Ferrari F430 OEM Muffler Support Bracket Upgrade

I can't add much to this conversation except to say that my OEM brackets were cracked and sheared. I replaced them with these Fabspeed brackets paying full MSRP. All good and no problems to date. I am good with the purchase. Not taking sides, just laying out my facts.

 

Stainless steel that flexes back and forth will crack and fail before mild steel does.

 

Richard,
We all understand you don't care for Fabspeed products. Move on from further comments, its trolling and not adding value to the conversation. Let it go, this is a warning.

 

Only if you exceed the fatigue limit of the material. AND if you look at the two designs, the OEM part concentrates the flex in a very small area so a lot more concentrated stress. The Fabspeed part spreads the flex over a larger distance so much less stress. The math to calculate fatigue limit for the two designs is beyond my skills (particularly without models) but I suspect that the Fabspeed part doesn't have the problem the OEM part does.

Come on guys, you are raising objections without applying any knowledge or logic. In this case the implied assumption is equal stress/flex and that isn't true based on the two designs. Even a rudimentary understanding of dynamics and force analysis will tell you that the two parts are very different. AND I just looked it up and stainless has a much higher fatigue limit than mild steel so your statement is just wrong even with the erroneous assumption.

 

I simply know from experience that continuous bending of stainless steel work hardens it. When it goes hard it loses it's flexibility and it fails. Seen it many times. That's my knowledge and logic from 35 years as a hands on engineer.

 

Try putting a piece of stainless steel in a vice and bending it back and forth over and over and see what happens.

 

Again, in your example the bend is sharp and you exceed the fatigue limit. In this bracket you are talking about 1/2” across 4” so 7 degrees; Not 90 degrees across 1/2 inch exceeding the elastic modulus. You need to check your engineering books and be able to support your claim if you are going to make them.


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How do you read my example of bending to be "sharp"? I know the expansion and contraction of the 430 exhaust is 1/2". I have measured it without any lower or upper brackets hindering the movement. The point is if you were to select a metal for it's flexibility, stainless steel would not be it. There are better alternatives, starting with basic mild steel which is what Ferrari chose. A good choice but an obviously flawed design. If you want stainless brackets, go for it. My preference is none at all.

 

So i WAS about to install these but after catching up on these here posts...im on the fence. How many of you removed completely wiyhout capristo mounts? I have the capristo system in place as my oems cracked. Since install of capristo system, i get an annoying vibration sound from 2900rpm to 3000rpm in every gear (well tough to hear in 1st tho). Im pretty sure the root cause is the capristo system and am willing to revert back to the oem setup err...except mine are toast! Hence these Fabspeed brackets might just come in handy. Trust me, ive read just about every thrread on the capristo mounts. Ive tightened and loosened bolts to various levels. Only 1 thing left to do. Go back!

 

The issue with the factory brackets has nothing to do with their ability to absorb vibrations

 

I think the advantage this bracket has over the stock bracket is that it is stamped out of one piece of material and it is not reinforced. My guess is that it does allow enough deflection to bend backwards and not break. Not sure if the heat from the exhaust systems helps the bend not break issue. The stock bracket has a couple of weak points "to thin to carry the load" so they added gusset plates that are creating the rigidity. The welds on these plates are where mine failed. The weld did not break, the steel failed where welded. I have one broken and one multiple hairline cracked stock bracket in my garage. Question to Fabspeed, do you know how many miles are on your longest lasting set of brackets?

 

^^ "to thin to carry the load" There is no load. Remove the brackets and the exhaust does not drop at all.

 

Exhaust system expansion and contraction is the load I was mentioning. I think this bracket is better than the factory bracket. Not disagreeing that the bracket is necessary or not. I have MK2 headers and Capristo brackets installed no issues in 18K miles. MK2s now at 24K.

 

The only reason everyone’s stock headers haven’t cracked is because the OEM brackets cracked, this, eliminating the stress. If the OEM brackets were quality from the beginning, the headers probably would have all cracked in the first 24 months. As it stands about 50% of them did anyways. Adding a much better bracket like f speed makes the problem of cracking headers worse, not better. Only options are to 1) replace headers with a material that cannot crack 2) Capristo 3) new exhaust system or 4 ) remove OEM brackets and leave it alone. I have no doubt fabspeed brackets are vastly superior. But they actually make the problem worse unless you also replace headers and/or change out exhaust system.

 

Wow way to necro a thread.

I have these brackets and other than some additional trimming to get them to perfectly clear the insides of my rear diffuser they don’t seem to cause any issues and do support the exhaust staying in place. I can visually and physically feel the difference in the exhaust vibration dampening when they are installed.

My 2009 according to service records was a habitual OEM bracket breaker until I installed the Fabspeed brackets.

To further prevent issues, I moved to challenge headers to remove the precats about 2000 miles ago and engine compartment cooled down a ton, I haven’t measured the exhaust expansion but I’m positive the precats contribute a lot to the thermal expansion. I even had bubbling paint on my engine panels at one point from the heat of the original MKII headers with precats.

Would I completely remove the brackets, I don’t think so. Would I move to Capristo, NO I don’t like the idea of the exhaust being tied to the chassis. This is a vibration prone flat plane crank engine and I’d rather had it tied to the engine directly by some sort of vibration absorber than the chassis. Capristo is making a fortune off their bracket, but if you really want to 100% get rid of the chance of a problem, you get the Capristo cat delete which has a flexible section. That will do the trick and even Ferrari put a flex section on the 458 cats, too bad there isn’t enough room in the 430 design to keep the cats and use a flex section.


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Yea just got a mint f430 with 3k miles so it’s top of mind. Good move on the challenge headers. That probably fixed the issue regardless of brackets with the reduction in heat. I think I’m going same route and just bracket less. It’s between that or Tubi

 

The inconel Tubi is artwork, if you don't want the stock look go with the Tubi. While I love the sound from the challenge headers, with the cost today for them, I'd spend just a little more and go with tubi.

 

Question for you on fabspeed exhaust tips. Love the look of yours and especially like getting that black waterfall away from the paint and onto the ground where it belongs. My concern is the set screw scoring/marring the factory exhaust tips and second concern is vibration. It seems only way the fabspeed tip will be tight is if it’s really screwed into the factory set up. Also I already have a loose exhaust tip I’m having to re weld and adding a third layer seems like it could cause more of this issue in the future. What are your thoughts?