My stupid exhaust question for the day

KevinB

Nissan 370Z Forum - KevinB's Album: Mods/Add-ons - Picture

The picture above shows the crossbrace that sits below the fueltank and below the mid portion of the exhaust. I wasn't paying attention when I was installing my F.I. TDX exhaust (love that thing) when I jacked the car up and placed the jack on this brace and bent it before realizing what I had done. It caused a horrible resonating noise I noticed as I was enjoying my new exhaust setup.

I removed this brace to bend it back and it is a rather flimsy piece. Is this needed? I am slowly removing unneeded weight as I am moving towards taking lessons and going to the track this spring.

This is the brace that Tony suggests you place a temporary shim on top of to support the x-pipe during the exhaust install.

As always thanks for answering my dumb questions!

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MattP725

Not positive but if it bends that easily it is probably not structurally important but what it might do is keep a broken exhaust or spun driveshaft from hitting the street and causing massive amounts of damage to the car from ricochet. This is just my assumption though.

370ZilverZ

If it was me, I would not romove this piece, especially if you plan on racing. Unless of course there is an aftermarket driveshaft safety loop. You might want to check with those that are more in the knowledge of mandatory vehicle safety equipment on the track. If you have a u-joint failure or driveshaft breaks, that piece may keep you from flipping your car. I prefer safety over a little weight loss.

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