So I just finished up my install of the JBA long tube headers and Cajun resonated b-pipes. I just wanted to share a few tips with those looking to do this in the future. My install was on a 2005 2wd with 98k miles. The truck has been located in south Georgia, so excessive rust was not really an issue. Install took me about 8-9 hours working alone.
A week prior I went ahead and pulled out my fender liners and and heat shields then soaked all my bolts in PB Blaster. The heat shields are easy to unbolt, but I fount them nearly impossible to remove, so I took straight cut tin snips and cut the crap out of them until they came out.
I rented a Oxygen Sensor socket set from Oreilly's and it came in very handy. I had zero issues removing all four of the sensors. Evertough PN: 67060
I put the jack under the motor and supported its weight. I loosened the bolts holding the two motor mount brackets to the block. Dont remove these bolts completely, just leave a few threads in the block. Go ahead and jack the motor up as far as it will allow after. *There was absolutely no need to loosen the motor mounts themselves.*
Passenger side was a breeze. Plenty of room to work from the fender well and the header slides in and out no problem. I did end up removing the heat shield closest to the header, but it may have not been necessary to remove. I loosened all bolts and torqued all bolts right from the fender well as well, no need to get any from underneath. Only problem I had was with the dipstick. Ended up having to take a break and searching how to remove it. Ended up using a 90 degree pick and scraped all the dirt out of the socket then squirted some pb blaster in there and it came right out.
Driver side was more of a pain. I'm 6'5 350lbs, so I dont have the smallest of arms and hands. Squeezing my hand through the brake lines was a chore when needed. The very front bolt is located by the AC compressor and the AC line actually blocks you from using a deep socket on a ratchet. Luckily I had a Stanley deep socket that wasn't very deep, and it barely worked. I should have ground off about 1/2" and it would've worked much nicer. I used a standard deep well socket to break loose all of the other bolts from the fender well. When installing the header I had to swap between all three sockets in the picture. One of the lower bolts required me to use a flex head gear wrench socket to tighten and torque down. I was not able to get a socket on the nut at all. Had two studs come out with the nuts on this side, but luckily I purchased two new studs and eight new nuts before attempting this.
When I finished up the driver side I tightened back up the motor mount brackets and lowered the engine all the way down. The clearance was good all over except on the driver's side motor mount bracket. The header ran right over top of it and maybe had 1/8" clearance. I had to take off the driver's side motor mount bracket and notch it out where the header pipe ran over top of it. I took off maybe 1/2" to be safe.
Tools I used:
3/8 Flexhead long handle ratchet. HarborFreight P/N:62333 (Buy it, it made everything a BREEZE. Broke every
bolt and tightened all bolts but one with it.) Use a 20% coupon and its worth its weight in gold.
14mm Flex head ratchet. Buy a 6 point. Dont try any of this with 12 point. You'll regret it later. Locked on another
wrench to get enough leverage to torque the nut with it. Only used on one nut.
14mm sockets. I used 3 different lengths. Again, 6 point.
10mm socket. Shallow (dipstick)
3/8 Extensions, several different sizes.
Impact universal joints
90 degree pick to clean out dipstick tube socket before I was able to remove it.
E10 Torx socket to install new studs
I used 1/2 breaker bar with 1/2 14mm to break loose the manifold to bpipe bolts.
Oxygen sensor wrench kit
Tin snips
Also, buy OEM gaskets. Those gaskets that come with the JBA's really are crap. I would hate to do this much work to compromise it with those things.
I may be forgetting a few things, but this should be a good supplement for someone researching this job.
A week prior I went ahead and pulled out my fender liners and and heat shields then soaked all my bolts in PB Blaster. The heat shields are easy to unbolt, but I fount them nearly impossible to remove, so I took straight cut tin snips and cut the crap out of them until they came out.
I rented a Oxygen Sensor socket set from Oreilly's and it came in very handy. I had zero issues removing all four of the sensors. Evertough PN: 67060
I put the jack under the motor and supported its weight. I loosened the bolts holding the two motor mount brackets to the block. Dont remove these bolts completely, just leave a few threads in the block. Go ahead and jack the motor up as far as it will allow after. *There was absolutely no need to loosen the motor mounts themselves.*
Passenger side was a breeze. Plenty of room to work from the fender well and the header slides in and out no problem. I did end up removing the heat shield closest to the header, but it may have not been necessary to remove. I loosened all bolts and torqued all bolts right from the fender well as well, no need to get any from underneath. Only problem I had was with the dipstick. Ended up having to take a break and searching how to remove it. Ended up using a 90 degree pick and scraped all the dirt out of the socket then squirted some pb blaster in there and it came right out.
Driver side was more of a pain. I'm 6'5 350lbs, so I dont have the smallest of arms and hands. Squeezing my hand through the brake lines was a chore when needed. The very front bolt is located by the AC compressor and the AC line actually blocks you from using a deep socket on a ratchet. Luckily I had a Stanley deep socket that wasn't very deep, and it barely worked. I should have ground off about 1/2" and it would've worked much nicer. I used a standard deep well socket to break loose all of the other bolts from the fender well. When installing the header I had to swap between all three sockets in the picture. One of the lower bolts required me to use a flex head gear wrench socket to tighten and torque down. I was not able to get a socket on the nut at all. Had two studs come out with the nuts on this side, but luckily I purchased two new studs and eight new nuts before attempting this.
When I finished up the driver side I tightened back up the motor mount brackets and lowered the engine all the way down. The clearance was good all over except on the driver's side motor mount bracket. The header ran right over top of it and maybe had 1/8" clearance. I had to take off the driver's side motor mount bracket and notch it out where the header pipe ran over top of it. I took off maybe 1/2" to be safe.
Tools I used:
3/8 Flexhead long handle ratchet. HarborFreight P/N:62333 (Buy it, it made everything a BREEZE. Broke every
bolt and tightened all bolts but one with it.) Use a 20% coupon and its worth its weight in gold.
14mm Flex head ratchet. Buy a 6 point. Dont try any of this with 12 point. You'll regret it later. Locked on another
wrench to get enough leverage to torque the nut with it. Only used on one nut.
14mm sockets. I used 3 different lengths. Again, 6 point.
10mm socket. Shallow (dipstick)
3/8 Extensions, several different sizes.
Impact universal joints
90 degree pick to clean out dipstick tube socket before I was able to remove it.
E10 Torx socket to install new studs
I used 1/2 breaker bar with 1/2 14mm to break loose the manifold to bpipe bolts.
Oxygen sensor wrench kit
Tin snips
Also, buy OEM gaskets. Those gaskets that come with the JBA's really are crap. I would hate to do this much work to compromise it with those things.
I may be forgetting a few things, but this should be a good supplement for someone researching this job.
