Sorry for the size. I'm referring to the muffler, BTW.

 

Is your rubber hanger broken or something?

 

Maybe a hanger rusted through? Its one of the two i think

 

Have you checked the hangers? Or the welds of the rods on the mufler?

 

yeah, looks like your rubber hanger is broken.. or maybe the weld on the hanger is broken.. easy fix...

can i take a wild guess? are those tires proxes 4?

 

note to self: don't use exhaust as step ladder

 

Yes, they are Proxes4.

Thanks guys. It's probably one of the hangers. Are they just bolted on? I haven't inspected it yet. Easy fix, can I just buy a new hanger?

 

Well, the rear section hangs by the metal "arms" (or rods, as Tom put it) with rubber hangers on the ends, so it could be either. Since I can't think of any reason why the rubber would rip unless extraordinary force or wear has been applied, its likely that the weld on the metal arm broke, as already mentioned.

If its the rubber hanger, you can just buy one from Autozone and replace it, but if its the welds, you'd have to get it re-welded.

 

dude u have over 1500 posts, and u didnt kook under the car at the hangers before going through the trouble of of taking a picture, uploading and posting this thread, i never flame anyone so im sorry its just strange. like everyone said its the arm or the rubber hanger. good luck.

 

Actually I have been under there recently except my concern at the time was the exhaust proper. My muffler broke at the flange so I had it taken off and mig welded back on. I didn't notice anything different when I remounted it only that it hung a little lower on the driver side. Also, I initially took the picture as a joke but now I wanted to get it taken care of and it really wasn't a big deal taking and uploading pics. Also, post count and join date has nothing to do with Maxima/automotive knowledge as mine is quite limited and I'm willing to advertise it.

 

Thanks, hopefully it's the former.

 

This is the one that appears to be broken. It's definitely hanging too low.



Passenger side by comparison.



Will a new rubber hanger fix this?

Again, sorry for the size. I've resized these in photobucket but for some reason they aren't coming out resized when linked.

 

Try a hose clamp around the left rubber hanger and tighten it up real good. That ought to make the hanger smaller and pull the left side up.

 

I'll try that, thanks. Getting a new hanger won't fix it alone?

 

Or heavy duty zip ties will work also.

 

A new rubber hanger may work, but it will still stretch a bit. I'm wondering if the metal arm is a bit bent also. You mentioned you had some work done on the muffler. Maybe it got bent while they were doing that?

 

I did get work done but I remember it hanging like this, maybe not so bad, prior the job. The welded arm is hard as hell, I doubt that is bent. I'll try the hose clamp or zip tie.

 

Like they said, just run to autozone and pick up 2 new hangers. That's what I did. They fit well too.

 

zip tie it. mine is off barely as well so i bet the salt up north has to help it break down.

the autozone ones, what should i ask for? (assume the employee knows nothing beyond their computer inventory)

 

Maybe a hanger rusted through?

 

Awh you poor little guy.

Now remove your sig immediately!

 

No doubt, what an annoyance. Three posts and spamming, gee.

When you had the flange welded back on, it had to be EXACTLY in the right (don’t really know how to say it really) rotation. When I took mine off in the same situation you had, I noticed it would be easy to weld the flange "half cocked" (rotated more counter clockwise or more clockwise and the flange bolt would not mate up 100%) and would cause twisting of the piping. I honestly think that’s why the shop sleeved it more than anything else.

Those rubber hanger are pretty tough, I just cant see it going bad that fast...but it IS a Nissan. If you want to experiment, I would be more than willing to loan you mine (test cant take more than 10 minute to remove mine and install on yours). But I would bet a beer that the flange was welded just a touch off center and it’s causing the twist in the muffler.

A quick test might be to get under there and see how much the pipe moves when you hand push the muffler into the proper position. If you get a lot of resistance, Id say flange. Otherwise you might be able to determine that rubber hanger has more slack.

 

When they welded the flange back on they marked with marking pen to assure it would be matched up and welded properly. It is actually on correctly, it is the hanger that appears to be loose.

I tested that it wasn't the weld by getting under it and pushing with my right hand on the muffler proper and then used my left hand to squeeze the rubber hanger so it was more horizontal (the one closest to the driver side, immitating a zip tie). There was plenty of play in both and the temporary result was it hanging flush with the bumper (or as flush as it should be). It may be due to a slight misweld like you mentioned but either way it's fixable.

I'm going to go to autozone and see if I can get the same hanger has we have, then I will replace mine. If that doesn't do it, I'll zip tie it.

 

Further thoughts:

If the red circled areas are sound (I.E. dont wiggle at all, and they dont look any different than mine) then you dont have a bad weld. I dont really suspect you do.

 

LOL...you posted after I refreshed to make sure I was not "quoting the obvious".

Let me know how it goes!

 

Haha, sorry about that. Thanks, yeah I think it should be pretty simple to fix.

 

Just bring one of your hangers in and match it up. That's what I did.

 

I got one. The holes are going to be tighter than popping a cherry so it's going to be a b!tch to get them on. I'm going to wait for the warm weather.