hey guys,

I took your advice and ordered the MKO 4" setup. ordered it late wednesday night, and will be here on friday. Just curious as to how hard install was? I was going to wait till I was home so I could use our shop, but I don't think I will be able to wait. Do you think installation would be possible in a parking lot? College student has to wok with what he's got, so what tools would I need for installation. Thanks guys!

 

Install is not that bad, 11mm deepwell I think is a must. What may be a problem is cutting the old system off with a sawzall, or removing the tranny cross member, raising truck and tranny, and pulling the stocker off. Also, not sure the exhaust heat shield bolts need trimming with a 4". May want to take that system to the shop but I understand the get er done mentality.

 

never removed anything when i installed mine! cordless saw zaw would be nice! aslo 9/16 th socket for new clamps!

 

opps sorry thought you where installing a new exhust! my bad!

 

I am installing a new exhaust, from the turbo back. Thanks for the input. Also, I know people have painted their pipes with high temp paint. How far did you paint up on the downpipe?

 

Hey, good catch. What are you replacing?

 

4" inch should be doable in the driveway, i did my5" so 4" should be no problem, get a good sawzall like Tenn said, with 2-3 blades, if you unlucky you might brake few , the only thing i can tell you is to start spraying Rust Buster on the clamp to get the old DP clamp off, - dont damage it, you will have to reuse this one, this is where the most of your time will go, other than that the over the rear axle part is a pain in the ars, so first do it all little loose till you get it where you wanted it to go,
have fun, and keep us posted

 

Not one inch. Where do you live?

 

I live in Central Washington, but go to college in Idaho. The stuff they lay on in Idaho is harsh on stuff, I now have rust spots in my paint from road de-icer!

 

Uuuugh. Some stove paint may be in order. I would even consider grill spray paint. Easy apply. Others who do this should chime in.

 

Fox I did paint mine .. used high heat black - just to make it blend in.. i sprayed every piece i could see .. BUT .. run it for a little bit .. 2-3 weeks so that the coating can burn off, or the paint wont work right .. I have an MKO 5" .. here are some pointers for you :

1. Removal is pretty easy - a sawzall like others said makes it very painless.
2. spray down the turbo clamp and all the stock hangars at the rubber area with WD40 or other penetrating oil.
3. cut the downpipe roughly where it bends back from the engine.
4. loosen the turbo clamp and remove the downpipe
5. cut the rest out.
6. This is tricky, but getting the new downpipe in and aligned can REALLY be better if you have a second set of hands to hold and turn from underneath, while you clamp it in place. Once you have it clamped tight, turn it another half turn
7. If you DONT have someone to help you, take a couple of bungee cords across the frame to hold it up.
8. put the next pipe on, over the tranny cross member.
9. now go to the back and put the question mark shaped piece over the rear axle. Put clamps in place with hangars to temporarily hold it.
10. If you're adding a tip, put it on the final pipe and measure how much you need to cut back
11. remove the tail pipe and cut it for the tip. Now put that back in position.
12. find the rest of the pieces and lay it along side your truck. You shouldn't have a cat so I think you'll have 2 more pieces, maybe 3.
13. go back to the front and start putting pipes in until you get to either the muffler or muff delete pipe
14. if you're going muffler delete put that in last, but measure it and cut - you can cut a little long where it slides into the next pipe to give you adjustment room
15. as you're putting each pipe in, when you see a hangar pin above it, and have the corresponding hangar (Mark numbers them) put that on to hold the pipes in place
16. now make sure everything is adjusted right, watch the rear pipe over the pass side shock that it won't rattle.
17. put the rest of the clamps on and tighten everything up
18. roll your windows down and go for a ride !!!!!!

 

WOW!! what a good write up!!! thaks for the info, will my 4" system go over the tranny cross-member?

 

oh yeah the 5" does and it's snug .. the 4" will no prob

 

Yes it will. I pulled my xmember and raised the tranny simply to remove the stocker without cutting for some reason I still cannot figure out as it is still laying in the back yard. I guess because I could.

 

I cleaned my 5" with solvent from turbo clamp to tip and painted them with 3 coats of black stove paint rated for 1200*..painted the clamps with silver stove paint..all last October...was just under there this past week and it still looks new..the down pipe is still black....it doesn't seem to be burning off at all yet..