for a fair price. This gets the exhaust out of the way of the DS for wheeling purposes, and also makes life easier doing your tranny service as well. The downside of doing this is you run your exhaust pretty close to the front of your fuel tank and right under some fuel lines so protecting those things with heat shield is in order, and of course you need to be comfortable with all that. I've had an AFE Y-pipe on my jeep for 8.5 years or more and have had no issues. I only bought it cuz I saw one on CL around me for dirt cheap (I don't think it's worth the retail of $300+ vs. muffler shop route). I've had a couple friends accomplish the same thing at a muffler shop after seeing how the AFE worked for me. Your $$ will vary from shop to shop in your area. In my area there are little places that will do something like that for $50 cash. Another place was $80 cash (course, these prices were pre-covid days and the world is different now).

 

I would try loosening the Y pipe at the manifold, lift and support the back of the Y pipe so it's off the X member and tighten the manifold bolts. That should keep it in place and off the X member.