General Maintenance & Repairs - Is this the tunnel brace & how important is it? My exhaust bangs on it at inclines.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e21/CJDZ24_Z28/EXHAUSTSUPPORT-1.jpg

Is the circled part above the tunnel brace? If not, then what is it and how important is it? I would like to take it off, because I think my exhaust is banging on it whenever I go up inclines. The vibration would come from beneath my car's transmission area. Thanks in advance for the info.

Dont really know how important it is but i havent had one on my car for a few years, due to the true duals

Yes, I've read that some people just completely remove them. I just PM'ed Umi Performance to see if their torque arm relocation kit could also substitute as a tunnel brace so it can have a dual purpose for me (besides also removing the torque arm stress on the transmission tailshaft).

Its not needed at all, I had mine off for 2 years before I got my new chassis mounted torque arm setup.

i had the same problem. i cant tell the difference with it off

It is called a "brace".

I may be wrong, but that is the only thing holding the cars mid-section together giving it extra strength. I would think over time its definitely damaging something, maybe not a whole lot, but there's stress somewhere without it. Ever see a windshield with a stress crack running across it, for no apparent reason. (body torque/twist)

Why not just do what I did, zip-tie a piece of heavy duty rubber where its banging. Problem solved.

I get this stuff, it comes in 1/4" and 1/2". Use a 1/4" piece, razor knife it to the size you need, and zip tie it to the brace. The heat from the exhaust pipe can;'t do anything to it. My original 4"x4" piece is still there, its been 7 years. This is the same rubber used on the floors in gyms, its amazingly tough.

I haven't had mine on there for a couple of years either. No noticeable problems at all.

I'm going to order a Spohn tunnel brace that's designed to clear longtube header systems. BMR has one too. It's only $80.