DIY: Fix your sagging muffler for cheap!

[khaos]

So, if you're like me and are too poor to buy a $600-$1000 exhaust for your 15 year old car to save 20 pounds, you probably have a bloated, overweight stock muffler.

And, it probably eats exhaust hangars for breakfast. I put brand new hangers on a year ago while doing my clutch; a few weeks ago while doing rear suspension we discovered a midpipe hanger was broken, and both rear hangers were torn, such that the muffler was hanging by the steel outer part of the bracket. Needless to say, like an old man's nuts the exhaust hangs way too low, instead of in its cutout.

WELL I HAVE THE SOLUTION TO ALL YOUR PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!

jayjaya and I were examining the hangers and we were like, well, all the other rubber mounts are ****, and have been replaced with solid or poly, why not this one? Ummmm duh.... no one makes poly exhaust hangers, plus it would probably cost like, more than $5. Hmmmm. If only there was a way we could fill in those stupid holes! Anyway, five minutes of genius later we came up with the following:

Go out and buy a tube of silicone caulk. Acquire some duct tape and cardboard (you probably have this just laying around). Tape your new hangers to the card board. Squeeze in a layer of caulk about .25" thick.


Let that sit till it's somewhat solid. Then add another layer. And another. 'Til your caulk gun has filled all the holes with that goopy white stuff.



Put it somewhere warm and dry over night (near the fire, furnace I dunno) to try and let it cure. It won't, but it will form a solid surface. I figure the 50 bajillion degree exhaust will eventually cure it. It sure as hell burned a perfect circle into my leg once. Holy moly that **** is hot. But I digress.

The next morning, test fitting:


Up in the car:



Fully installed:




Now it's only been a few weeks, but upon looking, it looked like it melted a bit before if fully cured but that stuff is now SOLID. I'll update this much later in time in order to see if it's still holding up.

[ThreeD]

[kornkid8600]

Let us know if a fire starts from there.

Tapatalk

[bennyfizzle]

Um. Or just buy new hangers from Napa. They're solid rubber. They will not fail, and if you're killing oe exhaust hangers as quickly as a set per year, you're doing it wrong.

[jayjaya29]

Protip: Don't eat the caulk, it looks tasty but it isn't.

[khaos]

Um. Or just buy new hangers from Napa. They're solid rubber. They will not fail, and if you're killing oe exhaust hangers as quickly as a set per year, you're doing it wrong.

I bought new hangers, and a year later they were toast. I don't know how one can possibly do it wrong- you bolt them on to the car, and bolt the exhaust to them. I have seen many many e36s with sagging exhausts. I figured why not just fill in the gaps which prevents excessive displacement.
Who ever was worried about the fire; silicone is more flame resistant than rubber.

[Jrrrrrrr]

If you have a heavier-than stock catback and don't want to spring money for new hangers every year (genuine BMW and aftermarket ones do fail that fast), or try the Napa hangers (heard good things, never tried), filling the hangers like this does work.

The only thing I would do differently is use high-temp RTV silicone. O'reilys and other auto-parts stores have high-temp RTV silicone, for about the same money as a comparable tube of adhesive caulk, whereas a hardware store probably won't.

[bennyfizzle]

http://www.amazon.com/Bosal-255-070-.../dp/B00180FTZM

done

[mgoods50]

Or you could really rig it and incorporate some sort of limiting strap.

Mechanics wire to limit travel?

[jdantuono]

http://www.amazon.com/Bosal-255-070-.../dp/B00180FTZM

done

this guy.

[CMG]

Those bosal hangers have no play so might make it harder to align

[jayjaya29]

The only thing I would do differently is use high-temp RTV silicone. O'reilys and other auto-parts stores have high-temp RTV silicone, for about the same money as a comparable tube of adhesive caulk, whereas a hardware store probably won't.

We used a full tube of the caulk for both the hangers, it cost like $4. The equivalent amount of high-temp RTV would be 4 times the cost, too rich for my blood.

[EE05063]

We used a full tube of the caulk for both the hangers, it cost like $4. The equivalent amount of high-temp RTV would be 4 times the cost, too rich for my blood.

drives 1997 M3, puts all kinds of time and effort into dropping exhaust, repairs hangars by filling them (okay I can appreciate a good DIY solution), but puts it all back together with $4 as opposed to $16 worth of materials?

i bet you pump regular gas and use dead dino oil too?

[Ex36]

That fix looks soooooo ghetto (doesn't black caulk cost the same?), but the write-up is genius. Maybe the fix is, too. A+.

[khaos]

drives 1997 M3, puts all kinds of time and effort into dropping exhaust, repairs hangars by filling them (okay I can appreciate a good DIY solution), but puts it all back together with $4 as opposed to $16 worth of materials?

i bet you pump regular gas and use dead dino oil too?

Yes, I could have paid $16. But why? No matter what the scale, why pay more than you have to simply because it is relatively cheap? And my time is free to me... especially when you consider that both the $4 and $16 option use the same amount of labor. And..... when you consider I was replacing shot hangers anyway, all labor costs were sunk costs to begin with.

That fix looks soooooo ghetto (doesn't black caulk cost the same?), but the write-up is genius. Maybe the fix is, too. A+.

They actually didn't have the silicon stuff in black. They only had the acrylic stuff in black. And thank you. Seems to be holding up well, we'll see how long it lasts.

- - - Updated - - -

Or you could really rig it and incorporate some sort of limiting strap.

Mechanics wire to limit travel?

Don't think this is quite the same. If you imagine it vibrating in some sinusoidal fashion, it would not go down but would go up. This method seeks to stiffen both directions by replacing air with an elastic substance creating a "soft" displacement based boundary condition.

[crqflier]

I'm not sure how OP can claim OE hangers last a year. Mine are 18 years old. And if the ones replaced last year were the first replacement, the originals lasted 15. You got some other issue if OE hangers are lasting a year. Creative DIY though. Just my $.02.

[JCLopes]

I was thinking of doing this the other day for my e46. My only concern was that it would fall apart, any update if the caulk stayed in?

[jayjaya29]

I'm not sure how OP can claim OE hangers last a year. Mine are 18 years old. And if the ones replaced last year were the first replacement, the originals lasted 15. You got some other issue if OE hangers are lasting a year. Creative DIY though. Just my $.02.

Rust kills.

Caulk is still intact, its been a month so far.

[EE05063]

Yes, I could have paid $16. But why? No matter what the scale, why pay more than you have to simply because it is relatively cheap? And my time is free to me... especially when you consider that both the $4 and $16 option use the same amount of labor. And..... when you consider I was replacing shot hangers anyway, all labor costs were sunk costs to begin with.

My time is worth a bunch. If I am going to take the time and cost to drop the exhaust, which means all new exhaust gaskets and copper nuts (that's $25 in parts from Pelican if nothing breaks) , and time on a lift, and good odds of breaking an exhaust manifold stud or two which end up being $20 each and a headache to remove........

I'm not going to put the least expensive parts in. But that's just me I guess. I want to be able to say I did the M3 proper. :o

[RatedM3]

My time is worth a bunch. If I am going to take the time and cost to drop the exhaust, which means all new exhaust gaskets and copper nuts (that's $25 in parts from Pelican if nothing breaks) , and time on a lift, and good odds of breaking an exhaust manifold stud or two which end up being $20 each and a headache to remove........

I'm not going to put the least expensive parts in. But that's just me I guess. I want to be able to say I did the M3 proper. :o

Some (actually a lot) things seem to fly over your head.

[EE05063]

Some (actually a lot) things seem to fly over your head.

You're gonna have to expand on that. I don't get why anything flew over my head. You have to drop the exhaust just to get to these to replace them.

[Itsablurr]

Some (actually a lot) things seem to fly over your head.

Come again? I've got to agree with james on this one... not going to ghetto-ize a car for the sake of a couple bucks. Do it right, do it once, don't have to revisit it again. Feelsgoodman

If the op is burning through exhaust isolation mounts annually, there is something he is missing or doing wrong. They are simply not a yearly wear item.

[RatedM3]

You're gonna have to expand on that. I don't get why anything flew over my head. You have to drop the exhaust just to get to these to replace them.

A lot your post... They're either, your misinterpreted responses or rambling off into other subjects. Just thought I would mention it here as its definitely not the first time I've seen it. The two fellas at hand are not noobs and have been here for a while yet all the latest-members are jumping down their throat.

The fix: ghetto? Yes. Functional? Apparently it's been holding up. Do I care? No, its not my car.

[StarvinMarvin]

I'm not sure how OP can claim OE hangers last a year. Mine are 18 years old. And if the ones replaced last year were the first replacement, the originals lasted 15. You got some other issue if OE hangers are lasting a year. Creative DIY though. Just my $.02.

You live in California. OP lives in Ithaca, NY. When was the last time your car saw salt on the road with any regularity? Yes, I admit a 1 year lifespan is awfully short even with the salt, sand and snow, but perhaps the last set were just defective.

[EE05063]

A lot your post... They're either, your misinterpreted responses or rambling off into other subjects. Just thought I would mention it here as its definitely not the first time I've seen it. The two fellas at hand are not noobs and have been here for a while yet all the latest-members are jumping down their throat.

The fix: ghetto? Yes. Functional? Apparently its hereby holding up. Do I care? No, its not my car.

Sorry. I fail to understand why join date at an Internet forum has to do with the fact that it costs more in time and money to get to these to do the mod, than the mod costs itself, even if it cost $16 as opposed to $4.

Guess it flew over my head then..... I'm okay with that. Besides, someone could have 10 years of experience and join tomorrow. So the whole join date thing is junk. Just the opinion of one who gets their head flown over regularly.