Question about Sprinter Van Exhaust Hanger

[bigfatguy1]

we whacked an unusually deep pothole this weekend. Tires and wheels got through OK, but the tip of the exhaust pipe now sits about 2" higher than it used to. It actually cracked the end of our running boards!

Looking at it, the last hanger, closest to the pipe tip, got hit hard enough that it moved slightly. I can fix it with a wrench, but I do have a question, if anyone wouldn't mind taking a quick peek under their own Sprinter.

The exhaust hanger clamps onto the pipe with a piece that looks like a circular clamp with two bolts sticking out of it.

On a Sprinter that didn't get whacked, do those two bolts point DOWN or REARWARD?

I'm pretty sure it's downward, but I'd like to confirm my intuition before I start wrenching.

For reference, I've included a photo of the post-whacking exhaust hanger. NOTE: That's not rust, it's red Arizona dust.

 

[darsben]

What is between the tires in the picture?

 

[bigfatguy1]

That's the outer wheel.

 

[Geraldsh]

If the hanger bolts had changed position you would see scratch marks in the Arizona dust. In any case you can adjust the hanger to what ever position pleases your eye without affecting its performance 

 

[bigfatguy1]

That's what scares me... I DO see less dust to the left of the hanger... as if it moved almost an inch!

That pothole really didn't look that deep, and we were going VERY slowly over it... quite a surprise.

 

[bigfatguy1]

The more I look at this photo, the more interesting things I find.

The passenger side running board has always felt very "soft" on this rig... and it' creaks ominously when I step on it.

Looking at installation videos for 3rd-party running boards, they have these giant metal mounting brackets that bolt up into the undercarriage, AND they bolt to the welded seam at the very bottom of the chassis.

The Winniebago step looks like it's only mounted to the seam... meaning it lacks a great deal of support.

I'll have to crawl under there again and see if that's correct.

 

[captsteve1]

Some of the factory running boards tend to be more of an appearance package item than an actual functional running board setup.  This isn't just on RVs either.
Ford F-150 lightning as an example had a factory body kit on it which included something that looked like running boards (there was a step moulded in.) however if you stepped on it and it cracked, The dealer would inform you that it was in fact not a running board but just body side moulding and not to be stepped on.