AAR T/A Exhaust Hanger

Heres a long shot . . .

Has anyone found fiber reinforced rubber that is close to the original material used on the AAR-T/A Exhaust Hangers?

I'm looking to replace mine and would really like to keep the material as close to original as possible, note the ribbed pattern on one surface, similar to the inside of a tire, and the smooth opposite surface.

Scoured the internet but not wild about ordering large quantities from India or China, thought maybe an old corded tire (no steel belts)?

The rubber measures .307'ish thick.

Really hoping to pull a rabbit from a hat on this one, any help is appreciated.

I have a brand new set unopened still in plastic I bought from Year One Part Number E68LHRH a few years back if that would help.

PM me for details
Thanks!

I may be able to help.
These NOS B-body hangers have same width and thickness but I need to know length of the rubber on yours.
Some have the ribbed surface on one side but have two rivets on top and one on bottom.
I dont think A-body hanger rubber is long enough

.3 X 3” X 5”

Pattern looks a bit different but I’ve seen both, sort of like the rivet differences that exist.

How about finding an old bias ply trailer tire, cut the rubber piece you need and mount it to the hanger. That's what I'm doing with and original hanger. It will also show the threads like the originals.

Bias ply sounds like a good idea.

Here's some pics of a NOS set for more examples

Bias ply tire has crossed my mind but I’m unsure if the thickness will be .30 after removing the tread.
Also not sure how to remove the tread and get the smooth finish the originals had.

maybe cut the sidewall out of a truck tire ? i don't know if a guy would have to use an over the road tire, or an "x?" ply LT tire. maybe even a trailer tire. no tread removal would be necessary if the sidewall was [close to] the correct thickness.

Looks like a salvage yard run with a box cutter or jab saw.

you guys need to think outside the box, a little. the material you are looking for is conveyer belting as used in grain and coal conveyer belts. its an industrial product still in common use, the "ribbing" on the back side is for grip or traction to keep the from slipping during inclement weather. whether you living farming or coal territory you should be able to find used belting either from implement sale or grain and coal processors. or you could buy new from either Goodyear or firestone.

well, there ya go ! maybe someone can post a pic or two to compare against ?

If all else fails, I have access to hundreds of different NOS hangers with that type of rubber, some with the round opening.
It is a bit of a drive for me but I go there occasionally and am sure I can get what you need pretty cheap, except the rivets would have to be removed since the metal ends are Ford and GM, some Mopar...no E body left.

I like the way you think, I searched all over for “fiber reinforced rubber”, so looking for elevator rubber will give me another avenue to check, though a quick search appears to have the same issue I ran into before, large quantity. Another quick observation is the back pattern may be difficult to near impossible to find. That all said I’ll spend time tonight looking.

I’m planning a salvage yard run this weekend and will hope to find something useful on that trip as the price will be greatly reduced

Terry, if any of that NOS is for 1970 A, B or C-body 4-door applications, I would love to know.

The search for conveyor belt material in the correct thickness and pattern is exhausting and near impossible, then theres the issue of buying in small quantity. While it or fiber reinforced rubber are certainly functional options, trying to get a legitimate match to original in a correct thickness and pattern is like finding a needle in a haystack.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the salvage yard run is prosporus

Thought I'd give an update on the junk yard run, basically struck out. While AZ is great for steel, its horrible for rubber. The search continues . . .

Older mud flaps is the ticket, did it in the mid 90-s on a set.

I might have pics and will look.

Agree a mud flap may be functional but I suspect it will not carry the look of an original piece of fiber reinforced rubber. Note the top photos where one surface is pretty smooth and the other is ribbed.

I do appreciate the ideas and will keep looking

If you have a farm store near you, like Orschelns, etc, you should find some flat belt material for hay bailers, PTO belts, etc. I live in a small farm town and our local hardware store carries it in bulk. Roll it out by the foot. Its worth a try, because its fairly reasonable.

If you cant find the pattern, make it.

A plainer blade isnt too costly. Chuck that blade in a mill and make any consistent pattern you like on it. Then go cut your one side that way.

Find the right material and make a bucketful.

I may be wrong but a planer blade would likely tear and chunk the rubber if it doesn't try tearing it from the bed.

So I went to the local rubber supply house and compared samples, nothing is a direct match. Closest material is available in the correct thickness but since I needed to machine the grooves I decided to purchase the next thickness up, unfortunately the guy cut my strip from the thinner material and I didn't realize until at home and ready to machine. That said I decided to test a few cuts and see if it would produce the desired look.

(Cut piece held behind original for comparison in each photo)

First pic is simply to see if I could cut the material and if it would be an acceptable look with shallow grooves.

Second pic is an attempt to cut TO the fiber (without cutting into the fiber and weakening, the material only has 2 plys of cloth, so not an exact material match)

A few pictures of one of the hangers I had kicking around from that warehouse with many others styles.
Rubber is only 3.5 inches long so wont help you.
Rivets same as used on many Mopar hangers, noteably regular E-bodies as seen in last picture....and NO,.. those aren't available.
If you give me some time till I get back there, I can get plenty of correct rubber size on big ol NOS truck hangers they have, that can be cut to size for your AAR hanger

The rubber on this NOS B-body hangers looks like a close match,... problem is it is only 2 inches wide, 10 inches long.

I have the angles and rivets covered (using the original "D" Tube rivets), the only thing missing is the rubber.

While the matting I've found doesn't have as many ply's of fabric, its new, pliable, fresh appearing, , , and certainly strong enough. I can make it appear very close to my original material, and I like that aspect. Seems "original" material can vary just looking at Floyd's example above Vs mine (AAR - T/A), and to a lesser degree mccanix. Not just the number of threaded ply's, but the back texture.

Floyd, do you know for sure yours are factory installed originals or parts counter hangers? With these hangers being AAR-T/A only, it would appear unlikely for such a short run of cars that our examples vary so much, carrying different rivet heads and the rubber has a texture on both the front and back.

I think I'll continue with the rubber I found and keep my eyes peeled for a closer replacement. Perhaps one day I'll run across an exact match and I could replace them once again. Until then, 99.9% (or greater) will never know the difference.

If anyone ever comes across a suitable match (or original piece in great shape), please PM me with details.

Material is very good, I think the 3" wide is the killer and during my salvage yard search I didn't run across any cars with a hanger that wide, though I will say there are no trucks in the yard I was at, so I don't know what they look like.

Thanks for all your help

pick up the yellow pages and contact building maint companies

Mine are NOS/over the counter parts

Thought I'd provide an update . . .
Its been weeks, I ran into a ton of issues trying to cut the material clean.
I tried several thicker materials in a attempt to cut to the fiber and maintain the original thickness. Each attempt was extremely time consuming and resulted in failure for various reasons. Almost defeated I decided to go back to my original material choice and only make low cuts to give the appearance of the raised pattern.
Below are the results (original on the LH side and replacement piece on the RH side.

1 more

Are those original brackets? Where did you find the rivets?

Bracket on the left is original, one on the right I fabricated based on original examples. I had a set of aftermarket brackets and while functional there was so little right about them I just couldn't use them.

I went to the salvage yard and found an exhaust hanger on a C-body with the "D" rivets as my original, and reused the fasteners with some fancy engineering.

Now that I have a process I'll replace the rubber on the LH bracket as well.

Check McMaster Carr, they may have something similar and you don't have to order by the Semi Load.