Has anyone ever had to replace the flex connect er on the exhaust after the the cats, my flanges and spring bolts are junk and have an exhaust leak at the joint, Midas wants 200 to just replace the flanges on both sides,a new cat is 205 and I could just get a new bolt on Kit

 

Not familiar with your specific exhaust system, so can't give you advice on what would be the best choice for you.

BUT...............after quite a few years working on vehicles I can say that exhaust system work is a PITA for most DIYers.
No matter what it looks like it will require 3 or 4 trips to the parts store..........if your lucky, if you are not lucky then you will spend your time and money and then end up taking to an exhaust shop anyway, lol.

When you burn gasoline(H) with oxygen(O) one of the by-products is H2O(water), this is why you often see water dripping from tail pipes.
And this is why exhaust systems rust from the inside out.
So if you see rusted bolts/flanges, that's on the OUTSIDE, when you go to remove them or cut them out, you often find that invisible rust goes pretty far up INSIDE the pipe.
And by just moving the exhaust system around to get at the part you want to replace other parts start to crack or break because they are rusted on the inside.

I found an independent shop that charges flat hourly rate, and will install customer supplied parts(no warranty), if they are legal, and small parts charge if they have to supply nuts/bolts or hangers.
Usual bill is $50-$100

 

It's a two bolt flange before the muffler with springs bolts and donut,, I don't off road that much, just hiway and snow, can I eliminate that coupler and use a straight pipe

 

In general they use the spring bolts and donut gaskets where there will be flexing, this setup allows for slight movement without stress cracks starting up.

With that in mind you can use just a pipe with clamps or welded but it will put that stress at another place/joint, not being familiar with your system I can't say where.