Underside strenghtening bar???

[Paul86S2]

The front one is listed as " reinforcement For the tunnel " I cant find the rear one but I would imagine it will be the same.

It's far too heavy duty to be just as a support if the exhaust breaks, but that will be its secondary function.

The U shaped tunnel will need to be reinforced due to it being a weak spot in the floorpan design.

The bolts are welded on studs which will be why you cant find the head inside the car.

Get it replaced or wait for the chance of your car bending in the middle. At the least it will flex and could eventually cause stress fractures.

Paul

[Wayne]

The front one is listed as " reinforcement For the tunnel " I cant find the rear one but I would imagine it will be the same.

It's far too heavy duty to be just as a support if the exhaust breaks, but that will be its secondary function.

The U shaped tunnel will need to be reinforced due to it being a weak spot in the floorpan design.

The bolts are welded on studs which will be why you cant find the head inside the car.

Get it replaced or wait for the chance of your car bending in the middle. At the least it will flex and could eventually cause stress fractures.

Paul

My guess would be to help with a side impact.

[Mikester]

Best way to fix this?

Cut up the rear floor pan, fit a rear box and a fit a huge prop shaft down the middle.

Sycro ftw babyyyy

[local_boy]

Get it replaced or wait for the chance of your car bending in the middle. At the least it will flex and could eventually cause stress fractures.

Think thats a bit excessive, can't see it being substancial enough to cause that much of an issue, Especially as the boot floor & the rear subframe would be taking up a lot more of the torsional stresses.

[Paul86S2]

Get it replaced or wait for the chance of your car bending in the middle. At the least it will flex and could eventually cause stress fractures.

Think thats a bit excessive, can't see it being substancial enough to cause that much of an issue, Especially as the boot floor & the rear subframe would be taking up a lot more of the torsional stresses.

I did say chance.

Take a flat piece of metal add a u shape in the middle, a wheel at each corner, and weight in the middle and its going to flex in the middle. More so than a flat piece of metal.

The cross member is a weighty bit of metal with enough bends in it to make it very strong. Its got to be there for a good reason.

As I said the front one is called "reinforcement for tunnel" I'm sure VW wouldn't put it there if it didn't have a valid purpose. Its not there for performance or comfort so it must be for safety.

Paul

[VR6-Joe]

I thought they were there to catch on speedbumps and make everybody look?