Just wondering how much trouble I ll have getting the original manifold studs out and what to do if they break. Anybody who s done this before got any advice?

 

Have fun bud, the shock tower on our f150s block the front 4 studs and they are a bugger. If you dont have a lift jack its even tougher and to get to them you must take the motor free and jack it up a inch or 2 to get to them. If they break thats more fun, once they break no tool can get them out no matter what drill style you use. You must weld to the broken stud then use some vice grips and start turning. Overall if none break your looking at 10 hours for both sides and if they do break just double it. Its probably the toughest thing to do on our trucks and some people just pull the motor out. Just do not take the heads off, once you do that then you need new gaskets that cost a lot to get. Good luck

 

Wow sounds kinda rough lol. Thanks anyways. Think I ll give it a try though next week and hope for the best ;-)

 

Yea go for it, like I said you will need to lift the motor a little to get at them and plan on it being out of use for a few days.

 

Ya I Figured it could take a few days. Oh well got my RZR to drive to work for awhile lol

 

why do you want to take them out?? Just to replace / upgrading to headers / swapping out for locking manifold bolts????

 

The driver side is warped so I'm going with JBA short headers

 

I just had to remove my passenger side manifold to be machined because it was warped, Two day job, I don't care what it costs but buy a good stud extractor, I have the MAC tools kit. Never broke a stud, did not take the engine mount apart. Un-hooked both collectors, removed starter and got the manifold out and back in without a problem, just had the truck up on ramps. Be patient, thats all I can say. Drivers side is the easy one anyways. Have fun.

 

Alright thanks for the advice. I just checked my truck and the driver side has studs but the passenger side uses bolts, must have been changed already. Is that gonna be worse or am I in luck? ;-)