Cracked turbo exhaust outlet tube

[samert111]

On my 1996 American Tradition with 8.3L the turbo exhaust outlet tube has cracked twice now rendering the exhaust brake ineffective. This is a Cummins supplied part on the Spartan IC-2242 chassis. This outlet tube has a rib formed in it I suspect to allow it to expand and contract but this is where it always seems to crack. Just wondering if anyone else has had to deal with this issue and what did you change to keep it from happening again? I was thinking of cutting out a section of pipe and adding some flex pipe to help absorb some of the stresses this pipe sees but there is not a lot of pipe to work with.

Here is a photo of the latest repair where I had the cracked welded from the inside where the rib forms a nice valley to fill in with weld. The crack is in the rib just to the right of the clamp.



Here is a photo of the entire pipe from the turbo to the exhaust brake. Note the 2 clamps that hold the pipe in place. They are bolted directly to the exhaust manifold so it's held pretty rigid.

[Freestyle21]

I would be a little leary about a flex tube because of the heat out of the exhaust. Can you move the brace bracket a little farther down the tube?

[samert111]

Originally Posted by Freestyle21

I would be a little leary about a flex tube because of the heat out of the exhaust. Can you move the brace bracket a little farther down the tube?

No I can't. The brackets are bolted directly to the exhaust manifold and there are not any holes further back. Plus the bolts are so rusty I don't even want to try and break them loose. I ended up putting some jamb nuts in the saddle clamps that allowed me to leave the clamps a little loose to allow for expansion and contraction of the heat cycles but still support the pipe assembly. Put 1500 miles on the MH last week without any problems so we'll see how this repair holds up.