Two weeks ago I replaced my cats and front pipe on the passenger side. Here are a few pointers to make your job (if you decide to do it) less arduous:
1. Remove the cross brace first. It saves a lot of time. Support the transmission on a floor jack.
2. You will HAVE TO remove the entire exhaust system to do this, so consider a full replacement.
3. At a minimum, replace both sides (left and right) at the same time - you will save money, because a set is cheaper than buying these pipes separately, and both have to be removed anyway.
4. Use "muffler mud" to seal up the joints - otherwise you will have a ton of leaks
5. tighten up the bolts evenly and at the same time. Retighten a week later.
6. When positioning the exhaust pipe into the manifold flange, force the pipe into the position and only then tighten the bolts. Otherwise you will have a massive leak.
7. Do not try drilling out broken manifold flange bolts. It is practically impossible without taking the manifold off. Buy a Clamp-A-Stud ($20 each - part number 17351) and use it as a permanent repair (it is), until you must replace a manifold. It will save a ton of time and the result will be the same.
1. Remove the cross brace first. It saves a lot of time. Support the transmission on a floor jack.
2. You will HAVE TO remove the entire exhaust system to do this, so consider a full replacement.
3. At a minimum, replace both sides (left and right) at the same time - you will save money, because a set is cheaper than buying these pipes separately, and both have to be removed anyway.
4. Use "muffler mud" to seal up the joints - otherwise you will have a ton of leaks
5. tighten up the bolts evenly and at the same time. Retighten a week later.
6. When positioning the exhaust pipe into the manifold flange, force the pipe into the position and only then tighten the bolts. Otherwise you will have a massive leak.
7. Do not try drilling out broken manifold flange bolts. It is practically impossible without taking the manifold off. Buy a Clamp-A-Stud ($20 each - part number 17351) and use it as a permanent repair (it is), until you must replace a manifold. It will save a ton of time and the result will be the same.
