In a message dated 12/29/2002 12:05:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

> Bad news is it's a real tight fit under my body panels and upon starting 
> either the motor mounts(also only a year old) wobble and the muffler clanks 
> against the body.  Not sure the bolt hole spacing/brackets on the Stebro  
> were all that well thought out as their not nearly as stout as OEM.  

       I personally have installed many of these mufflers for clients at my 
shop here in Almonte and when they are installed properly they will not touch 
any of the bodywork.  There are extra large holes in the mounting brackets 
and a doughnut gasket & free floating flange fit to the CAT to allow for pro
per positioning of the muffler so that it will not touch anything.  The 
brackets were designed to act as suspension members for the muffler.  There 
has been some failure of the brackets but it has been attributed to abnormal 
vibration caused by poor engine tuning or loose/worn engine mounts.  In all 
these instances, even though we feel it is not the fault of the STEBRO/Van
agon muffler, we have sent out new brackets under our warranty policy.  The 
vast majority of these mufflers have had no problems.  We are currently 
redesigning the brackets so that they will not be welded to the muffler and 
therefore much easier to replace if they fail.

Happy Holidays��

Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm">BusFusion</A> a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 12 ~ 15, 2003
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains
Member: <A HREF="http://www.vanagon.com/">Vanagon List</A>, <A HREF="http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/">LiMBO</A>, <A HREF="http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/">IWCCC</A> & Capital City VW Club 
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm">STEBRO/Vanagon Stainless Steel Mufflers</A> �
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html">Frank Condelli & Associates</A> or http://frankcondelli.com