So after dealing with fixing a hard to get to boost leak halfway through a roadtrip... I got to brainstorming about other options that might be less leak-prone. The first place I thought about was the aerospace industry. There are ducting and boosted applications there that simply have to work right the first time, because you can't exactly just pull over because a hose blew off. lol

It appears that the shifting of the charge piping loosened up the coupler over time. So I did some research and came up with a possible alternative. The key is to have something that is clamp-able, bendable if needed, able to be pressurized, and some give in it for shifting of the pipes, while staying on the piping as its main job, rather than moving as one piece and loosening itself. I ended up finding SCEET ducting (funny, but that's its name lol).

Has anybody found other alternatives that I may not be aware of? I know other cars have boost leak nightmares compared to us, so I wonder what they've devised.

This was just meant to be a brainstorming thread.

Here's a description and spec sheet of SCEET, and other similar ducting materials:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...duct.specs.pdf

 

i would just say bead roll the end of the pipes and use a Tbolt clamp. i've never had any issues with a piping blowing off. if you really want to go all out and don't mind spending some money use a wiggins clamp or an o-ringed vband.

 

I absolutely agree with you Stamina. I used to say it quite a bit, and no one really ever seemed to either care or want to listen at the time so I just gave up on really trying, so I'm glad you brought it up again. I still firmly believe that there needs to be some sort of flex in the pressure piping system for ANY boosted application. The force of the engine torquing HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE. Where does it usually go? The weakest points. Which is usually either an unsuspecting plastic end tank on a stock (and sometimes evern aftermarket) intercooler, or your couplers. You actually WANT the coupler to have the ability to absorb the motion of the engine torquing so that nothing else can be damaged.

Personally, I use hump couplers in my charge pipe system which has always worked great for me. This is the exact one that I use, although I didn't get it through this vendor Intercoolers & Pressure Piping - Vibrant Hump Silicone Couplers

You can also go with a slightly less expensive alternative, which is really basically just the same thing. Turbo Coupler

 

This is what I ran for a million miles or so on Class 8 trucks



Flexible, but strong.

 

sub for sure. i ordered a new set of charge pipes due the OTTP not being good for routing and have been causing leaks......

 

just an actual question here since i've never experienced it myself. how many people actually have problems blowing off pipes on these cars?

 

T-bolted - For her pleasure. Sorry, that coupler just looked wrong at first. lol

 

Me. Once. My fault. Didn't have the coupler on the throttle body properly. Made it out of the driveway and pop! Not a problem in 25k miles since.

 

Yeah, a lot of the other coupler options seem to lack in one department or another. So far from what I've seen, those hump couplers seem to be the best overall solution.

For instance:

This one may not be air tight.


This one would be airtight, requires welding, and doesn't give for movement or small misalignments. (Each half is welded to the pipe, and then they are pressed together, with a seal in between, and t-bolted together.



This one would be possibly airtight and would resist them backing out, but doesn't allow for much movement or any misalignment. It'd probably be a pain in the butt for us to install in our cases too.



All may be good in some ways but not in others.

 

None of those really allow for engine or intercooler movement or operating and ambient temperature change.

 

ZZP and stock are the best designs. They keep the longer couplers. The short ones are doomed to pop off, or cause more stress to intercooler end tanks. Each time I see a car with short couplers, and a tune, I tell them to buy an intercooler before it cracks.

If you put the couplers on well, and use a little hairspray, and make sure the upper pipe is tightly bolts, so it can't rotate, then there should be no issues with the couplers. There is enough flex with the long stock style couplers.

 

yeah i didn't mean for my post to come off as bragging or anything like "oh well sucks to be you guys. my stuff is the ****" hahah. just mentioning i've never had it happen. once on an old pieced together setup just cause i forgot to tighten the clamp and just set it on there. but i wouldn't say that counts.

i think a silicone coupler and a Tbolt will do just fine. on zzp's lsj-t piping.(not sure about lnf) on the hotside piping coming off the turbo it has a bracket that bolts it to the head near the intake cam. so its connected at the turbo, and then to the engine so if the engine rocks, the piping goes with it all as one. i have 5 total couplers on my piping if you include the turbo and tb couplers. those two, then in the middle of the hot side under the abs unit. then the two on the intercooler end tanks. thats plenty of movement when you add them all together.

 

i've got the car covered up right now. but i'll take a video for you guys when my hubs come and i'm tearing in to the front to fix some other things. theres still quite a bit of movement allowed.

 

When my car was on the BNR and both hot/cold side pipes, I never had a single coupler blow off (Injen hot/Treadstone cold). Oddly, when I put the stock pipe back on with the stock coupler, that damn thing must've blown off nearly half a dozen times. I tighten the clamps so hard, I almost busted one. Car is hibernating for the winter so I haven't driven it in a month but I wouldn't be surprised if it keeps happening.

 

Subscribed. Good thread. This car, as far as boost leaks, has nothing on the SRT4 (lol).

 

What 09SS1 and Wanger said are the reason I stuck with the stock chargepipes for all these years. Do they look good? No. Do they work? Yes.

 

I had mine blow off at the throttle body due to not tightening it all the way. On the way to CED loki's blew off on the highway in ohio. sucks when it happens and you have no tools to fix it and have to limp it to an autoparts store. we were able to stick the pipe back in the coupler and put a bunch of microfiber towels and sandwich those between the hood and the pipe. worked to get him to an auto parts store.......lol.

 

You are lucky you didn't start a fire. Wow...

 

loki had a lot of bad luck that trip.. hahah

 

Most newer ford diesel use what is mentioned above. Coupler with wire renforcement. Works well. Ambulances and other emergency vehicles use these. They won't take chances with vehicles that save lives.

 

Yeah, I like that idea so far. I'll be looking into it.

Thanks for the ideas/feedback everybody!

 

I see this stuff everyday at work (aircraft mechanic) and its great for ducting but it will not hold up to the pressure a turbo would produce