Hi. I have a 2001 F-150 V8 that I have owned for a little over a year. It has been making a loud rattling sound while in neutral or stopped in gear. I crawled under and think I found the source of the noise.
It looks like there is a lose connection between the exhaust pipe from the engine and the muffler. There is a stud on the side of one end and a notch on the end by the muffler. I'm guessing there should be a clamp that holds the two ends together. I picked up a 2 3/4 inch muffler clamp from the parts store, which was the largest they had that fit over the area. Then my deep sockets were no where to be found.
Since I won't be getting replacements for a couple of days I thought I would run everything by those more knowledgeable than myself to see of there are any gotchas to look out for. Do I just hold the two ends together and tighten the clamp down?
I'm still new to DIY car repair, but have gotten a lot of help from this site. Thanks to all who contribute.
Here is a picture. The left heads towards the engine. The right to the muffler. The thing already clamped there is apparently some sort of vibration dampening device. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/62/p5080038.jpg/

 

IF you can get the one piece far enough inside the other one, you can simply put on a new clamp and tighten it down.
The problem usually is once it is clamped, and comes apart,the pipe is deformed enough from the clamp, that it won't go back together.

If you have enough pipe sticking out of the muffler, you can cut off the deformed part to get to the good pipe. Then put in a 2 .5" ID to 2.5" OD adapter piece in to take up the piece you cut out.

It would also be a quick and cheap fix at a local muffler shop if you decide not to tackle it yourself.

 

I tried a new clamp, but the parts didn't want to stay together. That vibration dampening gizmo is really in the way too. Off to the muffler shop I go.
Thanks for the info, skiziz.