Thread: DKF hangers
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      09-24-2012, 04:31 PM   #8
Jumbosock
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Drives: 2007 M coupe
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: San Diego

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So I decided to install my Arqray exhaust this weekend using the DKF hangers.

The DKF hangers definitely help in alignment. I would say they help more so in the side to side positioning. I think they help out in the up and down also, but more in the sense that they don't work against you like the OEM hanger can. The up and down alignment is primarily accomplished with the bolt connections on the X-pipe and the DKF hanger simply allows the alignment to happen more easily and doesn't try to push the tips down the way the OEM hangers might. So I guess in my opinion the DKF hangers "support" the tip's up and down alignment versus being the source of up/down alignment... if that makes sense.

For install I found it easier to mount both hangers to the muffler prior to muffler install (there is an OEM hanger and the DKF hanger per muffler). I installed the DKF hanger onto the muffler in the upper most position, meaning to try and make the tips be as high as possible. I found this upper most setting to be ideal and helps work against gravity. Then I raised the muffler onto the car. I hand tightened the DKF hanger onto the car just to keep it in place while I hand tightened the other connections. There is still an OEM hanger that remains on the muffler. This OEM hanger was the first thing that I did tighten down to spec since it's not adjustable. I will say that on my Arqray there was some adjustability at this OEM hanger and I did adjust it at the highest position on the Arqray side of things. On the OEM muffler there is no adjustability for this OEM hanger.

The next thing I did was use a jack to set the tips to my preference. I found it best to set them about 1/8th of an inch higher than I actually wanted to allow for "droopage" once the jack was removed.

After setting the height with the jack, I tightened the two X-bolts. These bolts should be tightened together because they constantly try to change the position of the tips. I went back and forth to tighten them together. Tightening the upper bolt makes the tips want to go up and the bottom bolt makes the tips want to go down... so you just tighten them together. Towards the end I did tighten the upper one a bit more to make sure the tips wouldn't droop. These bolts shouldn't be too tight. There is a donut gasket in there and you don't want to completely crush it. So be careful with that.

At this point I removed the jack and checked the height of the tips. I tried to set the side to side setting perfectly but they did move a little with the tightening of the X-pipe bolts. This is where the DKF hangers are great. I had only hand tightened the DKF hangers onto the car. I slightly loosened the hand tightened nuts so I could easily move the tips side to side. I made sure they were perfect and then tightened the two nuts so the DKF hanger was tight against the car. Be careful here because you don't want to over-torque these nuts. I used some lock thread here because I really didn't want to over-tighten these nuts yet I also didn't want them to back out from not being too tight. If you over-tighten them you can increase vibration into the trunk.

One more note. The DKF hangers do nothing for making the tips stick out more (or in more). This setting is simply not possible. The tips stick out almost an inch more once the exhaust is hot so that isn't a constant setting anyway.

Overall my experience was great. I was able to achieve perfect tip alignment easily. I give the DKF hangers an A and a must if you're changing up your exhaust!

Last edited by Jumbosock; 09-24-2012 at 04:52 PM..
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