copper donuts vs oem fiber ones

[venturenorth]

pros and cons of each?

 

[BigDogrx1]

A Bitch to change.
OEM last 1-3yrs.
Copper last for 10 times longer, may never replace again!!!!!!

 

[HABS 1]

check other posts, due a search, to sum it up oem junk copper great last forever!!basiclly what big dog said

 

[Yamahadj]

My '06 GT only has 2300 miles on it, so it's never been apart. I will probably do them after this season. Is it worth it to go copper AND get the stainless pipes?

 

[journeyman]

Donuts last different on each sled depending if you ride aggressive or are an easy rider. Some guys wear the originals out quickly while others can get thousands of miles out of the oem's. But I would definitely put copper on over the oem if you don't want to do them again.......unless you are a Nick Keller and plan on putting 100,000 miles on your machine.

 

[vodoo child]

My '06 GT only has 2300 miles on it, so it's never been apart. I will probably do them after this season. Is it worth it to go copper AND get the stainless pipes?

Go with the copper doughnuts, ultra copper high heat rtv and grind the sleeve of the clamp a little (allows the clamp to get tighter). As far as the pipes that's a tough call. The reasons the stock titanium pipe flanges crack and break is cause, #1 the stock fiber doughnuts wear out and get loose and rattle, #2 titanium is light and tough but very brittle. If your titanium pipes are fine I'd put them back in, but that's me. The consensus seems to be, grinding the clamp sleeve and the copper doughnuts = no more exhaust issues! Hope this helps.

 

[journeyman]

Has anyone found a difference in the copper donuts who you purchased them from or are they all the same? I have noticed they can run from $60 for a set of 4 to $80 or more per set depending who is selling them online.

 

[maim]

bought my set from sledtoyz. very happy with them.

 

[Sasquatch]

pros and cons of each?

The 2011 ups are titainium but the gaskets are supposed to be upgraded or at least different then the 05 to 06 or 07. They where titanium as well but huge number of them failed. Mine went at close to 8,000 or so miles but many way before that. While my headers cracked and broke because they did not have the gaskets to protect them from the expansion pipes they also warped so bad that it was hard to see down the headers. So far I have only heard of a couple failures on the 2011 up. I cheaked mine last year on my 11 and they where tight and in good shape at about 5,500 miles.

Only down side to the copper donuts I've heard is they are hard to get off after use as they stick. They seem to last a long time and where a good upgrade to the stock gaskets in the 03 to 10 sleds. I changed my gaskets at 8,000ish miles and then again when I installed my Excell exhaust. I used the stock donuts and have 6 to 8,000 miles on them now and they are still tight. I ground a few thousands off the clamps to make them tighter and they have not loosened yet.

I think its when the pipes loosen that all the wear happens and the gaskets fail.

 

[Winderallday!]

I replaced my OEM with copper from Sledtoyz as well at about 8,500kms.
I did notice that the OEM's on my 11 were more robust than earlier ones for sure, it looks like there is a wire mesh embedded into the donut material now which could be why they were in fairly decent shape yet. They still were breaking down, sufficient to expose the mesh material, but not near the total failure of the earlier generation donuts.
Another observation when replacing the OEM donuts, this wire mesh actually left a "knurled" pattern or imprint inside the titanium EXUP pipe flare joints. I assume it was from the extreme heat these things see. I elected to dust off the raised knurled pattern before installing the copper for a better seal.