thanks again everyone for all of your advice. i just got done re-aligning my rear axle via the phb and re-aligning my muffler tips. fortunately for me, i didn't have to eat my words - the muffler fix was easy as pie. i definitely got lucky - all i had to do was remove the passenger side, axle bracket, bend the hanger a bit, and voila! lined up perfectly! to say that i feel relieved is an understatement. that damn thing bugged me every time i saw it. and at red lights i always used to imagine people behind me saying to themselves, "hot car, but see how off that muffler is? looks like sh*t!" haha, no more!

here's the BEFORE pic:


and AFTER:



MUCH better! thanks again, guys, for your help and advice!

 

Sure you can. If you are carefull, you can use a torch but know the fuel tank is right there. Try loosening the clamps and adjust it that way first.

 

I had to re-align my tips so many times. Did you try loosening the midpipe clamps and adjusting a little first? It's a lot easier if you can have another set of hands to hold in place and try to tighten.

 

Another thing that helped me was to loosen the clamps in the middle of the car, the ones that clamp the mid-pipe to the long pipes that go over the axle. I also did a small amount of bending of the axle-back hanger on one side by removing the muffler and then putting a big pipe over the hanger. It would probably be better to heat it a little bit but I don't have a propane torch.

 

thanks for the responses guys! i don't know if i'm down with using a torch, but i'll give the loosening of the mid- and axle- clamps a shot.

 

What kind of mis-alignment issue is it? Too much to one side? Too high or low on either side? Does one pipe stick out more than the other?

When I had my stock mufflers on, I noticed that the left muffler tip stuck out a tiny bit more than the right, and even now with my Borla catback system, it still does. I assume there's some warp in my rear bumper to cause it to appear this way.

 

heh, i didn't even think about specifying - the pass. side is lower than the driver side. they both stick out the same distance, so it's just a height issue. now that i know i can mess with the clamps and the hangers no problem, i don't think it'll be too hard to fix...

 

I would bring it to a reputable muffler shop, they're experienced with all these issues and it's much easier to heat-up hangers while the car is raised up high on a lift.
Shouldn't cost that much to do, probably less than an hours worth of labor, more like a half an hour or less.

 

i guess if i'm completely unsuccessful i will, but i think i'll try this myself first without the torch. if my attempts totally fail, i'll hit up a local shop [8D]

 

First, unclamp your midpipe on the side you think is mis-aligned and swivel it from side to side to see if comes to rest in the right place. You may want to do this on both sides. It should be a fairly easy fix.