So I'm in the middle of fabbing up a custom 3" exhaust for my 02 NB and clearances are close but not impossible. Things are mocked up and tacked right now but once I do the final install I'm sure I'll need to do some adjusting. So I plan to make my hangers/ brackets adjustable to compensate for small tweaks. My wife took a peek under the car and as I was talking to her about my great plans, she asked why not just bolt it up without rubber hangers and just use nuts and bolts. Basically asking me why not make it a rigid installation. So I started thinking, if I have a flex joint in my downpipe, is there an issue with a rigid installation after the flex joint?? Can the flex joint absorb the vibration? I don't think I'll do it this way but am just curious. Thanks!

 

Vibration and drone will be more noticeable with a solid mount setup.

 

same reason your cell phone makes a lot of noise when it is on vibrate and on the table versus in your hand. sound transmission through rigid connections is much greater than through rubber hangars.