What's stopping my tailpipes from sitting flush?
 

This may have been discussed B4 and I apologize in advance if so.

What's that bar "thingymejigg" under the vehicle that's stopping my exhaust pipes from sitting flush up against my rear bumper?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...wee_edited.jpg

I've got like a 3-4" clearence between the tip of my exhaust and the bottom of the bumper because it hits those rails.

Is that something to do with the 4WD system or what?

Anyone else have this problem that they've been able to work around or should I just let it fly?

I think its part of the hitch?

do you really want them flush up against your bumper? won't that rattle / rub?

How about a better picture? The shadow in your picture makes it very hard to see what you're talking about under the bumper.

also, I think F150Duke ran into the same problems with his 05 truck.

btw, I've got mine bent 45° towards the corners, and there's about an inch and a half gap between them and the bumper

That is a frame dampner that is present on all 05+ F150s. It's not there on 04s. It's to help cutt down on vibrations. It's debated about whether or not it actually does anything. However, I wouldn't tamper with it for 1 big reason. You mess with it and then get the vibe and Ford sees it's been tampered with or removed, they have a way to deny warranty claims for the vibe.

I don't think it looks bad. Take a look at my gallery.

If you get it too close to the bumper it could discolor the paint/chrome and cause problems with heat on the bumper.

Duke

Yeah, I think that's what it is after having a good look under the truck just now.

Where is your gallery?

Thanks for the replies.

I should have clarified that when I said "flush" I obviously didn't mean sitting on the bumper. I meant maybe an inch or so away. This is how my 2000 Larait Scab was and it looked a lot better and I never had problems of the heat discoloring the bumper or the sort.

I'll take better pics. We just got major clouds come over with storms forcast and the truck's too big to fit in the garage.

I wouldn't have them flush against it, I've seen trucks where the paint was burnt from the heat of the pipes. Looks pretty good how it is now.

Yeah I wished it was a lot closer, but I've gotten used to it. And honestly nobody has really said anything about it. Just great compliments.

Here is a link to my gallery:
https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=5746

Duke