Well the DHL truck arrived today with exhaut parts .

I might start putting it on this afternoon if time permits.

My question is, looking at the flange bolts that connect to the stock downpipe, they look like they are gonna be a pain to get off since everything has been through more heat cycles than I can count in what... 11 years?

Do I risk breaking them off (like literally breaking the bolts) off and being in really big trouble?

I'm gonna put some PB Blaster on there first and let it soak in for a while.

I'm just a little nervous .

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

just spray them befor hand. Mine came out like they were brand new and put on ten minutes before. Dont worry about them.

 

That should work, My advice would be to soak it and run it for a bit then soak it again.

 

We soaked mine in WD-40 and took them off with the air wrench with no problems.

 

Ok thanks guys, now I am just going to sit here and wait impaitently until everything cools off enough that I can touch it lol.

 

the PB Blaster should work, did for mine.

 

Now what would you guys reccomend for getting those bolts off? I had a 14mm socket and a socket wrench on them today but I just couldn't seem to find a good place that I could get enough torque on them with my hands to break them loose, there was very little room and very odd angles.

As soon as the locksmith shows up tomorrow to unlock my shed then I will be able to use one of my extensions on there and hopefully that will help out.

Any other suggestions?

 

I just used a 14mm wrench and broke mine loose, they werent all the tight. When i was doin my tranny i had a 3 foot extion bar for the 1/2 inch impact gun and i just used that with a 1/2 inch ratchet.

 

i have done a few systems on these trucks and use a really long 3/8 drive extension. and as stated above soak them really well and they will come right off.

 

x2 if I'm thinking of the same bolts. Just a wrench from the bottom side, laying on my back. I started them with a ratchet but switched to a wrench when I put my j hook on. Looked bad but they all just came right out.

good luck.

 

I also pulled the air box to get a little bit more room.

 

Done mine from under the truck with a 3 ft extension and an air wrench.

 

Did mine from the top with wrench. I did one thing different. After I soaked it with PB I heated the bolts with the torch. Very little effort to break loose. Oh yeah, I used anti-sieze when I put it back together.

 

So I have an air impact wrench but I assume that it would be a bad idea to use a regular extension with one of those? I think I've got a pretty long extension in the toolshed anyway so I'm sure I'll work something out, even if I can't have fun with the air tools .

 

The easiest thing to do is take off the V band clamp that holds the elbow to the turbo. Take the elbow off with it still attached to the downpipe. Now you can put the downpipe in a vise and get to it easier to take the bolts out. Put the elbow back on the turbo, install the downpipe and the rest of the exhaust, now start with the v band clamp and work your way back. I have installed a lot of these systems and I have found this to be the fastest, easiest, and most painless way of doing it. If the bolts still don't come out, now you can get to it to heat it without setting the firewall insulation on fire.