Oh, but I think it does! Factory diagrams show the single-piece clamp on the buses, they must have been "ok" originally.asiab3 wrote:sped372 wrote:I read a lot of lamenting about the one-piece style clamps, but I reluctantly went BACK to trying one after multiple unsuccessful attempts at fixing a leak with the two-piece style. So far it's holding well. To me, I see no reason why it shouldn't work... whether the "diameter" is shrinking as a result of two halves coming closer together or a circumference shrinking the net effect is the same. It's collapsing! That collapse gets transferred to a squish/pinch by the angle of the flange and conical washer underneath. Sure was easier getting it positioned vs. the two-piece style right next to the mustache bar, too.
The problem with the"squish" you mentioned is the complete sealing of the system requires two pipes to seal together. The squish only seals the donut gasket to the heat exchanger, it does not seal anything to the muffler flange.
Follow my logic, which I think checks out (please forgive my crude section diagram):
The radial clamp provided by the (purple) circumferential shrinkage serves two purposes. First, it directly crushes the donut, providing a seal to the HE tube at interface 'A' in my diagram. Secondly, because the muffler flange and washer are tapered, a portion of the radial force becomes a clamping force pulling the donut into the muffler flange and sealing it at interface 'B' in my diagram. It's the taper that's key.
I pondered this quite a bit while the road debris was raining down into my eyes and I think this makes sense.