  |
Okay so for all of you who are looking to add a little power by opening up back pressure an upgraded cat back exhaust is a good move. However, the installation for your average person has a few tricks that I discovered the hard way. So I'm going to share the wealth to make it easier on my fellow jeep enthusiasts. Now, before I start, let me say that everything I've done on my Jeep I've done on my own or with help from friends, I also help out a lot of my friends with theirs in order to learn a little more for future upgrades on mine. I consider myself your basic back yard mechanic and nothing more. I installed a TFX Cat Back System. It is a mid range upgrade and served my purposes, it has the desired power increase, sound and the price is definately reasonable for a cat back upgrade. As a note for the reader, almost all of the "bolt on" cat back systems have the same installation procedures. First and foremost you will need Jack Stands high enough to allow your rear axle to drop all the way down, this will give you more room to work. You'll need a good hack saw, with a newer blade or one thats still in good shape. You will definately need a breaker bar and some WD-40. You will need to remove your skid plate so you need to use your jack or get another jack stand. Jack it up and put it on stands then put in the support for the transfer case and tranny. First Trick. Spray all the bolts for the transfer case mount and skid plate with WD-40 and let it sit for a little while. This will help loosen the bolts up and make them easier to break the seal. Second Trick. Use a tool box or something a foot or so in height in order to rest the Skid plate on when you begin to remove it. It has to be sturdy enough to support the weight. Third Trick. Completely remove the tail pipe hangers from the frame, this makes it easier to get pop the tail pipe hangers out of the rubber bushings. USE GLOVES! You will need a small flat head screw driver to help pull it over the lip of the hanger, this is a pain in the a$$ and if you don't have gloves you will cut yourself a few times, trust me on this one. Fourth Trick. It's recommended that you cut out the old tail pipe just behind the muffler. This part is a pain, a dremmel with the steel cutting blade will not cut your tailpipe. Your best bet is to remove the muffler from the flange, you might have to spray with WD-40 to help loosen them up, and let the flange rest on the ground. Then use the hack saw. If your blade is good, this won't take that long. BAM! Old system removed! Putting on the new system takes about 30 to 45 minutes to put everything on and reinstall your skid. It's taking everything off that is a pain. Also when you are done. LET IT IDLE for 5 to 10 minutes so your on board computer can adjust. It will throw out some smoke because it is burning off lubricants from the manufacturing and packaging process. A Final Note. Most of these systems come with a removable tail pipe tip. Because a lot of them will fit on various models you may have to trim 3 to 6 inches off the end of the new tail pipe to put that nice fancy tip on. Hope this helps everyone, and if somebody knows any better tricks for this let me know, I'll be helping a friend replace his cat back in another month or so.
|
|
fawk the hacksaw....a sawzall would be best. I don't own one so I used my jigsaw with metal cutting blade to chop the exhaust. --------------------------------------------------------------
Never trust a fart |
|
|
Yeah had I had a sawzaw it would have been much easier. Unfortunately I didn't find out until after the fact that my neighbor had one. Power tools always make life a little easier! --------------------------------------------------------------
Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades! |