Rubber exhaust hangers

Has anyone checked their exhaust hangers lately?
My wife’s '82 300D exhaust system fell in the drive way this weekend, over night. I guess that the best way for it to happen though! When I went to the local parts house, the parts guy told me that there has been a run on these lately, since the temps had been in the 100's. Then today, I found another broken one in the parking lot of a Home Depot from someone else car, I thought "what a coincidence!" Anyway, I have now check all of mine, as well as the flex disk, as I have been through that mess before, and don’t want to have that happen again.

[MikeTangas]

I always keep checking them and usually replace them at the first signs of cracking. Seems the 4.5 eats the two rearmost hangers on a regular basis - like twice a year. The hangers for the 126 have been beefed up somewhat over the simple rubber band hangers of old. Almost 20K miles on the current set on the 560.

It is much easier to replace the hangers while the system is still suspended. Those pipes and mufflers get heavy and are a be itch to hold up while trying to stretch the rubber (think floor jack here).

[The Warden]

Is the rubber specific to the vehicle, or is there a generic one-size-fits-all rubber band that can go in?

I've never even given a thought to replacing the rubber exhaust hangers, but I'm sure I need to, on both vehicles...

[tjohn]

No one thinks about it until hearing the anguished shriek of metal on pavement coming from beneath them. My 450SL used the rubber donuts, it ate them every 60 days or so (but the PO had modified the exhaust from stock). I just gave up and bought metal hangers. Never had another problem.

The 126, as Mike says, has greatly improved rubber hangers.

[bodyart27]

I replaced them on my 126 as they were well stretched and during cornering you could hear the exhaust swing and make contact (thump!).

On the 126 there are two types - one set that is closer to the muffler and one set that is near the center of the car (pre-muffler or cats?).

[leathermang]

"fell in the drive way this weekend, over night"---rob

That is the funniest thing I have ever seen posted on the web...and luckiest... all those bumps and stuff when she was out driving it... .and it had the grace to wait until sitting in the driveway to let go ? Amazing !

Out here in the country... I would have sworn that varmints ate them off... squirrels like rubber insulation on wires... mice will chew on anything which they think will cause you pain....

You are living a charmed life. And I am going out to inspect my rubbers right now.

Charrmed Life, Ha!
Do you not remember the flex disk fiasco last summer.
That was a real bummer, and I feel that if I had been driving I would have noticed something before it went.
I would like to think of it as good kharma. And then some,
occasionally the gods do smile down on me though.
I just wanted to share it with you guys.

Robert

[Thomaspin]

I used to use the big O ring style hangers on the 1983 300SD until I discovered that MB makes a different style with a squarer cross section, an overall rectangular shape with a rubber bracing piece across the middle, the latter fitting between the exhaust and the hanger hook.

These are generally listed as being for the center hanger, rather than for the rear, but I use them all around with much increased life expectancy. Picture below.

FWIW I use a neat Stahlwille hook tool to pull the old one off (of course, I can no longer find it on their poorly engineered web site) but, like Mike, I find that a floor jack (with a wooden pad) makes replacement easier.

On a vaguely related sidenote, Neuspeed is about to release a titainium exhaust system for newer Golfs and Jettas, weighing in at only nine pounds. Pretty impressive, eh?

And its only a mere $1200 if you pre-order...

http://www.neuspeed.com/products/product_details.asp?app=30|G4&type=5&ltype=ns_euro&p_id=1726

[Mordecai]

I notice the parts sites show two different hangers, a soft compound and a hard compound hanger. Anyone with experience with these and knows what the difference is?

M.

[Wasuchi]

Hey, those square ones look the same as the ones on my brother's Subaru WRX, he replaced them when he put a 4 inch dp on so it looks like I have some "new" spare parts.

[lrg]

The life of the hangers definitely must be temperature related. I put over 100,000 miles on my 123 wagon before I replaced mine and even then they were only slightly cracked. The "new" ones have been on for almost 2 years and still look new.

[erubin]

I've used aftermarket and MB rubber hangers over the years on my 450SL. The aftermarket ones are inferior from my experience and would fail in a matter of months. I finally bellied up for MB originals and they've been fine for years. I often go aftermarket but not for these anymore. Beware, buying from a MB dealer does not guarantee you will get the one with a star on it. dealerships are not required (except for warranty parts i believe) to use parts exclusively from MB (w/ star). Dealers (most?) are not owned by MB North America. If you get work done at a dealership, especially rubber parts like motor mounts, subframe bushings, transmission pan gasket...make sure they don't use aftermarket on you else you do/can get inferior parts and pay normal list. The only winner is the parts dept that shows better profits for his boss. The only way to be certain that you are getting the right thing is by picking the part up yourself at the counter and giving it to the tech. Now try to do that diplomatically:-) I never get any work done in a shop (dealer or independant) but don't ask me how i know.

Also you can get rubber hangers that have a chain imbedded in them from MB. Use one on the last (downstream) muffler mount, its sister mount should be the solid rubber ones w/out the chain. The chain imbedded ones are a cheap insurance policy when the rubber gives out. When this happens you need to change it out soon else the chain starts digging into the muffler mounting ear or car body mounting ears.