I know they serve a purpose but I was so fed up with the noise and figured they are just going to keep getting worse. Even if I weld the loose parts today something new is going to rust loose a month from now. I think the insulating material between the shield and the pipe had disintegrated in some spots. The bolts and clamps that held the shields together all seemed intact but I still got a rattle between the pipe and the shield. Whatever the cause I took them off yesterday and the car is nice and quiet now. It was definitely more difficult that the cat shields because mine were still attached prett well. Took me at least an hour with shears and a cut off wheel to get them off. I couldn't get the cut off wheel at all the fasteners and didn't want to cut anything else.

 

Having them welded back on is not an option for many of us. Most of the time the reason they are rattling is because they are half rusted off, and welding them is not even possible. You west coast guys are very lucky to not have to deal with that!

 

Same here. Mine were no weldable at all. By the time I ripped them off, they were falling apart in chunks. All I needed was a pair of snips and aftter a few strategic cuts they pretty much fell off with ease. After I was done, I had to move the car and sweep up the rust.

The exhaust itself is fine, but the cat shield rusted to hell pretty easily.