Diagnosing rumble&rattle on acceleration

Hey ya'll, has anyone had this issue before? When I accelerate I'm getting much louder than normal revving, and its hard to tell but I might be loosing a little bit of power. The sound seems to be coming from the entire engine and undercarriage of the truck, and i caught it very brefily rattling around where the cat is. At idle its business as usual, it only growls at me when my foots on the gas. I'm guessing (hoping) its an exhaust issue? The trucks a 2013, its got 140,000 on it and I've taken it on two XC roadtrips since getting it in 18. I don't want to drive the thing if that sounds doing more damage, but I don't have the equipment to work on it away from home, and wont be able to get it into shop for a few days. Should I not be driving on it?

 

Usually too much info is better than not enough.

Engine, transmission, trim, dc ac reg cab, 2wd 4wd, maintenance, etc.

Have you fueled up at a not usual location? Thinking it could be detonation knock. Try a fill up with premium and perhaps some in tank cleaner.

 

its a 4L V6, automatic, 4WD sport. All regular maintenance, but havent replaced any big parts lately. Its not a detonation knock, I've been using the same gas as ever and the sound is just a louder that normal rev. No knocking, rattling, nothing.

 

Does it sound like an exhaust failure?

 

whats the difference in sound between an exhaust failure and just a hole in the exhaust pipe, or a clogged cat?

 

Each one makes a different sound, hard to describe though. Gasket, manifold crack, holes, etc... maybe even something rubbing or a bad hanger. The trick is to get under the truck and have somebody rev it, I guess.

You'd notice power loss with a clogged cat if it's bad enough

It was just a thought

 

Drivers side only cat has a heat shield that the brackets (2 bolts and a clamp) always rust off and cause a loud rattling sound as they get loose before they rust/fall off so look under there.
Other most common is rusted out muffler so look at that and at both ends where it attaches to the mid-pipe and tail section.
Clogged cats cause power lose and lower mpg. Did you hit anything recently and if so maybe one of the flange donut gaskets is damaged look under pass seat at mid-pipe to front cat.
Assume air filter is stock and on for not causing any noise change.