I Have a chance to pick up a used Y-pipe (not sure what make), but it does not have the flex sections like the Fujitsubo Y-Pipe.

Opinions???
Will this cause any problems by not having enough
flexabilty in the system?
Possible stress fractures on exhaust manifolds etc.

Any insite appreciated.

 

what do y ou mean by 'flex sections' maybe a pic would help w/ the mental pic im trying to develop???

 

is the y-pipe from a manufacturer called NFC? that's the only y-pipe i know of without flex sections besides another company who i forgot the name of but it looks like a "V" instead of a "Y". NFC does not exist anymore. different people have different beliefs about y-pipes without flex sections, however, i know of one or two people here on this board that have the NFC y-pipe and have not had any problems with it (i think their names are will_blueprint and dklau33).

however, pipes without flex sections may have more wear overtime (via fractures etc.) although, i'm not sure this has been proven. so, it depends on whether this is true and how many miles it was used for

matt

 

I've heard that the flex sections are important for the longevity of your exhaust system. The reduce stress on the welds and such.

 

the flex sections are on the "arms" of the Y and are made of steel braid... they are flexible to allow some movement of the exhaust system for when the engine revs so it's not 100% rigid. i'm no expert but most Y-pipes i've seen, including the stock one, utilitze flex sections, so there is probably a need for them. see the pic of the Fujitsubo that i have attached from the Performance Nissan catalog:

 

ooo i see, ya the Pro-1 y pipe i have also has these steel braided portions on the top portion of the Y as well, i actually did good research on Y pipes b4 i ordered and i dont recall ANY y pipes that did NOT have these flex sections...that includes NISMO, Fuji, Gruppe-s, UT, and Pro-1. I also believe JIC has a y pipe but thats not one i looked into....

 

What makes the Fujitsubo worth $450+? Is it that much better than pipes at half that cost? Thanks.

 

The Top Secret Titanium Ypipe doesn't have flex joints but it's also $900+!!!

 

Could you please post a picture of the Y-pipe?

I don't have any flex section's on my setup, I bought and paid for flex section's to use. I took on look at the corrugated section's on the inside and put them away in my garage where they still sit. I'm not worried about it not having them.


Here it is before I got rid of the awfull Y-section it had.

 

Thanks matt....
I suspect you're right it's likely the NFC as it's more V shaped.
Sorry no pic..

I was just concerned that w/o the flex pieces, the rubber hangars are the only thing providing flex.
My thought was that Nissan would not go to the added cost
of flex pieces on the OEM y-pipe unless they thought it necessary.

But......
I can't see that they do much to reduce torque stress on the system...
if you think about where they are in the pipe (Fujitsubo pic above)
& the rotational force applyed by the engine.
(almost 90deg to the axis of applied force)
Do they really do much at all except reduce some stress load from the road (bumps etc)

So...????

 

IMO, get the cheapest Y-Pipe with flexures that you can get. When my JIC Y-Pipe finally made it over from Japan, the first thing I noticed is how much those flexures, well flexed. FYI, the stock Y Pipe will not fit into the JIC Y-Pipe box w/o having about 6" sticking out of the top. 6" of bending steel... that is a lot of flexing.

BTW, I have pics at the house if you want to see the JIC.

 

Pro-1 Y pipe w/ flexures...$200 shipped brand new...my350zforums.org