[Etern]

I know i’m taking the losers way out, but this V-Band is not going on. am i safe to drive around with a downpipe with no v-band clamp, and roughly how much would it cost me to bring it to a shop?

[R3dLeader]

Without a clamp, the connection will leak a ton, it will sound like a garbage truck, and your fuel trims will probably be off since the O2 sensor is reading the exhaust behind the leak.

Have you tried a new clamp? Old ones can get bent and disfigured enough to cause a real headache. Try a new one.

I would imagine a shop would charge you the full amount for downpipe install since that's basically what it takes to get to the clamp. A little quicker. You'd be lucky if they ask for 2-3 hours of pay.

[ChuckW]

That's the part that almost killed me when installing downpipes. I wound up using a longer screw to start the band and compressing it while being able to adjust from multiple angles. Of course you have to put the right length screw in once it gets closer, but it allowed me to keep my sanity.
Good luck!

[bigsurge]

My downpipes had thick freaking flange it took me as long as the rest of the job did to get those clamps on haha