Last night I unfortunately ran over a large rock someone left in the street. Sounded like I ran over the biggest boulder in the world, but come to find out the thing was only about 5" tall. Anyway, it looks like it left some dents in the rear muffler housing and bent a few metal structures under the car. The one I am worried about is the big metal bracing piece that looks like two muscular arms towards the back of the car. The piece that has circular holes in it.. Does anyone know the function of this section..is it just for rigidity? If it is slightly bent in a spot will it affect the car? How about the muffler? Anyone run over something this size?

Thanks,
Dan

 

Picture would help. But if you punctured the muffler on the rock, you might wanna get it fixed just for the noise alone.