How tight are the clamps supposed to be? I was tighting down the clamp today because it seemed to be a little loose then BAM! I was actually trying to tighten it down so the flanges will be flush.

This really sucks because I had no choice but to put the stock catback back on. I hope AMS is open this Saturday so I can visit and see if they are able to cut up the Jun bl to weld in my own muffler.

Any one else have a problem with over torquing bolts?

 

I dont think there is a torque spec for something like this. Just tighten down by hand. It's all in the feel, if you are straining, then stop..haha

 

53 +/- 9 in/lbs as per the manual.

 

Well I wasnt straining that much, but the nut was getting pretty close to the end of the threads.

I've broken flange bolts as well in the past. You should see the beefy stainless steel bolts I am using now for the downpipe flange.

Only problems I have had for all my cars (besides breaking bolts) is the damn exhaust! I always get an exhaust leak!

 

You must be as bored as I am this Christmas! We seem to be the only ones posting replies!!!

 

Unless it's making a weird noise, smelly or something, exhaust leaks post turbo don't matter much.

 

the FSM has a torque spec for a v-band clamp



they do not need to be really tight, just a little bit over hand tight

 

How would I align the v band flanges?

Do I tap on the exhaust tube as I tighten the clamp down? The reason I kept tightening it down is because the flange was slightly miss aligned and I figured tightening it down more would push the plates to the center. Its my first time using v band flanges.

 

the flanges should line up without force, the clamps are not there to force the pieces into alignment.

sounds like you have fitment problems. is this a downpipe/midpipe flange?

 

The flanges should fit together and line up all the way around even before you clamp it. Like he said, they dont fix the gap and pull them together much as you tighten it. I always just make the clamps "snug". Just make sure you can't move it around inside the clamp. If you can, it's not tight enough.

 

Use the torque value provided above when you hit that the first time, then take a small rubber mallet and tap all the way around the v-band clamp or as much as you can get to at, at least two place 180 degrees apart. Then retorque, you will find that there is less torque on the hardware now. Keep repeating this procedure until the hardware doesn't move at the same torque value. This might be a bit of overkill but it is how it is done in the aviation maintenance world.

Josh