Installing Magnaflow 49886 Cats on '05 EXT

[Dammage]

Okay, so I just bought this truck and found that the cats were severely plugged. Fortunately, I was able to find a new bolt-on cat via Amazon for $300; score. With that being said, I can not, for the life of me, get it wedged in so that I can bolt it on. I'm wondering if there's a trick to get the long section slid in or if I should cut the pipe and weld it back together once I've got it slid into place.

I'm going to have a few more questions, but this is the first for me here. Thanks for your guidance.

D

 

[Mounce]

Welcome to the Nation!

I'm on my phone and can't see your vehicle information but I'm assuming you have the V8 since you said cats as in two. I know on the i6's you gotta move some things to get the replacements in there. What's in the way keeping you from getting them in? And if you got the others out, shouldn't the new theoretically go in the same way the others came out?

 

[Dammage]

You are correct in assuming that I have the 5.3.

In the interest of making removal as simple as possible, I cut the pipes right before the cats so I could get to the bolts easier. I figured that since they were coming out anyway, why not make at least one thing easy? Now, as I'm trying to get the new ones in, I am either caught by the under-body cross-member at the back of the cat if installing from the front and sliding to the back; or I am blocked by the cross-member going back-to-front while trying to get the angle into position. In short, I'm stuck either way. Now, I could just cut the new pipe and then try to weld it again after it's in-place, but I'd prefer not to if I don't have to. Do you know of anyone who has installed these?

 

[Texan]

I do not have a 5.3, but is the cross member removable?

 

[Dammage]

It looks like it might drop down if I remove 12 bolts or so, but it doesn't look like it's supposed to be removed. I can easily cut the new pipe and put a stainless compression strap around it when I'm done. With that being said, if someone has done this replacement before, I'm interested in what they did.

 

[Mounce]

You remove the Trans support, just support the Trans with a jack or something.

 

[Dammage]

So, as was suggested, I removed unbolted the crossmember from the transmission, blocked up the transaxle, and removed the crossmember. It had to remove it entirely but everything worked really well.

Thanks for the help

 

[Mounce]

Good to hear man!