Little by little I've been becoming more acquainted with the Beast (remember that though I've owned it for almost 3 years, the bug bit me this past August).
On the latest trip to the undercarriage, I found that of the 3 rubber retainers that hold the exhaust system to the chassis, the two immediately fore and aft of the main muffler are busted open. The whole system is now held in place at the manifold and at the rear retainer (just aft of the rear axle). I read a previous post mentioning that this condition caused a cracked pipe at the cat - I don't have cats but I imagine that the stress could still cause a fracture, right?
Upon closer inspection, I can see that if I were to replace them with identical retainers, the tube going into the muffler will be in contact with a bracket off the frame - I imagine that this is a bad thing.
Am I correct in ensuring that the retainers hold the exhaust system away from other parts of the car?
It would seem that the failure, in addition to too much stress holding the exhaust too close to the car, was generated by heat ageing of the rubber -
is there another way of attaching the exhaust?
Thanks for the help...
http://www.eldeber.com.bo/20050925/sociales.html
(Disco, this link isn't for you, your check is in the mail...)
