heard stainless headers like to crack.... is this true?
Borla and Corsa use 304SS and they offer lifetime gaurantees. Also 304SS is supposed to be aircraft quality of something like that. So if its good enough to go on an F-16, its good enough to go on my Trans Am
would be with welding process workmanship (pre- and
post-heat) and quality control. You can get brittle
welds in stainless more readily than mild steel.
And, with cost of materials and more difficult
bending, manufacturers might be tempted to go with
thinner walled tube which only makes the welding more
critical.
Until the new brands of stainless headers have seen
a lifetime of heat cycles, you just won't know. An
aerospace part would have to be run through a qual
regimen. Good materials alone do not suffice. You
can turn good material into junk very easily.
It'd be great if the vendors had the kind of test
data and QC that certainty would require. But this
is where hammers get to be $500. You don't plan on
paying aircraft prices, I reckon.
Also on a car Stainless headers are prone to crack if you wrap them with Header wrap.(Which not to many people do nowadays)






