Intercooler Clamps......not The Average Sh!t

[N1GTR]

Hey guys

Quick question for the guys running more than usual boost; what brand clamps do you use?

At 7500rpm in 3rd yesterday one of the pipes blew off the rear turbo, which is quite annoying to say the least. So instead of just putting it back on and having it go again, whats the *best* clamp to use? Also, from experience what boost have you run without pipes blowing off?

Here's 2 i found that look decent, from what ive read since yesterday the wiggins ones are the best - discuss

[FineLine]

Tried most of them except the wiggins. Too pricey for my blood.

The best clamp for money is the Norma high power. It looks like any other worm drive clamp but you can really give it to it with a socket and ratchet without it stripping.

The problem with some of the bigger tbolt clamps according to one hose guy I spoke with is they spread the load over too wide an area and end up with less clamping pressure.

The norma being a narrower band bites down harder on a more concentrated area for better grip.

The other clamp I have used albeit only on the air intake side is one I found at super shit a couple of weeks back, Its a billet alloy clamp hinged in 3 places. According to the blurb the hinges allow a more even spread of pressure around the diameter of the clamp. Its working fine where it is so I am going to grab another and try it on a cooler line where theres a bit more pressure. They look neat too.

[SLY-25T]

those are some sexy lookin clamps

[MrStabby]

You know those typical worm drive ones are single use only right? (not that anyone uses them once...)

If you dont have a ridge on the pipe for the clamp to sit inside of, its going to suck.

And yeah, the wider they are the tighter you have to do them up.

[FineLine]

You know those typical worm drive ones are single use only right? (not that anyone uses them once...)

If you dont have a ridge on the pipe for the clamp to sit inside of, its going to suck.

And yeah, the wider they are the tighter you have to do them up.

Most of them yes but the norma high power i have reused may times with no issues.

[R31Nismoid]

Steve you probably need a better lip on the pipe as opposed to some over the top clamp

[zebra]

HDI are now selling ones similar to the Wiggins jobbies but they just clip together instead of using pins.

I had a look at them when I got my boost controller a few weeks back, reasonably priced to.

[Dynamix]

I found these ones on eBa which are pretty similar to yours.

Linky; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PEGASUS-TUR...sQ5fAccessories

I wonder how they would go.. But as others have stated just make sure you have a decent lip on the ends of the pipe and you should be all good.

[Tangles]

I use T-bolt style clamps

if you really need to, use more than 2 clamps per join, use 4 instead ! (2x per side)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/EXTREME-HEAVY-DUTY-...rts_Accessories

[MrStabby]

I use T-bolt style clamps

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/EXTREME-HEAVY-DUTY-...rts_Accessories

I'm using those for my radiator hoses - pirtek sell them for more like $15+ each. You have to do them up a lot tighter due to the width...not really a problem with the hex head tho.

[Blitz]

What clamps were/are on there now Stevo? Were they tightened up properly in the first place?

I have never had such a problem using typical run of the mill heavy duty clamps and have run some big boost.

[R34GTFOUR]

+1 on a better lip

I have "flared" my pipes and i use a single t-bolt clamp on each side, i have never had a pipe come off and thats with near on 25psi of boost. If the pipes werent flared, even with the best clamp on the market the pipes will still pop off. I would never run cheap china worm clamps, but i have seen plenty hold up to 18psi for years.

[Al]

Steve you probably need a better lip on the pipe as opposed to some over the top clamp

Agreed

My mechanic welds all his ic pipe lips and i have never had a pipe blow off.

He has also run up to 34psi on his dyno r33 and Drag Vl; using the general worm drive style clamps

[bozodos]

I've started replacing all of my worm drive clamps as they fail with T-bolt items - you have to really tighten the buggery out of them but they hold! I had to get a mate to weld ridges onto my metal piping onto the turbo after the silicon join just kept sliding off no matter what though, made a huge difference with 18psi going through it - I've gone from about 5 vacuum leaks to one which is only needing to trim the pipe down to fix!

[gotRICE?]

The only thing i find with "tightening them as tight as you can", is that they seriously start to dig into the rubber/silicon joiners hard. The leave huuuge indents and start to tear

And having a ghey RB25 with the Jpipe you have to remove it often to get to plugs/coilpacks easily ha

[mosoto]

Can't beat Pi-Thon, If you can find them...........

http://www.pi-thondesigninc.com/inductionlocks.htm

Edited March 2, 2009 by mosoto

[bozodos]

I actually have less probs with the joins now due to the fact that the new clamps are roughly twice as wide as the old, and there's no perforated bits on the clamp to dig into the silicone! J pipe is a pain in the arse since I change plugs every 5-10 000km, but I replaced the throttle body join with some really expensive hose, which seems to not be as prone to leaking as the original join.

[GTR1993]

if you seen the price of those wiggins clamps you would cry, i know i did but they look sweet.

[JonnoHR31]

The other clamp I have used albeit only on the air intake side is one I found at super shit a couple of weeks back, Its a billet alloy clamp hinged in 3 places. According to the blurb the hinges allow a more even spread of pressure around the diameter of the clamp. Its working fine where it is so I am going to grab another and try it on a cooler line where theres a bit more pressure. They look neat too.

got a couple of those on my intake, as they were the only ones i could find in 100mm at the time. where it bolts up it pinches the joiner a bit and would probably leak under boost, hex key bolts are a bit gay aswell. do the job and fairly cheap tho

[SDEWY5]

Seen some with a hex type drive made of billet at Webb's Autosport (Probag) down in Minto. they look sick and by that they look very strong too. dont have pics though sorry.