I've been chasing down a nasty rattle, and I'm pretty sure i found it in the two upstream cats. I have a stock midpipe, 70,000 miles. When I hit those two cats, they make a funny rattle sound, much like the sound I've been hearing. I'm thinking about getting a new midpipe w/ cats. H pipe or X Pipe ? I need one that won't contribute to any drone, if possible....
(sorry that happend to me once) If the heat sheilds were loose, that would mean that the welds broke off and they were just "flapping in the wind." You can try to pry them off of the midpipe. If they don't budge than it's not the shields. I will venture to guess that something inside the catalyist is loose and rolling around. I'll be replacing my O/R H with an X that has catalytic converters to cut down on some of the noxious fumes. 