These guys are right! I did mine on a lift, which makes things entirely easier, trust me. I took the steering shaft out completely, made things easier too, and the drivers falls right in from the top. The passenger will go in easier from the bottom, but I removed the plugs and wires too. I also cut my Y Pipe, sice I was fabricating my own custome Y....I saw no need for the OEM pipe.

Do not use your Pacesetter gaskets....they suck...use your old OEM ones, but it's better to run down to your local dealer and pick up a set...they're not bad at all.

 

I am wanting to keep my stock Y pipe and headers in case I ever need to return it to stock, but I will cut it if needed.

How much would a dealer charge for some header gaskets? Will I need to use any sort of lubrication or sealer on it when I install the headers?

Any special tools needed? And can I get away with just removing the wires and keeping the plugs in?

 

My y-pipe came out in one piece without unbolting the crossmember.

Also, do yourself a favor....if you ever plan on removing the header bolts again, put a little anti-sieze on the threads. My header bolts from my shorties came right out after 5 years of service, and I even re-used them on my current StainlessWorks LT's.

 

little late maybe...but i had better luck sliding my drivers side in from the bottom and the pass side slid in easily from the top. I couldn't get my dipstick to budge loose though so i just cut the bracket and welded it back together after the install was done.

The drivers side flange bolts for the stock manifolds are a bitch to get to because the frame interferes.

 

Well I guess we all have had different install experiences. I've done them twice both on lowered trucks without a lift. Plugs and wires both need to come out, you don't want to risk breaking one during install. On my 99 It had a different crossmember than my friends 02 so the y just came right out on the 02 we had to drop the crossmember to get it out. Also my pacesetter ory was a 2 piece and his was a 3 piece. Driver side dropped right in from the top. Pass. side also went in from the top but since we didn't have a lift and couldn't get the truck up high enough to bring it in from the bottom we had to take the a/c dryer and coolant resivior off to get it to drop in from the top. Mine took about 4 hours his took a little longer due to the crossmember and being on our backs. Reuse or replace the stock metal gasket!! It's much better than the one's that come with them, they were like 15 bucks each at the dealer. torque till good and tight then re-torque after about a week or so. Soak everything down with pb Blaster especially the y pipe bolts and O2 sensors, I had 2 O2's that broke on me trying to get them out.

 

"[QUOTE=00ChevyScott;3854655]I am wanting to keep my stock Y pipe and headers in case I ever need to return it to stock, but I will cut it if needed."

I had to cut my y-pipe, so I cut it where the pipe was straight. That way if I wanted to return it to stock in the future, all I would have to do is clamp it back together with a band clamp.

 

Ok guys, got it done today. Took about 4 or 5 hours.

lets just say its loud as f*ck.
and i love it = )

best mod ive done yet.