Swapping down pipes..Hard moderate easy?

[TopherSho]

I am *thinking* of putting on some form of HF cats/downpipes.  But I am skipping the shop.  it looks like it is a matter of dropping the shield and being on a reasonably tall set of stands and having a wrench and socket wrench. 

can this be done by a old man reasonably ?

My hope is to gain faster spooling.  I really dislike the lag the car currently has.

[StealBlueSho]

I am *thinking* of putting on some form of HF cats/downpipes.  But I am skipping the shop.  it looks like it is a matter of dropping the shield and being on a reasonably tall set of stands and having a wrench and socket wrench. 

can this be done by a old man reasonably ?

My hope is to gain faster spooling.  I really dislike the lag the car currently has.

I personally wouldn't do it without air tools... and the O2 sensors can be hard to get out....

I have done pipes in the past but always with air...

On my 2010 I had a local shop knock it out for $200... worth...every...penny...


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[TopherSho]

I am *thinking* of putting on some form of HF cats/downpipes.  But I am skipping the shop.  it looks like it is a matter of dropping the shield and being on a reasonably tall set of stands and having a wrench and socket wrench. 

can this be done by a old man reasonably ?

My hope is to gain faster spooling.  I really dislike the lag the car currently has.

I personally wouldn't do it without air tools... and the O2 sensors can be hard to get out....

I have done pipes in the past but always with air...

On my 2010 I had a local shop knock it out for $200... worth...every...penny...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All right,  maybe I will go likely that route then I am lacking any impact/air tools.   

[nickstewartroc]

I did mine in my driveway back when I had my SHO, it was a royal pain with not much room, and it being very "wiggly" on the jack stands. +1 for the air tools though, not sure I could have done it without them

[5ohSHO]

It is a lot easier if you pull the front passenger wheel and have long extensions. A universal for your socket is also nice to have.

[shoNoff]

I did mine on my buddies lift at his shop. Major pain in the ass we had to cut all 6 nuts off the studs on the turbos. Then of course replace all the studs. Car only had 44k on it when I switched. But here in New England we friggin use enough brine and salt to make McDonald's jealous. I didn't even bother tying to get the o2's out just bought new ones.

[802SHO]

When I worked at a shop detailing and tinting, one of the techs helped me(or I helped him) install mine on a lift over the weekend.  All the compressors were turned off, not sure why we didnt turn them on...so he did it by hand, well with a breaker bar..penetrating lube....torch..Had to replace 3 studs. Was able to use the original O2 sensors.  Came with its share of issues, leaving and going to buy studs to replace the studs we used from the shop.  Definitely took longer than previously anticipated.  Overall it wasnt as rusted as expected with the weather up North.  Car is from MA but its the same weather. 

[Jordan]

I did mine around 100k with a buddy of mine who is a ford tech. We just shot some penetrating lube on the studs then disconnected the exhaust and hit them with some air tools after. Car was still hot when we did it. They gave a little fight but came out pretty easy in the end. Air tools is an absolute must and can be done in like an hour with the right tools and a lift. Don't destroy your back trying to do it on jack stands.

[jims2015]

I am *thinking* of putting on some form of HF cats/downpipes.  But I am skipping the shop.  it looks like it is a matter of dropping the shield and being on a reasonably tall set of stands and having a wrench and socket wrench. 

can this be done by a old man reasonably ?

My hope is to gain faster spooling.  I really dislike the lag the car currently has.

My car was less than 6 months old and when the down pipes arrived. I thought it would be a piece of cake with the relatively few miles and no rust on anything. I heard my PP model would be more difficult. I have all air tools so I started the project on jack stands and the front turbo and pipes went well. But I ran into trouble removing the rear turbo down pipe and was scared of rounding off the nuts so I put it all back stock and drove to Livernois. It was still a new car and I wanted it done right. I left the car there and rented a car to go home. Livernois did a professional looking job on the down pipes and Alky Control meth install and set it up on the dyno while there. I've never been sorry taking this route.

[ZSHO]

I would just spend the extra $$$ since you have a 2011MY! Sometimes the contributed rust buildup throughout the years will make it a difficult task without the aid of air tools and even with Pb-Blaster,especially with the turbo studs and 02 sensors.
BTW you need to take extra precaution NOT to twist the 02 sensor wiring .  Z