V-Bands vs Exhaust Flanges
Exhaust Flanges
In the past Exhaust flanges have been the go to when fabricating exhaust systems, these come in a few different options 2 bolt, 3 bolt & 4 bolt flanges.
There is no doubt that the flange option is very strong and can hold up to a fair bit of abuse, but they can be a bit of a time consuming task to bolt together depending on what bolt option you have and clearance for bolts/washers & access with spanners can get tight.
Gaskets can be an issue over time with vibration and general wear and tear from heat. These can blow out when or if the bolts rattle loose and generally the gasket will need to be replaced every time the flanges and taken apart.
The exhaust flange requires more parts to make it work including the flanges themselves, bolts, nuts, washers & gaskets
We have a dedicated page on Exhaust Flanges in the link below to give you a bit more of a in depth look Exhaust Flanges.....
Exhaust V-bands
Over the years Exhaust V-bands have become more and more affordable due to manufacturing processes (and origin of manufacture) so are a popular option for the use on exhaust systems and external waste-gate pipes.
The V-Band flange come in a variety of options including Flat, Male/Female with a slip through tube section or Male/female with recessed section for the tube. What are the differences?
With a single clamp that uses a single nut, the bolting up process is a quick and simple task, but this can easily be over tightened which can strip or snap the thread.
No gaskets are required when using V-band exhaust flanges so this is a big advantage for reliability
Distortion when welding the V-Band flanges can be an issue so this needs to be thought about and considered when and how you are welding these flanges. There are certain steps you can take to minimize the distortion and we list these in detail in our full page article which can be found in the link below.
