T-bolt clamps

[tford]

3" won't slide over the coupling and the next size up ends up with a mile of thread sticking out. What's the deal here? Blew my up-pipe off. Should have stayed with the damn hose clamps. Any helpful input.

 

[michael evans]

Put the pipes together then take a pair of pliers (may need needle nose pliers ) and squeeze it together to start the nut.

 

[precizion818]

I used the next size up clamp...... I opened the clamp up until I could remove and install without my interference. I used this point as a reference to cut the remaining bolt off.

I have also used the other mentioned method of squeezing till I could start the but.


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[NY Twin Turbo]

I use them everywhere. Coolant, intercooler, intake, turbo, ect.

I buy my stainless T-clamps from a local retail diesel truck parts store. They have them hanging on racks arranged in size order. I believe the brand name laser etched on the clamps is "Buyers Products."

This makes it easy to walk in and get the next size up or down if you need to split the difference for the hose-tube combo.

See if you have a local store store like this. You might get lucky finding everything you need and have it fit every time.

 

[Benched]

https://www.mcmaster.com/t-bolt-hose-clamps

 

[pacecarta]

you cant use a 3.00" clamp on a pipe that is 3.00 OD you need to account for the silicone coupler
youd need a clamp with a low grip range of just under 3.25"
3.00 = 72mm
1/8 silicone x2 = 6.5 mm (some non silicone couplers are a little thicker like the gates stuff )

the ones i use have a grip range of 75-89mm

 

[tford]

Thanks for that link. The truck shop where I work doesn't have the "in between" sizes. Are you guys using the ones with the spring?

 

[ravege]

3" won't slide over the coupling and the next size up ends up with a mile of thread sticking out. What's the deal here? Blew my up-pipe off. Should have stayed with the damn hose clamps. Any helpful input.

I blew a hose as well when I converted over to these, I thought I had them cranked down pretty tight. Is this a feature of these clamps? Tighten them down, and then keep going past the point where you feel like you're going to crush the pipe or strips the threads? I don't think I went over 20psi, either...

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

I blew a hose as well when I converted over to these, I thought I had them cranked down pretty tight. Is this a feature of these clamps? Tighten them down, and then keep going past the point where you feel like you're going to crush the pipe or strips the threads? I don't think I went over 20psi, either...

In my opinion, and I believe most others, these clamps are far superior to the standard band clams. But they do need to be the right size. And they don't need to be torqued to death. Especially if your tubing has a rolled rib on the end. And unlike many who use hairspray to make them stickier, I actually rub a little grease on the insides of my silicone coupler hoses to make them easier to rotate and maneuver into position, and to make disassembly easier when pulling them apart.

 

[earlbrown]

T-bolt clamps have overlap as they go up in size. When I started making MAF pipe and up-pipe kits, it became a NIGHTMARE trying to find the ''perfect sizes'' that would work in all cases. (and making them the same style, color, and brand)

What you're running into most likely has to do with stuff not being exactly 3" and 2.5"s. For example, an LT1 MAF is bigger than a normal 3" stock MAF. So is a stock turbo bell .vs a intergal bell turbo. The throttlebody is larger than 2.5" too. They all require oddball stuff.


Another thing that might be tripping you up is silicone coupler thickness. A thicker than normal coupler can knock a T-bolt clamp out of range. They aren't like worm screw clamps, where you can change the OD several inches.


If the ones you're looking at have something like ''3"" or "2.5"" stamped on them, the manufacturer has accounted for coupler thickness (and sometimes guesses it right). A 3" clamp, for instance, will be sized for a coupler that fits over a 3" pipe. The problem arises when you either have thicker than normal couplers, and/or if the coupler is swedged out a little from being stretched over a LT1 sensor, stock turbo bell, or throttlebody.

I would recommend avoiding the ones with the springs. They may look ''trick'' but why in the world would you want an important clamp to have a 'relief valve' so you can send the up pipe into the hood?

 

[m233roller]

Just buy some constant torque clamps, come in many sizes and once tightened down they'll Never loose their grip. I've used these clamps for years and had some of them off and on many times. I've NEVER blew any hose off in 20 plus years of using them. Very hard to destroy one of these clamps and personally I think they look cool. I can't stand those dam t-bolt clamps with a mile of the threads sticking out. And Yup I use to do as Paul put them on mark them take the dam things off and cut the bolt off. NEVER again !!

 

[1986 Buick GX1]

Just buy some constant torque clamps, come in many sizes and once tightened down they'll Never loose their grip. I've used these clamps for years and had some of them off and on many times. I've NEVER blew any hose off in 20 plus years of using them. Very hard to destroy one of these clamps and personally I think they look cool. I can't stand those dam t-bolt clamps with a mile of the threads sticking out. And Yup I use to do as Paul put them on mark them take the dam things off and cut the bolt off. NEVER again !!

Which constant torque clamps are you referring to?

The pre-tension kind?

Ok, I’m just kidding on that one.

Or the Belleville spring washer kind?

 

[m233roller]

LOL!! Yup that bottom one is the way to go.

 

[salvageV6]

There's a bunch of them at the bottom of the page on that McMaster-Carr link posted above.

That's what I use on the up-pipe.

 

[m233roller]

Nope, those are not what I'm talking , those are just spring loaded t-bolt clamps.​

This one>

 

[salvageV6]

Oh yea, thought they had belleville washers in there, not sure what difference a regular spring would make over a belleville washer spring though.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Nope, those are not what I'm talking , those are just spring loaded t-bolt clamps.​

This one> View attachment 343191

These are what i use.... never had an issue and they seem to not have a tendency to over torque - like the T bolt style has IMO