Leaderboard

I did everything from the bottom (3.5L). In fact, only way I could really even get up there was with the lower cats off (or resonators on some models). Getting the head shields off the uppers was the tough part…a few 10mm are in very tight spots. Some sheared off due to rust. Penetrant wouldn’t hurt. Once the shields are off, you’ll still need/want socket extensions and wobbles to give yourself leverage below the chassis…working space is still tight. Access to the RH upper O2 sucks. All others are easy (LH upper from the top). I can’t remember if everything was nuts, but I want to say some were bolts. I know I sheared a couple on the drivers side and had to pull the exhaust manifold off to repair. Passenger side is a nightmare…fortunately didn’t have to remove that manifold and didn’t shear any. Also, I basically needed to remove the entire exhaust system to pull the uppers off. There wasn’t enough slack in the hangers to pry things backwards, so I removed everything starting from the rear.

@EricCR Forget OEM. 10x https://belmetric.com/m14x1-5-fine-din-6921-flange-bolt-class-10-9-wrench-18mm/?sku=BFD14X1.5X80YLW @ $3.54/ea 10x https://belmetric.com/din-6927-fine-full-wrench-class-10-top-lock-flange-nut/ @ $1.54/ea Class 10/10.9 hardware, yellow zinc, OEM size and function (prevailing torque lock nut). Only real downside is they are not JIS spec, so they need different size wrenches than you'd normally use on the truck (18mm and 21mm). Buy 10 sets because there's a price break that's less than a buck more (8 @ $49.92 vs 10 @ $50.80 before tax/shipping). Haven't used Belmetric before, but will be soon.