Extra Exhaust Hangers

[cherring]

On Saturday I was out and about driving around Penrith getting some errands done, but unfortunately on the way home got pulled over by HWP. He had a bit of a look at my car and informed me I was going to receive a defect for my car being too low. My friend and I had installed, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Apexi-Hybrid-Megaphone-Exhaust-Muffler-for-Nissan-Skyline-GTR-BNR32-R32-RB26DETT-/380464405430?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5895721bb6&_uhb=1, and it seems to be sitting a bit lower than we put it, although it was probably still a bit low, not sure.

The whole thing could have gone a lot worse than it did, he went back to the patrol car and after discovering I have never had a fine he came back and decided not to give me a ticket due to my good record, but he advised me that a notation would be added to my vehicle and if I didn't get it sorted out I would get a fine (do they really do this??), so I guess I better get it sorted out.

Now I'm wondering what might be a good way to fix this apart from just winding up the coil overs and having the car sit a lot higher than I want it to, so I've had a few thoughts and wondering how feasible they are.

1) Get a few cms cut out of the dump pipe and get it welded back together.

I was thinking this might be an option as this is one part of the exhaust that actually sits the lowest, the dump pipe and the cat, if it sat up a bit higher then it might/should (?) pull the pipe up a little. Could doing this affect exhaust flow?

2) Get some extra hangers welded onto the car and exhaust just to make sure that normal driving and jolting don't cause it to shift and potentially sit a bit lower then it might otherwise.

3) Possibly do both of these things?

Thoughts? Alternatives?

Oh if this should be posted somewhere else please advise, I wasn't sure where this post should go.

[scotty nm35]

I think you need to see a local fabricator and see if he can tuck it up a little more. That's what you get for $600 unfortunately.

Where are you located? One of the Sydney guys might be able to help.

[cherring]

Penrith area in Western Sydney. It doesn't seem like it has a lot to move, like it will probably only get me up to 1cm if I'm lucky, which was why I was wondering if shortening the dump pipe to tuck it up might be an option.

[pphhhfffttt]

give Hakan a ring, best bring the car in for him to look at.
His work is top notch at a reasonable price
http://www.performanceexhaustcentre.com.au/

[GTR-N1]

Yes, let Hakan look at it.

CLNSKY a fellow Exec is arranging for our club to have a Fabrication Tech Night there this year due to the good work he does.

[asps91]

If you need the hangers shortened or extra ones added I may be able to help you. I'm no exhaust fabricator but I can weld ok

[GTR-N1]

^^^ Very kind indeed!!!

[GOD12A]

Heya CHERRING,

It's unusual for an Apexi item not to fit well.

Can I assume the front half of your exhaust is modified from OE?

If so, the flange on the back of the cat might not be sitting in the OE orientation causing the exhaust to twist slightly clockwise (looking from the rear > front) and sit lower than it should.

Extra hangers shouldn't be necessary and is likely not the cause of the problem.

If that is the issue, cutting/welding the cat flange in the right orientation is the better solution as it'll allow the Apexi exhaust to fit OE in the future.

If you need a hand, let me know, I'm near Penrith.

Mark

[GTR-N1]

And fatz says, "Mark's work is good!"

[cherring]

Heya CHERRING,

It's unusual for an Apexi item not to fit well.

Can I assume the front half of your exhaust is modified from OE?

If so, the flange on the back of the cat might not be sitting in the OE orientation causing the exhaust to twist slightly clockwise (looking from the rear > front) and sit lower than it should.

Extra hangers shouldn't be necessary and is likely not the cause of the problem.

If that is the issue, cutting/welding the cat flange in the right orientation is the better solution as it'll allow the Apexi exhaust to fit OE in the future.

If you need a hand, let me know, I'm near Penrith.

Mark

The Dump pipe in my car is the one that was there when I bought it, but it doesn't look stock, I don't think it's this one, but it's similar,

http://justjap.com/store/product.php?productid=17316&cat=276&page=1

In my completely untrained observation, it looks the cat back part will sit better if shortened (which I believe is Mark's suggestion?) and if the downpipe part of it was a tiny bit shorter the whole thing might sit a bit higher?

[GOD12A]

Hi CHERRING,

It's too hard to say without seeing the car.

A possibility, based on the pics provided, is the flange on the back of the cat isn't 'clocked' correctly (the studs aren't horizontal to the ground).

This will cause the tube between the front and rear muffler to rotate/sag lower than Apexi intended.

Whatever the reason, if you take it to a workshop, ask them to fix the ground clearance issue rather than telling them what to cut/weld, because if they do what you ask and it hasn't fixed the problem, it's still your problem!

Happy to help rectify the issue if you like.

Mark

[cherring]

Thanks for the advice everyone, some good ideas to go on.

Edited January 21, 2014 by cherring

[533 RYC]

^^^for me too! My 260RS Kakimoto cat back (bought from Fatz) hangs waaaayyyy too low & needs to be modified to suit my RS4S. At least it protects my Super Hicas actuator!!!

[cherring]

It turns out I had a lot of room in the bolt holes to the cat to bolt it up higher on the cat which gained me a lot of clearance and I only had to raise the coilovers about 8mm after that to get it over the 100mm.