Exhaust tips lower after accident repair

[LBN9]

Hi guys,

I apologize if I’ll be too OCD, but here’s my dilemma.
I was in a car accident mid February. 3car accident - was a special mess in every way - the middle driver who got hit and also hit me only had an expired ID card from ‘14; the one who hit him was driving a rental Uber car, and was taking his passenger to the airport who begged me to not call the cops because he’ll give a statement to the insurance... blah, blah. Nope! That didn’t happen. Of course I felt bad/was gullible and trusted them, and dealt with w/insurances, adjusters, etc, ever since.
Two weeks ago I was finally able to take it to a reputable shop. When I picked it up this past Friday, the first thing I saw when I went with one of the managers around the back of the car, was that the exhaust tips were lower than before. The guy said that they’re snug. It was literally closing time for them, so I reluctantly left. When I got home, however, I measured the distance from the most superior part of the tips straight up to the lowest point of the concave space for the tips. The passenger side distance is now 1.5”, and the driver side (where most of the damage occurred) is 2”.

I know that our rear exhaust muffler is connected to both tips, so it’s difficult to make both tips be at the same exact level. And the muffler and tips appear to be quite in place - I have to push quite a bit upwards on them, to make them barely move ~.5”.
I think I’m attentive, so I really believe the tips were not this low before the accident. But is it just me? Am I supposed to just let this go because my FX45 is from 2003?
[background: I babied it since I had it in ‘09, when it had 10k miles. It currently has only 90k miles. I changed the oil&filter every 2-2.5k, synthetic Mobil1 EP, always regular maintenance, etc. But I do drive it - I’ve not destroyed the tranny, but I also definitely don’t drive like a stereotypical grandma.]
Or should I go back to the shop and see if they’ll send my FX to whichever exhaust/muffler shop they sublet (straight pipe before the rear muffler has been replaced)? Maybe see if they’ll change the exhaust hangers?
Does anyone recommend anythimg else?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Larry

 

[Ozzie]

Hey Larry, when I bought my 08 FX35 with stock exhaust I noticed one tip hung lower than the other, checked out all other first gens after that and guess what? every single one I've seen since then have the same issue, I'm guessing yours had it too, you just didn't notice till checking out the repairs.
I just couldn't stand the look of it, so before I got round to a custom SS exhaust I had the tips replaced. what bugged me were a) hanging crooked b)hanging too low. c)round tips under oval cutouts. d) tips not extruding past the bumper e) tips not curving equal to the bumper shape. When I just had the tips exchanged the mechanic just made incision's in the pipe behind the tips so he could bend the pipes to make them more flush and the clearance of both tips identical, then he just welded it back together. Took about 20mins total, I know most people prefer rounded tips, but to me these tips fit the bumper shape and cutouts like a glove. When I had the custom exhaust installed they just used the tips I had previously bought.

 

[la_fx35]

Have you get under the muffler area and look if the rubber hanger on each side is hooked onto the hanger?

 

[LBN9]

Hey Larry, when I bought my 08 FX35 with stock exhaust I noticed one tip hung lower than the other, checked out all other first gens after that and guess what? every single one I've seen since then have the same issue, I'm guessing yours had it too, you just didn't notice till checking out the repairs.
I just couldn't stand the look of it, so before I got round to a custom SS exhaust I had the tips replaced. what bugged me were a) hanging crooked b)hanging too low. c)round tips under oval cutouts. d) tips not extruding past the bumper e) tips not curving equal to the bumper shape. When I just had the tips exchanged the mechanic just made incision's in the pipe behind the tips so he could bend the pipes to make them more flush and the clearance of both tips identical, then he just welded it back together. Took about 20mins total, I know most people prefer rounded tips, but to me these tips fit the bumper shape and cutouts like a glove. When I had the custom exhaust installed they just used the tips I had previously bought.

Hi Ozzie,
Thank you so much for all this information, and your attached photo.
Your FX’s extension tips look awesome! What is the brand and dimensions of the tips you have on?
I’m also uploading a photo of how currently my FX’s tips look.
Thanks again!

 

[LBN9]

Have you get under the muffler area and look if the rubber hanger on each side is hooked onto the hanger?

Thanks, Yes, I did. They’re on.

 

[la_fx35]

Wow, that's very low. What kind of work was done due to the accident? Were the rubber hangers new?

 

[LBN9]

Wow, that's very low. What kind of work was done due to the accident? Were the rubber hangers new?

Replaced bumper cover, protector, reinforcement and energy absorber.
Then there’s a Sublet for $200 for “Exhaust Repair”. When I looked underneath, there appears the straight pipe just before the rear muffler was replaced.
I don’t know, really doubt any of the hangers were replaced. So this is why I asked maybe I should see if the shop should replace them. What do you think?

 

[Ozzie]

Like Andy said, Wow.... that's way too low! and indeed the left side hangs lower than the right. Just by looking at it I would the say the rubbers are seriously stretched or too long, or the hangers have been bent? hard to tell without looking underneath, but it can't really be anything else.
My tips are 120mm X 85mm, no brand, just universal SS tips, custom exhaust shops usually have a large range of tips you can choose from. You could also buy any tips you want online and have them swapped out by a mechanic.
Keep us up to date!

 

[onthemove]

Go get a couple stainless steel hose clamps. Put a jack under the muffler and lift it until the tips are at the desired height. Use the hose clamps by attaching each of the 2 tip's pipes to their respective exhaust hangers. Now you can adjust the tips height and do so individually as well.

 

[LBN9]

Thank you all for all the info and solutions!
I went this afternoon to the muffler shop the body shop sent my FX (the body shop said they had to repair the pipe before the rear muffler because they couldnt order/find the part right now - due to the virus). I actually knew the muffler guy. He did the exhaust system on my rusty but trusty Caddy. He’s reallly good and he said he can just reweld the tips to the higher/appropriate position. I’m not going to deal with any insurance company anymore, so I’ll just pay him $30-$50. But now I’ll also discuss the clamps’ solution - I think that’s a great idea as well.
The rubber hangers are in the right position, however, when the body shop replaced the cover, protector, etc, maybe the hanger’s brackets were messed with(-?).
Either way, I’ll post pics of the outcome.
Thanks everyone again!

 

[LBN9]

Hi everyone,
I said was going to give updates, but unfortunately other things/life came up.
I finally had time to take the FX last week to the muffler shop. The guy welded a new pipe prior to the muffler. It looks a little better now, but I still think not the way it should be (yes, the driver’s is still slightly lower). He told me that’s all he can do. He also said the first time the body shop brought the FX without its bumper, so he did the best he could without it.
So I’ll either live with it, go back to custom weld new tips, and/or replace the rubber hangers (even though they seem fine, and the brackets are in their proper place).