[a77boy]

[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]2003 Sr5 V8

The bolts that hold up the heat shield above my muffler have corroded and caused the heat shield to fall off. It is now resting on top of the muffler. Mechanically it is not worrying me. What does happen though is that when I am idling at a stop light or in the driveway I can hear the shield rattling on top of the muffler. Anyone know if it would be safe to just pull the heat shield out entirely? Thanks in advance[/FONT]

 

[dkrueger9]

Not uncommon for this to happen, just remove it. There are many redundant safeties on vehicles that are not as necessary as you would think. You would be surprised at how many service tech remove them because of that annoyance.

99.99999% will be just fine to remove with no repercussions.

?? Is it the muffler located about ¾ back from the front of the truck??

Best of luck!

 

[a77boy]

It is the "Actual" muffler, the one that is like the size of a small boat Not the cat,or the resonator. I thought about trying to order a new heat shield which is about $35 online, but I think that the bolts may be so corroded that If I try to take the nuts off of them I may just end up breaking them instead. Thanks for your input. Have you take yours off?

 

[dkrueger9]

No, mine is to new for ant problems like that, yet . I would remove it. A lot of the shields are for crap that might get up in there like lone grass or to prevent any heat from reaching the floor boards.

Good Luck!