JR RX8

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, aftermarket replacements , all welcome. The Rear Center Bracket on my 2005 8 for the 4th time in 18 years once again needs to be replaced as it always seems to get bent and chewed up from daily driving. By design the bracket dips down a bit in front ( small lip ) which I believe causes it to catch on any road imperfections which in turn bends it back more and only gets worse as it continues to catch on more obstructions to the point it gets mangled and sometimes catches other important parts. ( this time a piece of my exhaust come loose because of it) . Bear in mind I DO drive in NYC , noted for its many pot holes and steel road repair plates, etc which provide plenty of opportunities for that small front lower lip to catch, bend, contort and twist etc.

I once saw what I thought was a beautiful flat machined, aftermarket bracket which replaces this one and adds more support as well.
The culprit part in question is F 151 56 H20B. OEM just calls it "CENTER BRACKET".

Should I just buy another 5 spare ones or does anyone know of a better after market replacement or solution? I'll take all comers.

Thanks
signed: "Bent Out Of Shape"

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Maybe post a picture so we can see what you are looking at 🙂

Loki

iTrader: (1)

I know the roads are bad, but if that bracket is regularly catching the ground, a lot of other more important stuff is at risk. Is the car lowered or something? Do you have particularly high speed bumps? I'm not sure an aftermarket piece will do any better in that scenario.

JR RX8

just in front of rear seat pans.

Closer shot.

My guess is that my building garage entrance is pretty steep, and it most likely catches there and once a slight bend is started it leaves it open to catch on all sorts of street obstructions. And yes we have speed bumps every 1/2 block along with the cameras here now due to our last outgoing mayor who decided the best way to make an easy money grab would be to slow the speed to 25, put in more bumps and ticket the crap out of us 24 hours a day for going over 25 MPH, every 2 to 4 blocks ........ but I digress.
Thanks

JR RX8

My guess is that my building garage entrance is pretty steep, and it most likely catches there and once a slight bend is started it leaves it open to catch on all sorts of street obstructions. And yes we have speed bumps every 1/2 block along with the cameras here now due to our last outgoing mayor who decided the best way to make an easy money grab would be to slow the speed to 25, put in more bumps and ticket the crap out of us 24 hours a day for going over 25 MPH, every 2 to 4 blocks ........ but I digress. This piece does have some kind of weird adjusting bolt on it ( why I don't know) which we usually take off. If memory serves me correctly it also does dip down slightly in the front making prone to catch on things. I'm thinking a flatter piece, closer to the underside in general would be an improvement. I literally creep into the garage, over speed bumps, or anything else I can spot ahead of that would cause this knowing it's an issue. Thanks for the response

JR RX8

I recently had the car restored to original ride height with OEM shocks and struts so no, not lowered. Even went to OEM size rubber. and yeh there are tons of speed bumps, but I creep over them. It's just that the streets here are probably some of the worst in the country. And I'm not just talking local roads, but expressways and highways in and around the city too!