I read some reviews that said the clamps were really pore quality and all the joints leak. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

That's also what I'm worried about. But most of the ls1 guys lost NO power or torque with 1 7/8s and I got them so cheap

 

Yea, the clamps it comes with are not the best. i tried them and ended up changing them out to some lap-joint clamps with a bit of the copper Permatex. No leaks!

 

Ok good to know! I think I'm going to go ahead and order it. Im also putting mine on a 2500hd 4x4 so im sure ill run into the issues as you did. Did you have any success at getting the clearance you needed at the cross member? If you have yours all done you should make a thread with some pics!

One more quick question, how many clamps does a guy need? I want to order them so they get here same time as the exhaust!

 

Are you referring to ls1 swap truck guys? Or cars with? Gotta remember you're truck is going to be heavier than those cars. But I would think you would see gains all over with any longstubes just maybe less in the lower rpm range with larger primary's. The headers you have probably have 3" collectors don't they? If that's the case idk if you would want to neck it down to 2.5" might have an I'll efect on the scavenging you gained with your headers.

 

If it a gradual neck down it will actaully not hirt as bad as having a 3-2.5 reducer

 

I used the following.....
4 pieces of 3" slip fit extensions from O'Reillys (cut to fit for clearance)
11- 3 inch lap joint clamps from Amazon. The forward most two at the collectors I notched out to clear the O2 bungs
DEI lava rock header wrap on the crossover pipe under the transmission pan with about six coats of their silicone spray. (I got everything up to operating temps and could hold that section barehanded)
I think my crossmember clearance is ok for now but it looks like i may need motor mounts to get the clearance I want. The back of the x pipe just barely is resting on it at the moment. The weather has been crap here lately and if it clears up this weekend I will take a bunch more pics and hopefully get my brake lines swapped so I can put some miles on it.

 

I got speed engineering headers so its a 3 in collector I think

 

Alright so I had the shop install my headers and i was told 2.5 would be best but after they finished I noticed the pipes were crushed bent and not mandrel bent. The truck is strong pretty much all the way through but mid range suffered a bit I'm wondering if I ahouldve went dual 3 inch...

 

Most exhaust shops are gonna use a standard pipe bender which does the crush bends. mandrel benders are ridiculously expensive and most of your run of the mill exhaust shops arent going to spend the money for it....