Guess I should have listened to some of you because I got the oil tube out and went to put the DS in for it to only rub on the front drive shaft. Guess DNAmotoring has never tried putting these on 4wd before yet still labels them as compatible. They are shipping them back at their cost. Guess it is what it is. Good thing I used stage 8 header bolts. Now just waiting for my OBX header kit to come on Thursday.

 

All that work for nothing. Ouch. Well at least by the time you're done you'll be good at it

 

LOL, you got that right might have to start doing installs.

 

Hey, at least the disassembly is done!

 

Yep, I figured If they come Thursday I should be able to get the install done once I get off work.

 

Believe it or not, getting the headers in goes relatively quick, but f'ing around with ALL the other pieces trying to get everything perfect takes a long time haha

 

Me waiting for the headers come is taking forever lol they will finally be here tomorrow and we'll be done in no time

 

Are broken stock manifold bolts a common issue? I'm fixing to install my longtubes and y and want to know what to expect. Mine is an 05 4.6l truck.

 

Anything is possible, but you shouldn't break any of them. All depends on rust and how patient you are and what tools ya got. I bent and stripped two of mine installing my long tubes, they were the ones that are an absolute b***h to get to, had to have a shop remove them. There's a lot involved in swapping manifolds

 

Anyone get lucky enough to get all studs out without breaking any? Mine just tripped 80k miles.

 

I'm sure a large majority get them out without breaking them. My 2 got screwed up at my fault. But you're in VA, and my truck has spent its whole life in TX, so rust/corrosion issues are a tad bit different

 

I honestly think studs are designed to break if necessary. I only had those two and after they were broken they actually came out very easily. as long as you take time apply heat and penetrating oil you will be fine. mine is MN truck with 170k on it. also the reason I used stage 8 header bolts instead of studs this time.

 

A big issues with the studs in the front pass. 2 on the 04+. Those are the ones I had problems with and there's zero room for heat or welding a nut. But yeah, I bent both of them with minimal effort, so they're not too strong to say the least. I could be wrong, but the 97-03s are much easier and don't have any that have super limited access. Ford didn't want anybody messing with the 04+s haha

 

I had mine on a lift today for exhaust work and looked at my manifold studs and they weren't even rusted. I'm going ahead with the longtube and y install.....

 

Good! Now I wanna hear that sumbitch loping afterwards haha