Issue with down pipe hitting the transmission crossmember?

**DeathBlow** · 09-30-2016 09:58 AM

I wanted to see if anyone else is having a issue with their down pipe hitting the transmission cross member? I have a JHM test pipe connected to the JHM down pipe that splits to a Y and then a stock s4 exhaust. For some reason the exhaust under first acceleration and then at different RPM's will touch the cross member and its driving me crazy. I also have 034 engine mounts which at first i thought were too tall and might be the cause but after buying some stock one to test with after putting them next to each other are 1/2 inch shorter. I ended up grinding the cross member to make room which helped but did not completely get rid of the issue. So I'm at the point where i think I'm going to take the cross member off and cut the front part where its touching and weld it back to make more room. Has anyone else have a similar issue?

**p0isin** · 09-30-2016 10:10 AM

There was another recent thread about this. Few people (myself included) had some fitment issues. I had to modify my test pipe to get everything to fit.

**DeathBlow** · 09-30-2016 10:37 AM

Yeah its a tight space for such a large pipe. Did you have to extend the test pipe a little to bring the front down? It looks like that's the only place its touching for me and its not always just at takeoff and at certain RPM's. I think it might just be easier to modify the cross member to give some more room. Actually the 034 engine mounts helped by being a little shorter than stock with the clearance.

**p0isin** · 09-30-2016 10:42 AM

Yeah, extended test pipe and angled it so that the downpipe would have clearance.

**deusilan** · 09-30-2016 01:07 PM

I had the same issue, same setup except the S4 exhaust is a Sebring Tuning exhaust. When I finished the installation, I found that the exhaust was hitting the left side of the cross-member.
This was happening because I tightened the center clamps before adjusting the position of the exhaust.
Once I loosened the clamps, I pulled the exhaust as much to the right as I could to prevent it hitting the cross-member.
It still looks a little crooked, but I'll fix it when I need to.
The equally as annoying issue is the exhaust hitting the reinforcement bar. I ultimately removed it and it's sitting in my trunk until I can figure out what I can put in between the exhaust and the re-bar to stop it from slapping every time I hit a bump.

**DeathBlow** · 09-30-2016 01:29 PM

Thanks for the input, I might try and adjust it some more.

**p0isin** · 09-30-2016 01:36 PM

Deusilan, I addressed the reinforcement bar issue by using thick washers in between the reinforcement bar and the car body. That spaced it enough to not rattle against the exhaust

**vce1232000** · 09-30-2016 01:57 PM

Here was Jake

on the situation

Originally Posted by Jake@JHM

When connecting the DP-Y to the TP try tightening the bottom bolt of the 3 hole flange first. That will help bring the natural angle of the system down.

However, a bad mount that would cause the engine to lean one way or the other can cause this type of issue.

**deusilan** · 09-30-2016 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by p0isin

Deusilan, I addressed the reinforcement bar issue by using thick washers in between the reinforcement bar and the car body. That spaced it enough to not rattle against the exhaust

I tried some washers, but it didn't work for me. How thick did you go to make sure there's no contact?