Exhaust tips rubbing up against fender

Yesterday I changed the alternator. I disconnected the battery. When I got everything hooked back up my wife tested it going to the dollar store. When she got back it had a low idle ( it has stopped the low idle now) but while it was idling low we noticed a noise coming from the rear end. Went to go see what it was and the exhaust tips were vibrating from the low idle and hitting on the plastic fender part. Noticed that the fender had melted a little...nothing too noticeable. It hasn't done it again since the low idle went away. But going over bumpy terrain I'm sure it's still hitting the fender. What can I do to stop it? Maybe new a exhaust hanging bushing? Or a longer exhaust hanging bushing to pull it down a little? Will post pics in the morning (4/11/25) Have rain tonight (4/10/25)

 

Many people do an axle dump, especially people who offroad. If you go over a rock and it is tall enough, it will crunch the exhaust pipe right into the lower bodywork of your bed. Potential downsides are POSSIBLE slight acceleration of rust formation under the bed and if you ever sleep back there you might want the truck to be off for a bit beforehand or itll be a bit stinky/ hot. And, it is free if you have a sawzall.

 

Well I do zero off road driving. It's a pavement princess. Just drives me around town and to work that's all lol but some of the pavement is rough around here. City won't fix the roads...my tax dollars going to waste on more "important" things lol

 

Crawl under the truck and check the exhaust from front to back. You might have a joint rusted through somewhere, letting the exhaust sag which would raise the tip.
Maybe it's just a bad hanger.

 

Chop it at the last hanger:

 

Went on another quick trip today and came back and noticed the exhaust tips was ON the plastic fender part (Picture #1) and I pulled it down to take the rest of the pics. I got up under the truck and looked at the hangers. All of the rubber bushings attached to the hangers looked okay. Maybe one or two looked like micro cracking on it.

 

I would but my wife likes the way it looks. But may have no option. I'm gunna buy new hanging bushing and see if that works. Or maybe take a pipe wrench and bend the hanger a little bit

 

You can cut off the existing hanger from the pipe and install an adjustable clamp-on hangers like this. Be sure to pick one that matches your pipe dia.:



Make sure the pipe still clears the spare tire afterwards.

 

That actually may be a better option. Thanks for your help

 

That's an aftermarket tip on there. Check how they attached it, you might be able to loosen it up and re-adjust it. Maybe stick a crowbar in the pipe and bend it a little.

 

Alright I will look at it again in the morning. I have a few options I can try if that doesn't work. But I'm thinking either bend the tips as you mentioned or bend the actual hanger down closest to the exhaust tips. If that doesn't work I'll work on plan "C" lol