Rob wrote:
> 
> >Is that where the skid rail can contact the exhaust if it's bent up?
> >I bent my skid frame again on a bad road and I think that the low
> >rumble that I hear now isn't a cracked exhaust, but the skid rail
> >contacting either the engine frame or an exhaust pipe; this has
> >happened before, has it happened to anyone else?  Except for the
> >muffler, I haven't had to replace any exhaust parts yet.
> >--
> >Brian Kraft <bhkraft@gj.net>
> 
> My skid frame hasn't bent enough to touch anything. I have had to replace
> all the exhaust except the cat over the last 4 years. I bought the last
> piece (the back header) from Parts Place, all the rest from the dealer. I
> changed the pieces as they went bad.
> With liquid wrench and some care the job wasn't too bad, the cost of the
> pipes on the other hand....
> 

Some years ago I discovered  Never Seez, a molybdenum disulfide paste,
which I used on the u-bolt clamping a muffler directly on the pipe
exiting the exhaust port of my Lawn and Garden Tractor engine.  After a
prolonged period installed I found I could still loosen the nuts on the
u-bolt with NO trouble--rust was just not an issue.  After several 
subsequent dismantlings the u-bolt was nearly rusted away, but the 
threaded portions were intact and the threads still worked well.

I'm just mentioning this because given the cost of exhaust components,
if assembled with Never Seez, they can be easily dismantled so you can
replace components one by one.  Until I discovered this I just replaced
a whole exhaust system when one component failed.

Best wishes....
danz