What Is this? Is my truck gonna burn down

OMG. Bailing wire, JB Weld, and Bubba just wet his pants over that fix

 

my main question is how long can i drive without worrying about it. i plan to get to it this weekend and ill macgyver them all up

 

They do get hot, but what about all they guys running mid pipes with aftermarket cats. I don't see any heat shields around those. I'm no engineer, but it would be hard for me to believe they get so hot that it would cause you a problem. See the heat shield above the cat in your picture? That should keep a lot of the heat from damaging the cab. The faster you get it fixed, the faster you don't have to worry about it.

And there are 4 cats down there. Just fyi. Meow.

 

they're honestly there more so so you dont burn the hell out of yourself when under the truck

 

really? im just afraid of that heat being so close to the fuel line.

 

You'll be fine, unless you plan on puncturing a fuel line.

 

plenty of trucks run without them. unless you plan on driving through dry tall grass, i wouldnt worry too much

 

You can drive it forever like that in the 70s I believe it was the pinto I could be wrong on the car but it was to low to the ground and people were parking them on the grass and they were catching fire cause of no shields so that’s were shields were born your truck I’m sure is high of the ground and I’m sure your not going to park on grass just watch out for plastic bags on the road they will stick and melt other than that run it like that

 

For as long as you want. Its just a shield.
On some vehicles it helps reflect the heat away from the interior or as mentioned, to help protect anyone that is servicing the vehicle.

Seriously, you're fine. The fixes that have been suggested will all work and you can do over the weekend.

 

I have a 2010, both of mine were rusted so bad and rattling I could not put them back on, been off for around 6 months no issue what so ever, you can buy OEM replacements but they are around $100 each.

 

put a large stainless steel hose clamp around it and move on