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Hey Matt,
The manifold is cast iron and the studs are Inconel. That is by far the strongest area of the exhaust system, and the least likely to have issues.
The test pipes are a large pipe that is plenty thick and have a large welded area that is also not likely to have issues, no matter how hard you hit them.
The downpipe is by far the weakest part of the system and the most likely to fail under a hard hit.
The down pipes are small at the turbo flange and this area also is subject to the most heat.
When you hit the test pipe hard, your putting insane pressure on the downpipe, due to leverage of the test pipe.
If you hit the back of the test pipe, you have a 5 foot long lever that is going to be pushing on the front of the downpipe. The turbo and manifold are thick and bolted solid. The down pipe has 2 small tubes that are welded to the thicker flange. This small area where the downpipe tubes connect to the flange are going to flex and break before anything else in the system.
My guess is the welds slightly cracked where the downpipes are welded to the turbo flange.
If you look at the tubes, you see black from the exhaust leaking.
The pipes are installed into the flange and welded on the inside, making them this way allows the pipe and flange to become one and will cause the pipe to not expand and contact at the weld as much as welding the outside. We tack weld the outside for added strength, but we do not weld all the way around because it causes the pipe to be thinnest at the edge of the weld and makes the pipe weaker where it gets the hottest and flexes the most.
Because we build them this way, if they do crack, they will be quieter when warm because the pipe is expanding in the flange and seals better when hot.
Because of the X pipes, the whole system moves together and both downpipes could be damaged.
We can repair them if you send them to us if they are cracked.
Hope that helps.
Greg
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"If everybody is thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking."
~~ George S. Patton |
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