audiophilitis

I watched the Akra installation video posted by Flat 6 Motorsports on their site -- very informative and really like that fact that the bumper did not have to come off.

QQ for those who have done the installation in their garage, without a lift -- is it truly necessary to remove the link pipes/cats for an Akra slip on install? From the video, it looks like the collar that connects the Akra exhaust to the link pipes can be moved out of the way (towards the link pipe), and the Akra pipes that connect to the OEM link pipes are of the same diameter (no insertion of a smaller diameter pipe into a larger diameter one).

Has anyone done it this way (minimalist approach)? Any tips?

Thanks in advance!

albert olive

Definitely need to remove a link pipe (one removed, the other should be removed but can be twisted down) to install the center muffler.

All in took me under 3 hours for the Akra muffler with tips.

InTheClouds

Short answer: it depends.

Long answer: On my MY23, I did NOT have to remove the actual linkpipe. I actually did this a while ago before there was the Flat6 video so I spent 15 min undoing the linkpipe at first following the instruction manual, only to realize I didn’t actually have to. Reason: because my OE exhaust collar fastener heads were already both facing down from the factory. When I realized that, I retightened the linkpipe collar and proceeded with the rest of the install. Since my OE exhaust collar fastener heads were facing downward from the factory, so I was able to very easily undo the exhaust collar, swap OE exhaust with Akra, redo collar - done.

But if your OE exhaust collars are facing some other direction, then yea you’ll have to undo the linkpipe to get to it unfortunately.

I did remove the bumper for the install though, it wasn’t as bad as I expected.

blackland

What about swapping the tips? Does the bumper have to come off?

audiophilitis

Based on the video it looks like you can swap out the tips without removing the bumper. You should be able to access the tips while the muffler is out.

audiophilitis

Good intel -- thank you!

Flat6Motorsports

With the bumper off, you don't have to remove the link pipes, just loosen the v-band clamps and rotate. We find it easier to remove one of the link pipes to give it enough wiggle room to remove the muffler while keeping the bumper on.

tourenwagen

As per what @Flat6Motorsports said, I just loosened the clamps and rotated the cats down as you can see in the pic below.

A pro-tip is the bolts for the v band clamps face upwards so a well-placed vice grip on the bottom of each bolt can loosen them enough to slide the cats down.

audiophilitis

Thanks -- good tip!

Did you have to remove the O2 sensors to rotate the link pipes, or was there enough cable slack?

TK42ONE

You can follow the o2 line up and pull the clip which should give you enough room to rotate.

tourenwagen

Yes, they have to come out. I bought the special 02 tool for the job but didn't actually use it. Found it much easier using a small adjustable wrench.

tourenwagen

Meant to add that when I put it all back together, I turned the v-band clamps 180 degrees so that any future work will be easy!

audiophilitis

Makes sense -- noted. Thanks again.

audiophilitis

​​​​​​tourenwagen' s pro tip of loosening the v band bolt from the bottom was a life saver!

THANK YOU!

wmah523

With Youtube videos, 2 hrs job, utilizing loading dock. Fairly straight forward. Did the work sitting on an office chair, no back pain this way.