Exhaust pipe.. size matters?

[bkbazan]

I recently had an exstensive diagnostic performed on my '96 K1500 extended cab Z71 with a 5.7L engine. The tech told that my truck has undersize exhaust pipes coming off the stock manifolds. He said my current 2" diameter pipes coming off the manifolds to the catalytic converters are most likely a cheap aftermarket replacement. He said he would not recommend towing anything like this, that the pipes off the manifolds should be at LEAST a 1/2 inch bigger in diameter.

I am not the original owner of this truck, so I do not know if they have been replaced? Does anyone know if there is any truth to this statement? Or, what the actual size of these pipes through the catalytic converters should be?

I asked if I needed headers and such, but the tech said, "No, you just need bigger diameter pipes."

Thanks to all you 'Myth Busters' out there!

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by bkbazan

I recently had an exstensive diagnostic performed on my '96 K1500 extended cab Z71 with a 5.7L engine. The tech told that my truck has undersize exhaust pipes coming off the stock manifolds. He said my current 2" diameter pipes coming off the manifolds to the catalytic converters are most likely a cheap aftermarket replacement. He said he would not recommend towing anything like this, that the pipes off the manifolds should be at LEAST a 1/2 inch bigger in diameter.

I am not the original owner of this truck, so I do not know if they have been replaced? Does anyone know if there is any truth to this statement? Or, what the actual size of these pipes through the catalytic converters should be?

I asked if I needed headers and such, but the tech said, "No, you just need bigger diameter pipes."

Thanks to all you 'Myth Busters' out there!

the pipes should be 2.5 inches. any more than that can cause problems as you need some back pressure.

the pipes should all be 2.5 inches. if the cat converters are smaller then you will lose power when towing/hauling.


now headers and other non OEM does not help unless your changing the OEM power of the engine to a much higher HP...........

[bkbazan]

Thanks J_cat! That's exactly what I was looking for!