i just installed my y-pipe. it sounds awesome and feels quicker, but when i do an abrupt start it sounds like the whole exhaust is shaking. I can feel it in the floor. I checked all the bolts and they are all tight. is this normal?

 

This goes to prove that some Stealin products are BS....

 

When I talked to one of the Stillen sales reps Saturday he told me that he's had a couple of customers solve this (and get rid of most of the b's) by attaching some kind of "harmonic weight damper" or something like this. He said I could go to any Chevy dealership and purchase the one that fits on the Cavalier's exhaust since it's almost a perfect fit on the MAX Y-pipe also. Anybody try this?

 

So instead of fixing the problem, they refer you to somewhere else so that you have to spend more money to fix a problem they caused. Very nice.

 

yep - I asked that question with low expectations I'd get a good answer! Was kinda suprising he came up with what he did - even though it involves spending more money (he said it was only $10 bucks or so)

 

Did you install the Y-pipe? I would check the rubber mount that is just in front of the flex protion of the Y-pipe. I just fixed a loose Y-pipe for a fellow 2K owners. Turned out that the triangle rubber mount was split, therefore letting the bolt it was suppose to hold get loose and that made the Y-pipe bag against the undercarriage of the car on hard take-offs.

 

Some people, including myself have cut off this particular bracket. When I installed my Stillen Y-pipe (even before doing the Fed frontside manifold), the hole in the bracket wasn't even close to lining up with the rubber mount.

I would check the clearance between the crossmembers on either side of the resonator. This is the most common place to have clearance problems after installing a Y-pipe. If you can shake the exhaust up and down and get it to bump these cross-members, simple remove the bolts and put some washers on each bolt between the crossmember and the undercarriage. This should give enough clearance so you aren't hitting stuff with your exhaust.

This problem stems from the fact that the Stillen flex section is soooooo small. Because of this, it dosn't flex as much and the cat-back exhaust moves a lot more than it did with you stock Y. Obviously the more your engine moves, the more your exhaust will move. This is why the problem is most evident when you nail it and your engine torques until it loads the motor mounts.