Hey everyone.

I finally got my DT headers in and installed over the last week. Only problem so far is that the stock U shape crush clamps suck ass. You can not seal up any of the joints with them. So i ordered 6 band clamps and just installed them. Crossed my fingers, and started my truck back up. It still LEAKS!!

There was one joint i expected to leak still, but not all of them again. I bought these: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-692250/

2 and 2.5 inch ones. 3 of each were required. Another 50$ down the drain.

I really didnt want to have to get these pipes all welded up. Disassembly down the road is my main reason, i dont want to go hacking them all up.

What can i do next to stop the leaks?

Thanks!

 

I just installed headers on my '95 M3. I used v-bands from www.siliconeintakes.com and they don't leak, are inexpensive, and come in a variety of sizes. Every time I've done business with them they are wicked fast and have great communication.

Here's a v-band for anyone who doesn't know:


And the clamp/rings separately:


And here's what the pipes would look like separated, but with the v-band rings on them and no clamp:


The nice thing about them, is that if you want to drop part of the exhaust, it's very easy to do so. Literally, one nut on each clamp, and you can separate the exhaust. All the images above are snagged from Google images, not my own. I don't have any handy. LOL

 

wow..that's pretty clever looking

 

hmm those look really nice, dont know how i feel about cutting off the flange part of all my pipes to try this tho. cant really go back after that. Mine are all the sleeve connect type.

 

V-bands are awesome, man. I'll never use a regular flange again. They're totally worth the extra couple dollars over a normal bolt style flange.

They really are. I dug up a few pics of the ones I have for ya. Just note that these are on my M3 not my Pickup... yet.








I don't have pics of the mid-pipe attaching to the headers, but you can see what that would look like in the pics above. Also one other thing to think about- I used stainless steel flanges. Even if I were putting these flanges on my truck with a mild steel exhaust, I'd still use stainless steel v-bands so they don't pit and rust, thus, eliminating your good airtight seal.

You can weld the SS v-bands with regular mild steel welding wire out of any MIG. By the way, at that point I'd only been welding for about two months.

 

Weld it. Clamps rarely work well, but those ones above look awesome!

 

V-bands are used in MANY race applications, as well as many large diesel powered turbo trucks (like dump trucks for example)- right off the turbo they use v-bands to secure the exhaust to the turbo outlet.

 

wow so for 6 it would be like 150$? :/ welding them i guess!

 

we used a similar v-band clamp on multimillion $$$ process equipment at work...they seal very well..

 

Why do you need six? Got any pics of your setup installed so we can see where you need flanges?

I'd pick spots where you'd like to weld the piping together, then on the headers I'd put the v-bands.

 

Here are some pictures of them, not my pictures. Credit goes to Mak92-4RnR!



Both headers have a connecting pipe coming off them. The passenger side header has a 2nd L shape pipe to help rout it to the Y pipe where they meet up with an extention that comes off the Y pipe to mount the O2 sensor.

Here are a bunch of pictures from Mak92-4RnR to clarify.

Passenger side header dropping down to 1st L pipe:



driver side shot, showing the connector pipe from driver side header to Y pipe, also other pipe, its a 2nd L shape that connects passenger side to Y pipe


Y pipe and the extention for 02 sensor:



So im sure i could weld the y pipe to the O2 sensor extention. From the pictures, do you think its a good idea to weld the two L pipes from the passenger side together, as well to the y pipe? Then do teh same with the 1 straight pipe from the driver side header to the y-pipe? Kind of confusing to explain, sorry. Thansk again mak for the pictures.. Hope you dont mind! Too dark for me to take pictures in the damn parking garage..

 

From the looks of it, you can get away with three v-bands. One on each header-> L pipe, and one after the Y pipe to the pipe that goes up to the o2 sensor. I'd weld the rest together. That'll allow you to remove the center Y section easily if you have to for any tranny/transfer case work. If you want, you could probably put the last V-band down near the o2 sensor instead of right after the Y so you lose a larger section when you pull it.

I only see the need for three.

 

would you have an exhaust shop do the v bands? I dont see how they are connected to the pipe ends. I would have to have the other connections welded anyways. Maybe a one stop shop. Do you cut off the flared portion of sleeved pipe connections when doing this?

 

I did the v-bands myself on my M3. Just don't get them too hot to make sure they don't warp. My v-bands happened to slide tightly over the piping, so I used a rubber mallet to knock them in place (Actually a plastic mallet as the rubber was quite old LOL) Then once I got them where I wanted them, I welded them all the way around. Worked out great.

Measure the diameter of the outside of the pipe, and decide what v-bands are right for you. If you can find some that fit over the pie then great, it'll be easy. Otherwise you'll have to butt weld them which is a bit trickier, but you can just use the tack welding method (a series of overlapping tacks all the way around the pipe- it's still VERY strong) to make sure you don't burn through the exhaust pipe if you're worried about it.

For what it's worth, the headers I welded to above are VERY thin stainless steel. Just spend more time dipping into the v-band than on the exhaust pipe and you'll be golden.

As for cutting off the flared portions, if you do that you might end up with piping that's too short, no? If you can source some more exhaust pipe of the same diameter and steel quality, then sure, go for it. But otherwise I'd stick as close to the lengths as you can. I'd bolt everything in place as if you were going to run the truck, then tack it all with 4 tacks on each separate piece of pipe. Then carefully remove it and finish welding it all up.