JBrady

Hameed, I understand your concern.

I am encouraged by the use of a heavier gauge of pipe being used in the problem area. That should fix cracking at this location.

JBrady

Slow, what do you recommend? They have so far handled all warranty issues admirably. The change to thicker gauge pipe at the effected joint makes sense to me. Coupled with the modified welding this would seem to be the ticket. What are you hoping for?

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

I am contemplating to run flex pipe after the cats.

I'll look into this when I have my x-pipe install / resonator removal done in a few weeks. They will be replacing the whole piping from cat to muffler, so this would be the right time to do it.

I have the original headers, so I don't have any reinforced welds at this point, so this would be a true test to see if I get any cracking down the road.

Hameed

Glen, are you referring to this section (see piping on the left hand side - the Y-section.



You are getting braver and braver . I remember when you talked about this last year you were not planning to remove the resonators so that you could maintain some "stealth" to your ride.

trbopooh

i recently did the x pipe w/ 2in. piping without resonators running to the blitz nur spec exhausts. HOLY $H1T!!! it was freaking loud and raspy. my sis said my car sounded like a rocket. i immediately went back and added two resonators.

trbopooh

that's a good idea. with the headers it's hard to tell if you have a crack in them unless the crack gets real bad or you do a visual inspection with a mirror. i will say that loren is a consummate professional.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Yup that's a good shot, but now that I see the brace on the tranny, I'm not sure if it makes sense or if there is enough room to add a flex pipe between the brace and the cat. I'm just thinking out loud here. I could move the brace point a few inches towards the rear to make more room for the flex pipe. Until I spend some time under the car, I won't know what's feasible.



Well I have been going back and forth on the resonator part, but with the RMM mufflers being very conservative I am hoping it will stay mellow and only open up at WOT, which would be acceptable to me. Then there's always the option to install hi performance resonators, if there is such a thing.

kevbleek

Sup fellas. Just browsing through the posts and saw this. I got my headers a while ago from s&s, just waiting on a break from work to throw them in. I know that s&s has had this on going problem with the cracked headers. i got mine about 2 months ago so, im not sure if i even got the thicker gauge piping. Either way i think im going to go ahead and weld them to reinforce them. My question is, what type of "beading", if thats what its even called. The wire you use to actually weld the "bead", does it have to be high temp or anything out of the ordinary or would i be able to use the same wire i used to solder wires? Thanx in advance and i defitnitely need to stop lurking and post up some pics of the recent work ive had done, thanx to all the knowledgable members of clublexus!

Hameed

I doubt very much you got the thicker gauge piping as that particular run is not even finished yet. It will be finished by next week.

BA_GS400

iTrader: (1)

Hey KevBleek, as I remember from my welder, he did have a choice of two different kinds of "rod".

When he realized it was a stainless steel header, I *think* he said he went ahead and used a stainless welding rod.


I was thinking about welding a short metal plate from one pipe to the other. (where the crack is at to an adjacent pipe)

JBrady

Just to clarify. These are mild steel with ceramic coating. They are not stainless. I am not a welding expert but know that you can use stainless rod on mild but I do not know the strength of the final weld when doing so.

KevBleek, you should contact S&S and asked what version you have and any welding recommendations. Also consider if you modify the headers before you run them you risk voiding your warranty.

BA, you have been VERY helpful on this issue and I suggest a call to Loren as he may just send you an updated passenger side.