V-band for exhaust under car - good, bad?

Hey guys.

I'm trying to figure out whether I want to spend the dough on V-bands for the exhaust joins under the car.
Let it be said, that it's not a cost issue. Not that I don't care what the price is, but the price for two V-band kits is not something to scare me off.

What I am a bit weary of, is durability. We don't see much gravel - but some, and basically I'm a fan of building stuff to last and be easy to service at the same time.
Some how there is something nagging in me saying that a V-band will not last.

Anybody with any experiences?

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Brgrds
Brian

I've used them with no issues but mine is tucked up pretty high. Few others I know have used them as well.

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Grant Hughes

I use a 3 bolt flange personally, but a slip joint with springs works well, and is easy to service.

As long as the V band is put in a place not subject to gravel impact they are are very durable. I don't care for the threaded tightening deal as the threads are small and if galled or damaged your pretty well poked on that clamp. I like a 3 bolt flange as a first choice.

I've had trouble with a V-band slowly rotating the tailpipe into a rear tire on my XR4 street car, causing excessive sidewall wear (but it lives on a gravel road and has old JVAB beta testing suspension on it). I ended up zapping two tabs on the pipe and adding a bolt to stop the rotation. Three bolt flange is probably better, but the V-band was in stock.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

slip joints with springs are what we use, great for getting exhaust off fast in service to get to other bits, plus if you loose a spring a bit of wire makes for a quick fix... not sure what ya would do if ya lost a v-band

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Quote
mke723
slip joints with springs are what we use, great for getting exhaust off fast in service to get to other bits, plus if you loose a spring a bit of wire makes for a quick fix... not sure what ya would do if ya lost a v-band

A lot of Swearing.

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Quote
mke723
slip joints with springs are what we use, great for getting exhaust off fast in service to get to other bits, plus if you loose a spring a bit of wire makes for a quick fix... not sure what ya would do if ya lost a v-band

A bit of wire in advance is pretty nice 'insurance in place" and snip snip if you need service...

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

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"Fixability" is a VERY good point I think... slip joints it is...

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Brgrds
Brian

A couple of comments on making slip joints, these might be obvious but.

- Make them shallow enough so your exhaust hangers will deflect enough to be able to remove the exhaust.

- depending on your climate you will need to put some sort of anti seize in them and reapply every so often to keep them from permanently connecting.

- Put the springs slightly on the top side of the tube. So if you think about it as a clock face put them between 9-10 on one side and 2-3 on the other. Keeps them protected and should have enough hold to keep the joint together.

Here is an example slip joint for you. This is, I believe, a Symms group N exhaust on a 2007 sti.


And here is a crappy ms paint version of how the joint looked in cutaway:


It was kind of double layered, probably to leak less. It was also fairly loose fitting, so it came apart easily. I regularly applied copper antiseize, as it was mentioned earlier. As you can see the springs were held on to posts with pins, one is missing in the pic, and safety wired so they didnt get lost.

If the joint takes a good hit from a big rock, I can imagine that would be a bitch to get apart. What does this V band look like (don't know if I've ever heard the term)?

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Don Kennedy

Google is you friend:




What I have the biggest issues with, is the actual band itself. The jubilee-clip sized tightening mechanism is what I have doubts about when it comes to durability.

As for a hit big enough to mess up a slip joint (and I didn't think of them as double sleaved, but that makes sense), you would have issues with just about any type.

I'm considering doing a slip joint with the two ears that go over each other - John has showed them here once as his favorite. I think they will have a fixability- and availability advantage over springs.

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Brgrds
Brian

I used slip joints with snomobile exhaust springs. I took some 1/8" bar stock and bent loops to make hooks and welded them on the exhaust for the springs to hook.

I put 1 slip joint up front to make engine changes easy and another at the rear before the muffler so I could change mufflers for other recreational driving. I put them both after up bends so they were some what out of harms way.

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I was thinking something along these lines: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless-Exhaust-Link-2-Tags-S-S-Rivets-weld-on-tag-race-Joint-slip-/221185710127?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item337fb2182f

Only without the middle section - just making the tags overlap, and a bolt instead of a rivet.

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Brgrds
Brian