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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?
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.
What about swapping the tips? Does the bumper have to come off?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thanks -- good tip!
Did you have to remove the O2 sensors to rotate the link pipes, or was there enough cable slack?