My friend has a 97 Tahoe 4x4. For some reason the pass side ex. pipe keeps cracking. It's almost stock as far as the engine goes it's lifted ,body and susp. and has 4.56 gears front an back. Someone told him it might be the cats so he had them removed and it still keeps cracking right behind the ex. manifold any ideas why it has happened 3 times twice with cats and once without. Do you think headers would fix this problem. any suggestions for headers? thanks guys.

 

There is some stress on that pipe to cause it to crack, most likely the weight or swinging of the exhaust. If the crack has been re-welded it will crack again right on the edge of the new weld. It would be best to cut a piece of muffler tubing in half and weld that over the problem area. See if it is possible to add more hangers on the exhaust, I like to put a hanger on its side too to keep the side to side motion minimized.

 

He didn't get the crack welded he had the pipe replaced. 3 times but what you say makes sense thanks