Installed My Catless Mids Las Night!!

[lbstone]

Me and a buddy tackled the catless mids last night at about 10 pm at his shop. We had a lift but it still took us about 6 hours!!! WTF, I thought they would go on easy!!!

How it went: We had the truck on a big center lift which proved a little difficult when it came to pipe removal. THe hardest part was getting the 6 bolts loose on the collector pipes. That took us a few hours. When doing the driver side we struggled to reach two of the three bolts but finally decided to just remove the started which made the job alot easier. We also found that the stupid nuts with the metal thingy was best held in place with a 17 mm wrench. You will also need about 2' of extensions to get thwo of the three drivers side bolts out and the starter! The driver side mids came out east but now we struggled with the passenger side one's. We had to try and remove the entire cat back to get it out. It wasn't happeneing. We couldn't get the mufler off the system, it was in there good and because of the dual outlet and intle design, I couldn't spin it to break the pipes free (if that makes any sence). In the long run we just pulled off all the rubber hangers and pulled the entire cat back backward a few inches. The passenger side cats came out easily and the reinstallation was cake. Once the catless mids were in place, the entire catback had to be tweeked a bit and now sits about an inch further back. The last bracket that hold up the rear tips is very close to a metal bracket for the rear bumper and seems to be a rubbing hazard, maybe the mids were a tad to long (they are Boomers that I bought used on this forum). Because the catback is now a tad farther back, the hangers were a bitch to get on and required a bit of muscle!!

Besides the Catback being a little farther back, everything else is fine. I'm hoping after a get some miels on the system, I will be able to readjust the pipes a bit. Any one else have issues like this??

How it sounds-- Holly shit this f**ker is loud!!! I absolutely love the sound, it gave me chills upon start up. I was amazed at the difference removing the cats makes. THh tone is much deeper and throatier!

How it feels -- SOTP the truck feels like its gota little more power but not as much as I thought. Its hard to tell though, I just drove it home this morning and only did 2 WOT blasts, I didn't want to wake up eveyone in a 2 mile radius!!!!!!!!!!!! :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:

 

[mosrt10]

NICE!!:rock: :rock: I remember when I picked my truck up from Justins and started it up for the first time. I thought OMG is this a nascar.:burnout:

 

[Annu Kumar]

Shit Man very good. I want them so bad now! I mean really does it improve acceleration a lot Now.

 

[Sharpimage]

Sweet bro! :rock: yeah, it is pretty loud i installed mine about a month ago
when the weather was predictable :dontknow: and i remember when i first
started her up... Damn! i couldn't talk to the person across the bed without
yelling! however it's not too bad now... just plain bad ass! :rock: glad to see
that it's working out for you and yes the collector bolts are a major PITA...
why do you think they had those queer metal tabs on the stock setup? :dontknow:
i'm still trying to figure it out...

Sharpi

 

[Venom Power]

No check engine light?:dontknow:

 

[lbstone]

No check engine light?:dontknow:

No, I installed O2 sims in place of the rear O2 sensors.

Sweet bro! :rock: yeah, it is pretty loud i installed mine about a month ago
when the weather was predictable :dontknow: and i remember when i first
started her up... Damn! i couldn't talk to the person across the bed without
yelling! however it's not too bad now... just plain bad ass! :rock: glad to see
that it's working out for you and yes the collector bolts are a major PITA...
why do you think they had those queer metal tabs on the stock setup? :dontknow:
i'm still trying to figure it out...

Sharpi

Did the mids push your catback backward about an inch or so. Mine now stick out from the bumper a few inches, you can actually read "Magnaflow" on the polished tips now. I also couldn't get one of the two rubber hangers to reach on the magnaflow muffler. I got the one on the passenger side to reach but I couldnt stretch the one on the drivers side enough. I might bring the system to a shop and have them cut out an inch off the catback or the mids so the system buttons up a little better. The tips are now a little crooked also in additon to the rear bracket rubbing once she warms up! This are little nuisances that I want to fix and am curious if its the norm with Boomers catless mids. As far as the tabs are concerned, I reinstalled them on the top bolts and found that they actually helped with the reinstall. I know the tabs would just bend all up if you just tried to loosen the bolt without trying to fit a wrench over them but during re-instalation, they held with more then enough strength to prevent the nut from turning while I tighten the bolts down and properly torqued! Also getting the starter out of the way is key!!

I took the truck for a nice spin on the highway to a friends house and it sounds great. I didn't even want to listen to the stereo. As far as drone, I'll tell ya it basically drones at every RPM except about 2K. THe thing sounds bad ass. On my way home, another buddy stopped by to hear the truck and was blown away when I ripped up the street toward my house. He''s a Marine and said when I hit WOT and just before I shifted, he said " it's as loud as a grenade going off". Over 5K RPM the thing just screams!! As far as power is concerned, I cant tell that much in the lower gears. Once the tires spin in first as they do so easily, how can you tall 20 or 30 more horses!! I can tell the most in 6th gear believe it or not! Now I can keep it in 6th the entire time on the highway while over 70 - 75 mph. Before I would feel the need to down shift while climbing any sort of grade while traveling under 80 and in 6th. I dont like giving the truck so much throttle while under 1.5K RPM and under load. Now the truck pulls a bit harder under the same amount of throttle in top gear, I hope this makes sense!!

 

[Sharpimage]

No, I installed O2 sims in place of the rear O2 sensors.


Did the mids push your catback backward about an inch or so. Mine now stick out from the bumper a few inches, you can actually read "Magnaflow" on the polished tips now. I also couldn't get one of the two rubber hangers to reach on the magnaflow muffler. I got the one on the passenger side to reach but I couldnt stretch the one on the drivers side enough. I might bring the system to a shop and have them cut out an inch off the catback or the mids so the system buttons up a little better. The tips are now a little crooked also in additon to the rear bracket rubbing once she warms up! This are little nuisances that I want to fix and am curious if its the norm with Boomers catless mids. As far as the tabs are concerned, I reinstalled them on the top bolts and found that they actually helped with the reinstall. I know the tabs would just bend all up if you just tried to loosen the bolt without trying to fit a wrench over them but during re-instalation, they held with more then enough strength to prevent the nut from turning while I tighten the bolts down and properly torqued! Also getting the starter out of the way is key!!

I took the truck for a nice spin on the highway to a friends house and it sounds great. I didn't even want to listen to the stereo. As far as drone, I'll tell ya it basically drones at every RPM except about 2K. THe thing sounds bad ass. On my way home, another buddy stopped by to hear the truck and was blown away when I ripped up the street toward my house. He''s a Marine and said when I hit WOT and just before I shifted, he said " it's as loud as a grenade going off". Over 5K RPM the thing just screams!! As far as power is concerned, I cant tell that much in the lower gears. Once the tires spin in first as they do so easily, how can you tall 20 or 30 more horses!! I can tell the most in 6th gear believe it or not! Now I can keep it in 6th the entire time on the highway while over 70 - 75 mph. Before I would feel the need to down shift while climbing any sort of grade while traveling under 80 and in 6th. I dont like giving the truck so much throttle while under 1.5K RPM and under load. Now the truck pulls a bit harder under the same amount of throttle in top gear, I hope this makes sense!!

Yeah, see, when i installed my mids i had a full day as i knew it was gonna
take time... in the end i actually ended up removing my entire cat-back. also
when i installed the mid pipes i did a very loose bolt up to the flanges then
i put the magnaflow in place. This allowed me to "square" everything up
and the rest is history... from the get go i could always read magnaflow
even when i had the stock mids in. :dontknow: I don't mind it too much..
also, the tips do sit a bit close to the bumper and i dont think there is any
way to fix that than to bring it to a muffler shop.. i know how you feel though.

Also, i've been trying to determine what the hell this sound i've been hearing is...
I noticed it after i installed my midpipes and thought it was a leak... my friend
informed me that if it was a leak i would know it by heart... He listened himself
and said it wasn't a leak... Anyways the sound is similar to a hissing sound
and it happens when i step on the gas Accel. from 1200RPM to say 3000RPM.
Only happens in gear and it's very annoying... not a high hiss, just like it's
accelerating... only crappy... :dontknow:

Sharpi

 

[HOT RAM]

I was told that sound is something peculiar to MagnaFlow mufflers. :dontknow: I had a very hard time getting my mids in.They were WAY too long.That was one reason I went to 3" all the way ( I had to cut the adapter part of the mids off).Sounded totally badass and cool,but too loud inside for me and outside for the VA State Police

 

[Venom Power]

Why is this an all day affair? Are the muffler shops refusing to do the job?:dontknow:

 

[mauiSRT/10]

My mids also pushed the magnaflow back a little to where I could read the words Magnaflow on the tailpipes as well. I actually like the look better. I dont know if my hangers were a problem. I dont think so as I remember checking to see if everything was in place. I did not perform my install. I had a muffler shop do it. The tone rules!!!!

patrick

 

[outnumbered]

Why is this an all day affair? Are the muffler shops refusing to do the job?:dontknow:

The clips on the collector bolts are an absolute nightmare if they start to spin. Some guys get lucky and they come right off. Others--like myself, had to get more creative, and use a dremel tool and extension to cut them off. I actually had to cut a couple of bolts.

As for the mids (X-Metal), mine (as well as several others) were too long. This required a trip to the muffler shop for cuts and welds in order for them to fit. Even then, I had to drop the entire catback to make everything work. Here's a tip on the catback, soak the rubber hangers with WD-40. After they sit for a couple of minutes, they will come right off. When rehanging the catback, be prepared for a lot of pulling, lifting pushing and kicking...yes I said kicking. When you get the catback positioned on the hangers, the easiest way that I found to get the catback to slide over the mids, is to spray the inside of the catback with WD-40, then, get at the rear of the truck, lay sideways, and stomp the ever living crap out of the tips with the bottom of your foot. This will push everything back to where it needs to be. I think that 6-9 hours is typical, if you have problems with the clips on the collector bolts.

 

[lbstone]

Why is this an all day affair? Are the muffler shops refusing to do the job?:dontknow:

I just wanted to do it myself! Looking back, I would rather pay a shop next time. It's not worth saving a few hundred $'s for me to be under my truck for almost 6 hours, cursing most of the time. I dont think it's a very difficult job, it just becomes a PITA if you have a hard time removing the collector flange bolts and catback as I did!! I'd say any shop charging between $150 - $250 is resonable for the job/

The clips on the collector bolts are an absolute nightmare if they start to spin. Some guys get lucky and they come right off. Others--like myself, had to get more creative, and use a dremel tool and extension to cut them off. I actually had to cut a couple of bolts.

As for the mids (X-Metal), mine (as well as several others) were too long. This required a trip to the muffler shop for cuts and welds in order for them to fit. Even then, I had to drop the entire catback to make everything work. Here's a tip on the catback, soak the rubber hangers with WD-40. After they sit for a couple of minutes, they will come right off. When rehanging the catback, be prepared for a lot of pulling, lifting pushing and kicking...yes I said kicking. When you get the catback positioned on the hangers, the easiest way that I found to get the catback to slide over the mids, is to spray the inside of the catback with WD-40, then, get at the rear of the truck, lay sideways, and stomp the ever living crap out of the tips with the bottom of your foot. This will push everything back to where it needs to be. I think that 6-9 hours is typical, if you have problems with the clips on the collector bolts.

yeah, I did the WD-40 thing on the rubber hangers but was unable to get the driver side muffler hanger on. I'm sure the passenger side hanger is plenty of support! I did the job on a lift and actually removed all the hangers on the cat back and slid it back a few inches to get the mids in then bolted up to the flange. Yeah, the flange bolts on mine spun freely. I had to use a 17mm wrench to slip over the metal tab and square nut. I had to slip the wrench over the side of the tab that bents down and grabs the flange. Any other way and the flange had a notch cut into it which would just pull the wrench right off the tab and bolt. It really sucked on a few of the bolts, I had to stick my entire arm up and over various engin componets to try and get the open end of the wrench over the nut and tab from the top (if that makes sense). Once I did this. I had my bubby hold the wnech while I found the right combination or extensions to create the proper length to be outta the way of the million obstacles. I wish I took some pics to illustrate further. I have a tab or two that I broke on accident while trying to remove the bolt thinking it would be easier to try and full that metal tab off. I found once I spent 10 - 30 minutes getting the wrenches in their proper place, then it was pretty easy, the positoning had to be very creative on two of the six bolts, 2 were just hard then the two bottoms (1 on each side) were cake!!

I guy at work immidiatly noticed the sound when I pulled up and was asking what I did. I think the coolest sound now is at startup. The truck now "barks" to life and quickly settles into this kinda loppy idle!! It gave me chills while leaving this morning. THe shake at startup with the sound and the quick return to idle is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. I'm gonna take some video to post once it stops raining.

 

[01VIPERGTS/ACR]

AMEN BROTHER. my dad and i did it on our backs 18" off the ground on jack stands.those piece of sheot nuts they use are a big f-in joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.and to all others attempting this,remove both fender skirts and the starter.oh,by the way...the starter is fun as hell to but man,it only took us about three or so to do it.:dontknow: but none the less.....WHAT A PAIN IN THE ARSE.but,sounds good dont it?:rock:

ps. to anyone attempting this task.HAVE FUN....BE PATIENT...DONT SHOOT ANYONE!

 

[DRamSrt10]

Nice!! Congrats man! :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: