SuperSpec

SuperSpec

Thursday 2 October 2014

Should I replace exhaust mounting ?

Having raised the front ride height (see here) and fitted a sump guard (see here) I have had no problem with grounding the front.   So moving onto the next culprit, I find the rear exhaust mount occasionally grounds, particularly on speed bumps.  If I have a passenger in then it grounds every few hundred yards, particularly going round right hand turns. 



The problem is that the bracket is a 1" piece of angle iron.  This is incredibly strong and as you can see from the picture has suffered no lasting damage as a result of the multiple groundings.

 On the face of it the solution is simple, just replace the angle iron with a piece of 5mm steel plate.  That would increase the ground clearance by 3/4" and probably prevent any further grounding.

However, there is a downside.  If that was carried out the next part that is closest to the ground is the bottom of the handbrake mechanism which protrudes almost an inch below the bottom of the car floor.    And if that grounded there would be major consequences and subsequent repairs.

So the question is:   Should I leave the angle iron as a protection measure for the handbrake and accept the grounding, or should I replace it to stop the grounding with the risk that if ever I did hit a substantial bump in the road I might damage the handbrake mechanism ?

On balance, particularly as the angle iron does more damage to the speed bumps and none at all to the car when it grounds, I am tempted to leave things alone.   Watch this space.

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