This is not a full-fledged write up but rather a guide to assist you in the installation of your headers. I received a lot of guidance from other members (NickPic83, Yukon Joe, Chris, Nohel, and a couple others I'm probably forgetting). I am going to go step by step with the installation instructions provided by Stainless Works. I don't believe there was a single correct bolt size (I missed annotating some of the correct sizes so feel free to say something if one is wrong, I'll double check them if possible when I get the chance) and there were a lot of tips/tricks I learned from the above mentioned members that I will include.
Disclaimer: This install was a huge pain in the ass but with some free time or another vehicle to drive, some patience, and some tools you can get it done. I did not use a lift, air tools, or any other fancy stuff. I actually probably bought a couple hundred dollars in tools over the three days. I had 30.8 hours invested over 3.5 days. Also, the procedures used below may not be safe practice so utilize them at your own risk.
If anyone else has something to suggest just let me know and I will keep this updated along with a Q&A. If you see I missed something, as I'm sure I did, call me out.
These are some things you will want to make sure you have on hand before you start:
-Lots of various socket extensions (I used a 3/8" drive for everything)
-A deep well metric socket set
-A medium well metric socket set (if you can find one)
-a normal socket set with metric sizes
-knuckles (I broke one so get two) Also an impact knuckle worked really well
-impact gun if you have one (I ended up buying an electric one)
-PB Blaster
-Open Ended Wrenches, Closed Wrenches, or a ratcheting wrench (all metric)
-High Temp RTV Gasket Maker
-Stage 8 Locking Header Bolts (STG-8914 10mm x 1.25)
-Anti-Seize
-Couple Jacks and Jack Stands
1. Disconnect the battery. This is the one time I found out what happens when you don't. The starter got a little frisky on me.
2. Jack the front end up as high as possible or as high as your jack stands will go. Place the jack stands appropriately so they are not going to be in the way.
3. Remove the airbox and inlet (13mm bolts). You'll have to finagle it out of there with the coolant reservoir connected.
4. Remove engine skid plates 10 - 15mm bolts.
5. Loosen factory exhaust at the flange (2 - 10mm bolts?)
6. This is where I only had the resonator on so I removed it. If you have the full system on then you'll have fun getting it out. I actually would suggest removing the stock system after the flange before you start any of this. Jack the ass end up, drop the spare, disconnect at the flange, and wiggle it out.
** If you don’t want to save the factory stuff you can simply cut the hangers and pull it out after removing the head pipe bolts.**
7. Remove (2 – 6mm bolts?) holding left and right heat shields to transmission crossmember.
8. Support transmission and transfer case with jack stands.
9. Remove (2) 12mm nuts from transmission mount.
10. Remove (4) 12mm bolts from cross member and remove cross member.
11. Remove (1) 10mm bolt from left Y-pipe hanger.
12. Loosen clamp on left head pipe.
13. Unplug all O2 sensors.
14. Remove (4) 10mm nuts from left and right head pipes and remove head pipes, two per side.
15. Reinstall cross member and mount.
16. Remove heat shield around front axle (1) 15mm nut and (1) 13mm nut.
17. Remove remaining (2) 10mm bolts from the right heat shield and slide heat shield back toward the rear of the vehicle.
18. Remove starter and wires (1) 10mm nut, (2) 10mm nuts, and (3) 13mm bolts.
19. Mark steering shaft for later reinstallation to same markings and remove (1) 13mm bolt from upper U-joint and move out of the way.
20. Remove (2) 19mm nuts from right motor mount.
21. Raise motor with jack and remove (3) 13mm bolts from right motor mount to engine plate. These gave me a hell of a time as they are at a very awkward angle but you will eventually get them. A combination of extensions, knuckles, breaker bar, and lots of pressure will help. I placed a small piece of 2x4 under the oil pan and placed a jack under it to lift the engine up. This may not be the best route but I couldn’t see any other way with an engine hoist.
22. Remove right and left heat shields on manifolds (4) 6mm bolts, two per side.
23. Remove (1) 8mm bolt from dipstick tube and remove dipstick and tube.
24. Remove (16) 10mm nuts, eight per side, from manifolds and remove manifolds. This is a tight area to work in and is where the med well sockets can come in handy. Most spots the deep well work fine but there’s a couple areas where a deep well is too long and the short well is too short.
25. Remove the 16 studs at this time (only if using aftermarket header bolts). The instructions say Torx E8 but I have no idea what that is. I ended up using a 6mm? socket to remove them.
26. Place a small bead of the high temp rtv on the back of the factory gasket and line it up of the engine.
27. Install all of the bottom header bolts on both sides with anti-seize heavily applied to the threads.
28. Place another small bead on the other side of the factory gasket where it will mate up with the headers.
29. Wiggle the headers up in there and let them rest on the bottom header bolts.
30. Reinstall dipstick tube and dipstick.
31. Reinstall motor mount and lower the motor and tighten nuts. This was another pain in the ass. One of the bolts took me about an hour to get in and was the first time I had to get an extra hand.
32. Reinstall starter. Here is where I made the biggest mistake. I took the solenoid out when I took the starter out. When I did this step I didn’t get the clutch around the solenoid properly so when I connected the battery the starter was running constantly. Eventually figured it out but it took a while. I don’t think the solenoid needs to come off. It does make it easier to get to one of the bolts but if you can, avoid it.
33. Reinstall axle shield.
34. Reinstall steering shaft.
35. Reinstall right heat shield.
36. Reinstall air box and inlet.
37. Reinstall (1) 10mm bolt back in left heat shield at crossmember.
**I did not tighten any clamps down until I had everything lined up and how I wanted it. I’d also look at a picture of the full setup (should be one in the box) so that you can see where each piece goes.**
38. Install left lead pipe to header with clamp.
39. Install cat or cat eliminator to left lead pipe.
40. Install rear left lead pipe to cat with hanger clamp.
41. Reinstall left hanger to transmission grommet with clamp.
42. Install right cat or cat eliminator to header with clamp.
43. Remove O2 sensors from old pipes and reinstall in new pipes. O2 extension cable is needed for the left rear O2 sensor. It will probably need some plastic grinded down so it snaps in with the factory side properly. Make sure you zip tie the cables out of the way as you will have to pull them down from the holders and they probably won’t fit back in.
44. Reinstall all skid plates.
45. Now you will need to continue with whatever exhaust you went with and install should be straight forward as far as y-pipe or x-pipe connections.
I am going to try and verify these bolt/nut sizes once I get my truck back tomorrow. If I end up doing someone else's headers (cough, cough Fred) I'll take pictures. I know some of these instructions are worthless without pics but we haven't had a collective install thread so hopefully this will help people out and I will input pics as I can. I tried to do video this time but it resulted in 4 hours of me laying on the ground cursing so I stopped recording. Once again, this is just a copy of Stainless Works instructions that I have corrected, put in my lessons learned, and the tips from the above mentioned members.
For those of you wondering, I went with the SW turbo S-Tube Muffler dumped under the bed. It is extremely loud and the drone is pretty bad. I am either going to be switching to a Corsa setup or attempting to bring what I have now out the back so it’s not so bad.
If anyone has any questions, let me know. If I don’t know the answer, someone will.
Some additional notes courtesy of @m3dragon
1. Remove the drive axle to the front differential. Makes it easier to get into access the nuts for removal and install.
2. Remove the driver side heat shield, again to give you more room.
3. Install the 4 lower bolts so you can slide the headers down onto them so you get your alignment. This also means you already have them started so you don't have to use the force to find the threads.
4. You do not need a lot of silicon on the flanges. Put a bead on and spread it around with your finger. (use a glove as it is a pain to get off skin)
5. Have a buddy who has small arms and hands help tighten the bolts to the head. If you have bear paws like me you hosed.
6. You only need to put them to 45-50 LB pounds so don't go crazy on tightening.
7. If you use the bolts you may need to re-tap the holes to get the stud out. It is a 10 mm 1.25 thread. DO NOT force the bolts in. Common sense but a friendly reminder.
Disclaimer: This install was a huge pain in the ass but with some free time or another vehicle to drive, some patience, and some tools you can get it done. I did not use a lift, air tools, or any other fancy stuff. I actually probably bought a couple hundred dollars in tools over the three days. I had 30.8 hours invested over 3.5 days. Also, the procedures used below may not be safe practice so utilize them at your own risk.
If anyone else has something to suggest just let me know and I will keep this updated along with a Q&A. If you see I missed something, as I'm sure I did, call me out.
These are some things you will want to make sure you have on hand before you start:
-Lots of various socket extensions (I used a 3/8" drive for everything)
-A deep well metric socket set
-A medium well metric socket set (if you can find one)
-a normal socket set with metric sizes
-knuckles (I broke one so get two) Also an impact knuckle worked really well
-impact gun if you have one (I ended up buying an electric one)
-PB Blaster
-Open Ended Wrenches, Closed Wrenches, or a ratcheting wrench (all metric)
-High Temp RTV Gasket Maker
-Stage 8 Locking Header Bolts (STG-8914 10mm x 1.25)
-Anti-Seize
-Couple Jacks and Jack Stands
1. Disconnect the battery. This is the one time I found out what happens when you don't. The starter got a little frisky on me.
2. Jack the front end up as high as possible or as high as your jack stands will go. Place the jack stands appropriately so they are not going to be in the way.
3. Remove the airbox and inlet (13mm bolts). You'll have to finagle it out of there with the coolant reservoir connected.
4. Remove engine skid plates 10 - 15mm bolts.
5. Loosen factory exhaust at the flange (2 - 10mm bolts?)
6. This is where I only had the resonator on so I removed it. If you have the full system on then you'll have fun getting it out. I actually would suggest removing the stock system after the flange before you start any of this. Jack the ass end up, drop the spare, disconnect at the flange, and wiggle it out.
** If you don’t want to save the factory stuff you can simply cut the hangers and pull it out after removing the head pipe bolts.**
7. Remove (2 – 6mm bolts?) holding left and right heat shields to transmission crossmember.
8. Support transmission and transfer case with jack stands.
9. Remove (2) 12mm nuts from transmission mount.
10. Remove (4) 12mm bolts from cross member and remove cross member.
11. Remove (1) 10mm bolt from left Y-pipe hanger.
12. Loosen clamp on left head pipe.
13. Unplug all O2 sensors.
14. Remove (4) 10mm nuts from left and right head pipes and remove head pipes, two per side.
15. Reinstall cross member and mount.
16. Remove heat shield around front axle (1) 15mm nut and (1) 13mm nut.
17. Remove remaining (2) 10mm bolts from the right heat shield and slide heat shield back toward the rear of the vehicle.
18. Remove starter and wires (1) 10mm nut, (2) 10mm nuts, and (3) 13mm bolts.
19. Mark steering shaft for later reinstallation to same markings and remove (1) 13mm bolt from upper U-joint and move out of the way.
20. Remove (2) 19mm nuts from right motor mount.
21. Raise motor with jack and remove (3) 13mm bolts from right motor mount to engine plate. These gave me a hell of a time as they are at a very awkward angle but you will eventually get them. A combination of extensions, knuckles, breaker bar, and lots of pressure will help. I placed a small piece of 2x4 under the oil pan and placed a jack under it to lift the engine up. This may not be the best route but I couldn’t see any other way with an engine hoist.
22. Remove right and left heat shields on manifolds (4) 6mm bolts, two per side.
23. Remove (1) 8mm bolt from dipstick tube and remove dipstick and tube.
24. Remove (16) 10mm nuts, eight per side, from manifolds and remove manifolds. This is a tight area to work in and is where the med well sockets can come in handy. Most spots the deep well work fine but there’s a couple areas where a deep well is too long and the short well is too short.
25. Remove the 16 studs at this time (only if using aftermarket header bolts). The instructions say Torx E8 but I have no idea what that is. I ended up using a 6mm? socket to remove them.
26. Place a small bead of the high temp rtv on the back of the factory gasket and line it up of the engine.
27. Install all of the bottom header bolts on both sides with anti-seize heavily applied to the threads.
28. Place another small bead on the other side of the factory gasket where it will mate up with the headers.
29. Wiggle the headers up in there and let them rest on the bottom header bolts.
30. Reinstall dipstick tube and dipstick.
31. Reinstall motor mount and lower the motor and tighten nuts. This was another pain in the ass. One of the bolts took me about an hour to get in and was the first time I had to get an extra hand.
32. Reinstall starter. Here is where I made the biggest mistake. I took the solenoid out when I took the starter out. When I did this step I didn’t get the clutch around the solenoid properly so when I connected the battery the starter was running constantly. Eventually figured it out but it took a while. I don’t think the solenoid needs to come off. It does make it easier to get to one of the bolts but if you can, avoid it.
33. Reinstall axle shield.
34. Reinstall steering shaft.
35. Reinstall right heat shield.
36. Reinstall air box and inlet.
37. Reinstall (1) 10mm bolt back in left heat shield at crossmember.
**I did not tighten any clamps down until I had everything lined up and how I wanted it. I’d also look at a picture of the full setup (should be one in the box) so that you can see where each piece goes.**
38. Install left lead pipe to header with clamp.
39. Install cat or cat eliminator to left lead pipe.
40. Install rear left lead pipe to cat with hanger clamp.
41. Reinstall left hanger to transmission grommet with clamp.
42. Install right cat or cat eliminator to header with clamp.
43. Remove O2 sensors from old pipes and reinstall in new pipes. O2 extension cable is needed for the left rear O2 sensor. It will probably need some plastic grinded down so it snaps in with the factory side properly. Make sure you zip tie the cables out of the way as you will have to pull them down from the holders and they probably won’t fit back in.
44. Reinstall all skid plates.
45. Now you will need to continue with whatever exhaust you went with and install should be straight forward as far as y-pipe or x-pipe connections.
I am going to try and verify these bolt/nut sizes once I get my truck back tomorrow. If I end up doing someone else's headers (cough, cough Fred) I'll take pictures. I know some of these instructions are worthless without pics but we haven't had a collective install thread so hopefully this will help people out and I will input pics as I can. I tried to do video this time but it resulted in 4 hours of me laying on the ground cursing so I stopped recording. Once again, this is just a copy of Stainless Works instructions that I have corrected, put in my lessons learned, and the tips from the above mentioned members.
For those of you wondering, I went with the SW turbo S-Tube Muffler dumped under the bed. It is extremely loud and the drone is pretty bad. I am either going to be switching to a Corsa setup or attempting to bring what I have now out the back so it’s not so bad.
If anyone has any questions, let me know. If I don’t know the answer, someone will.
Some additional notes courtesy of @m3dragon
1. Remove the drive axle to the front differential. Makes it easier to get into access the nuts for removal and install.
2. Remove the driver side heat shield, again to give you more room.
3. Install the 4 lower bolts so you can slide the headers down onto them so you get your alignment. This also means you already have them started so you don't have to use the force to find the threads.
4. You do not need a lot of silicon on the flanges. Put a bead on and spread it around with your finger. (use a glove as it is a pain to get off skin)
5. Have a buddy who has small arms and hands help tighten the bolts to the head. If you have bear paws like me you hosed.
6. You only need to put them to 45-50 LB pounds so don't go crazy on tightening.
7. If you use the bolts you may need to re-tap the holes to get the stud out. It is a 10 mm 1.25 thread. DO NOT force the bolts in. Common sense but a friendly reminder.
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