Today my lovely gf and I took a road trip up to the montly swap meet up in Webster, FL and came back home with a shiny new (to me) Dyna exhaust for my bike.  I got the exhaust with the rail-mount bracket that everyone on here seems to recommend, a clamp, and a bolt-on heat shield that I should be able to cut up into a serviceable cover for the mess once I manage to get it together... all for $12.

Once I got home I figured I would tackle the installation today, since it looks pretty straightforward and there are plenty of instructions around here on the process, unfortunately I'm running into issues and figured I would ask for advice.

The first issue I came across is that the Dyna doesn't slip all the way on (as pictured) like I've seen in other folk's photos (such as in Serowbot's post over on the Tech Documents page here http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1298689417).  After getting everything together I'm getting exhaust leaks all around the connection.  I'm using the same "tin can gasket" method that Serowbot mentions in that thread, and can't seem to get rid of the leaks.  I'm curious if it might be because the exhaust isn't slipping on as far as mentioned in that thread.

It seems to me that the internal part of my header pipe is butting up against the lip on the inside of the Dyna, and will not but up flush aginst the raised lip on the header pipe unless I remove some of that (which I would prefer not to do).  I'm doubtful that this is likely the problem with the leaks, there seems to be plenty of header going down into the slip-on.

The second issue I ran into was that the clamp wasn't working as well as I thought it should, and I realized that it was missing one of the pieces (that's what I get for a dollar, I guess), so I tried to make it up by stuffing a couple of large washers in there.  With the washers on the clamp I could tighten it enough that I couldn't tighten it anymore with a wrench... afterwards I'm still getting the leaks.

I made a run tonight to all the local dollar stores and parts places to see if anyone had a serviceable clamp, but nobody had anything that looked nearly beefy enough (aside from the normal U bolt clamps available at the auto parts places, but I'm thinking those would not work well).

So... should I try a new clamp?  Is the problem likely that I'm not tightening it down enough?  Should I try something other than a tin can for a gasket?  Should I find someone with a welder?  

Thanks for the reply, I'll hit a couple more dollar stores tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

I've been reading some suggestions in a few other places that have been mentioning using Permatex Ultra Copper smeared in there... think that's worth a try as well?

I tried the can crush method with a brand new HD clamp. I couldn't get the thing to seal completely. I got it to seal well enough... but no matter what I did I still got a slight puff of exhaust leak. I certainly got it close enough to live with though.

Getting it on there all the way requires a little bite of grunt and turning off the muffler once its on the header. Perhaps a bit of lube of some sort that would burn off could help. As mentioned above, that clamp looks a bit off. Good luck!

I end up using high temp red rtv on mine with a plumbing leak repair cuff with the rubber sleeve removed. I did use a standard ubolt exhaust clamp to neck down the harley exhaust first then removed the u-bolt and put the plumbing cuff with rtv on.

but I do believe a t-bolt clamp would be preferable since by design the clamping force is much greater than I have with the band clamps on the plumbing sleeve.

There isn't any glue/sealant/rtv/gasketmaker/etc., that will hold up very long at that joint.  The only long-term solution is to find some way for all the parts to fit together precisely, and use a very heavy-duty exhaust clamp to squeeze it together hard enough to hold up to the heat and vibration.

Here's are some examples of heavy duty exhaust clamps.  Even the most expensive aren't all THAT pricey.

http://www.tecexhaust.com/index.php/default/clamps.html

Devote most of your effort to get the joint to fit tightly with a lot of overlap all by itself.  Then, and only then, use a powerful stainless clamp to clamp it all together.

One other reasonable option is to get everything to fit in place the way you want, and then MIG weld it all together.  Make a one-piece exhaust system that will never leak or break.  The only downside is that sometimes you might have to do a little more disassembly to get at some areas that used to be freed up by just removing the muffler.

MiCTLaN wrote on 10/08/12 at 09:03:00:


I would not expect a "Dollar Store" to have a specialized clamp for a motorcycle exhaust.  These are very specific clamps and even a good automobile parts supply place would not have them.  The internet, eBay or a motorcycle shop are the only places you will find the kind of clamp you need.....and even then you can buy some that are made to cheaply to work well.  On eBay you can find good Harley made clamps for $ 10 or so........  

The clamp you have in you photo appears to be a good clamp - but it is missing the half-moon pieces that go on both sides.  This will alllow the straps to flatten out when you tighten the bolt/nut and the strap will not be pulled tight.

I bought some from this fellow and they where shipped quickly, good quality, and they worked great.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARLEY-DAVIDSON-EXHAUST-SYSTEM-MUFFLER-CLAMPS-TOURING...

I took a pair of needle-nose pliers and gently spread the tabs back a slight bit after cutting a few notches into the pipe to the same length as the two 'stock' notches that were there... doing so gave me enough leeway to get the tin in place...

Granted, I haven't corrected the leaks yet, so I'll have to see how it goes once the new clamps come in.

Still no luck... the clamps that dad sent over were a couple of Drag Specialties clamps that were not up for the job.  One of them was a two-piece model that seemed like it would work okay, so I went ahead and tried it and still had leaks.  Next I dug out the hacksaw and sawed off the small section of the header pipe where the inner pipe was longer than the outer, and clamped it all back down, still leaking.  I guess next I'll stop by a Harley dealer and see if I can get a clamp like the first one I had that isn't missing a piece.