Reinstalling clamps on y-pipe to flex pipe

[morg]

I just redid my donuts (thanks to advice on here about tell tail signs I saved my y-pipes as the donuts were shot) and the clamp don't seem to get very tight. The allen bolt does but the clamp will spin around fairly easily. Is this normal?
Oh...1800 miles on sled and the donuts were SHOT!!! So was the jackshaft bearing, and both bearings in the chain case. (the top one for the second time) Do you think the guy I bought it from some how fudged the mileage?
Thanks

 

[Apex2006]

From the sound of it - I would suspect it. I have 2800 miles on mine and donuts, bearings all in perfect condition and I ride very aggressive. Unless the previous owner did zero maintenance, but 1800 miles is low for what you have experienced.

 

[ApexDriller]

From the sound of it - I would suspect it. I have 2800 miles on mine and donuts, bearings all in perfect condition and I ride very aggressive. Unless the previous owner did zero maintenance, but 1800 miles is low for what you have experienced.

I agree

 

[maxdlx]

do a search on here some guys grind on the clamp somehow to make it tight

 

[Attacker]

Grind down the clamp where the allen bolt goes through. There is a round stop which allows the clamp to tighten only so much. On one of mine I had to grind the ears down as they were hitting together.

 

[dave_dj1]

be careful not to over tighten them either, I just changed my left side last evening (replaces with the ss one) and the right one i can see where the clamps are almost cutting into the titanium flanges. My new line of thinking is that when the sled gets up to temp. everything expands so this time i am only putting them on snug.
we will see but they way i see it the damage is done and i will be looking for a right side ss y-pipe in the near future.

 

[RippinV]

I ground down all four of my clamps, I think the flex and the heat cause them to stretch out a bit at the pivot., plus the titanium probabbly shrinks some with the all the heat and cooling cycles. Mine no longer spin, just snug.

Also, I would find it highly unlikely for all those bearings to be bad or going bad at 1800 miles unless the sled was riddin in mud with out seals on the bearings and no oil in the chain case! I've got 8000 miles on my GT and first greased the bearings at 2500 miles (end of first season) and all were in fine condition, although the speedo bearing was a bit dry. We ride pretty hard and late in the season with marginal snow conditions.

 

[bbydan]

If your clamps are loose you r Y pipes are worn out and will neede replaced.

 

[Iceman57]

If your clamps are loose you r Y pipes are worn out and will neede replaced.

I doubt you will need to replace the pipes. The clamps can stretch and can also wear into the pipes a little. You need to grind a little off the collar to allow the clamps to properly fit and tighten around the pipes. Clean the bolts and clamp threads real good before re-assembly. Also, add a lot of oil (I used 2 stroke oil) around the clamp and the bolt to allow everything to pull together and to allow the bolt to properly tighten without getting caught on rust or any foreign material that may prevent the pipes from drawing together all the way. Also grind the sharp edges of the clamp that contact the pipes to prevent the edges from cutting into the metal. This topic has been covered to death and there have been others that have posted that their donuts have gone bad before 2000 miles and they were the original owners so they know the mileage was accurate.

 

[morg]

Thanks for all the help. I ground them slightly and they are tight now.
Keep up the great work here, you guys offer a great support medium for us 'mechanically challenged' people
Thanks again

 

[bbydan]

There are two ways of doing things the right way and the wrong way. Grinding the clamps makes them out of round and you will be doing this job again very soon. Just do it right the first time and be done with it.

 

[morg]

I will definatly look at the y-pipes this summer. If they are shot I will replace them at that time. I looked them over inside and out and they looked ok. It's all back together now. I should be riding tonight. This is without a doubt the best 6 weeks of sledding all year up here coming up. I missed it last year with a blown up doo. Not this year baby.....lol
Thanks again for all the help and advice guys.

 

[DoktorC]

If your clamps are loose you r Y pipes are worn out and will neede replaced.

It's the clamps...the Vee spreads out and they don't pull the pipes together right. You need to replace the clamps. Grinding them makes them out of round...you can actually put them in a vise and close up the Vee but they don't stay. If new clamps won't tighten up then Dan is correct but 99% of the time it's the clamps spreading.

 

[Iceman57]

There are two ways of doing things the right way and the wrong way. Grinding the clamps makes them out of round and you will be doing this job again very soon. Just do it right the first time and be done with it.

I just re-checked mine 2 weeks ago and 3500 miles later (after doing it the wrong way according to you) and the clamps are as tight as when I replaced the donuts. I had to purchase a new clamp because I lost one when the donut went bad. The new clamp would not tighten properly on any of the pipes without taking a little off the collar. Chalk one up for the wrong way.

 

[DoktorC]

I just re-checked mine 2 weeks ago and 3500 miles later (after doing it the wrong way according to you) and the clamps are as tight as when I replaced the donuts. I had to purchase a new clamp because I lost one when the donut went bad. The new clamp would not tighten properly on any of the pipes without taking a little off the collar. Chalk one up for the wrong way.

The issue that I didn't like when I ground my clamps was that the clamp starts to clamp/wear on the pipe itself rather then the joint. The clamps that I ground had the donuts go bad in about 1500kms...so I replaced the clamps and the donuts. I'm sure we'll all agree that there is more then one way to get the job done...these are just my experiences with it.