1992 Pickup 2WD 5sp 22RE
The connection between the exhaust manifold and the pipe keeps coming apart. I've replaced the exhaust manifold, the studs, the cat converter (thinking backpressure was the culprit).
The studs keep loosening, ultimately affecting my gas mileage. It's wanting to die when slowing down from high RPMs (off ramps, bottoms of hills).
May be related: The engine lurches when I start it and when I put it in reverse - even after I replaced the motor mounts. Could this lurching loosen the connection between the manifold and pipe?
Any ideas?

 

Sounds like motor mounts or transmission mount to me. If the exhaust is coming apart then something is moving entirely too much.

 

Do you have the gaskets in place? P/N 90917-06038 , less than $4 each at the dealer.
You should replace the nuts no matter what. While technically not "one-time-use," since 1992 they've probably loosened up.

 

If it's not breaking anything, just loosening the nuts, you might double nut them to prevent loosening.

 

There is also a bracket that holds the intermediate pipe..

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/atta...st_bracket.gif