Was doing some exhaust work trying to fix the exhaust leak and noticed I don’t have a donut gasket that connects my manifold to my exhaust on both sides, I put them in and turns out it’s my entire manifold so I need to replace that, but does my truck need the donut gaskets anyways?

 

If the outlet on the manifold is shaped properly, no, you don't need the gasket. If it just has a recess to install the donut into, then yep, you need it.

 

would you be able to put this into terms a kid can understand I know nothing about exhausts it has Cali emissions if that helps and when we went to put the donuts on it it had none and overtime I keep having to torque the brackets together

 

Can you post a pic of what they look like? Or link to one that looks the same??

 

Exhaust Manifold should have a male bulb shape, exhaust Y-pipe should have a female cup. There's no gasket. If the exhaust manifold and the Y-pipe both have cups, then the donut (bulb part) is missing or has been cut off.