Has anyone here done it? Any tips or advice on the job would be appreciated, as it looks like a lot of work. Can I get away with not disconnecting the AC lines?

 

do u mean the core support or the header panel?

 

On the quote I got from a local shop, it's simply called the 'Radiator Support'. It's the structural steel piece that runs under the rad from one frame rail to the other. It's what the fenders, and basically the whole front end are mounted to. I just got a quote for almost $1200 for a body shop to do it, but I just don't have that kinda dough right now. I'm thinking about tackling it myself, but I don't have any info on the job. It looks fairly simple to figure out, but I'm just looking for advice from anyone here who's done it.

 

Sorry it took this long to answer. Haven't had time to check in a few days. I did this job on mine a few months ago. It wasn't too complicated, but took a while. I took my time and invested a couple of days.

You don't have to disconnect AC. The hardest part on mine was getting to a lot of the hard to reach nuts and bolts and removing the frame mounts. Those are expensive, but I managed to use my old ones and make my rubber bushings for the bottom. I cut my old support out with a reciprocating saw (after removing the other stuff). I tried to leave the radiator in the truck and work around it, but had to take it out to get the new one in. The part was hard to find at a junkyard but I ran across a pretty good one.

Another problem for me was a rusted frame bracket. Plan for some things like that. I also had problems with some of the studs stripping out of my headlights.

$1200 would be too much for me to pay to have mine fixed. My part was $75 at a cheap junkyard and incidentals cost about $25-30. The body shop price may be reasonable (for a body shop) if you got a new support, with bushings and bolts, plus paint and labor. I don't know. I would have a hard time investing that much in it for my old truck.
Hope this helps. I'll try to check back sooner.