Exhaust swap on jackstands (without cutting stock system) -->
05-09-2010, 09:02 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Exhaust swap on jackstands (without cutting stock system) -->
Just wanted to post up a few details won my exhaust swap this weekend. Most of the method I used came from: http://www.97vette.com/howto/mufflers/index.html
I was removing my stock 02 Z06's Ti system to swap over to the XSPower 2.5" axleback (from a site vendor here: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-p...available.html).
I had read on here about the difficulties in getting the rear up high enough to remove the stock exhaust without cutting, and how ill advised it was.
But I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it turned out to be, yeah the rear of the car is high but at no point did it feel unstable or risky. The main thing that makes this fairly safe is using a set of large jackstands. Mine would lift to 24" height but I don't think I maxed mine out. These are under the side lifting points so with the angle of the car the rear is well over the 30-32 inches off the ground necessary to snake out the old exhaust. If you don't have the large stands and can't borrow some then this would get unsafe IMO. (harbor freight has some 24 inchers but they're over $50 I think). Not sure how else you could support the car high enough safely...
To start out with I had my front tires on a doublelevel 2x12 wood ramp I made to just give some clearance for the nose as the rear is lifted. A single 2x6 or 2x12 would suffice I would think. Make sure you chock the wheels well as the car rolling is really the primary potential for a major incident while doing this IMO. Oh and the jack I was using had a 20 inch max lift, it is from harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-l...ack-67022.html It also has about the lowest profile bottomed out of any affordable jack I've seen. Been very happy with it by the way.
The other component is the wood blocks you use on top of your jack to get extra lift. I used a 2x6 on the top and bottom with a pair of 4x4 blocks sandwitched in the middle. I felt the 2x6s have a better/wider base to sit on the jack pad and it better spans the rear crossmember vs just using the 4x4s. My bottom 2x6 (that I normally use for lifting the car) and the 4x4s were 18" long which is pretty close to the perfect length to cover the whole crossmember. The top board was 26" in length or so, worked fine.
That sounds/looks really rigged up, and I was very apprehensive about doing this swap because of the necessary wood blocks.
Just as in 97vette.com's article you first lift the car up and rest it on either a set of blocks under the tires or smaller jackstands (the big stands are too tall to get under the side lifting points initially), and then add in the extra wood blocks. Then just slowly lift a couple inches at a time, switching to the large stands and then ratcheting the stands up to the next height as you lift.
If the jack were to fail or wood give out somehow if you're just lifting a inch or so at a time off the stands it isn't likely to cause damage or tip off the stands. These beefier stands have a wide stable base, be pretty hard to tip those IMO. At no point did I feel the car was unstable while lifting.
Anyway, I had no trouble getting the car well up over 34" or so just on the jack, resting down on the stands for the removal I had right around 31-32 inches of clearance between the ground and the bottom edge of the rear fascia. I had doubledecker hockey puck jack pads on the rear-side lifting points above the jackstands (how-to here: http://www.97vette.com/howto/liftpads/index.html). Again the stands don't need to have 30+ inches of lift when used at the side lifting points due to the angle of the car w/ the rear lifted.
Loosen the sway bar mounts and swing the sway bar down out of the way. You can then snake the stock exhaust out in one piece.
Oh and one little tip, most exhaust removal articles/posts indicate to remove the rear exhaust mounts/hanger pieces, but urge caution not to push the studs up into the car when you remove the nuts. Well you don't have to remove those at all. Just pull/wiggle the exhaust pipe/flanges where the axelback hooks to the stock H-pipe to give clearance so the whole muffler/over axle pipe can move backwards and push the muffler right out of the hangers. Worked like a champ, no need to mess w/ the hangers at all. Throwing the XSPower mufflers at least (I presume just about all kits) back up onto the rear mounts was painless as well.
Some pics:
Overall shot of car lifted
Another shot showing the clearance:
Shot of the jackstand on the passenger side:
Shot under the rear area there:
I was removing my stock 02 Z06's Ti system to swap over to the XSPower 2.5" axleback (from a site vendor here: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-p...available.html).
I had read on here about the difficulties in getting the rear up high enough to remove the stock exhaust without cutting, and how ill advised it was.
But I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it turned out to be, yeah the rear of the car is high but at no point did it feel unstable or risky. The main thing that makes this fairly safe is using a set of large jackstands. Mine would lift to 24" height but I don't think I maxed mine out. These are under the side lifting points so with the angle of the car the rear is well over the 30-32 inches off the ground necessary to snake out the old exhaust. If you don't have the large stands and can't borrow some then this would get unsafe IMO. (harbor freight has some 24 inchers but they're over $50 I think). Not sure how else you could support the car high enough safely...
To start out with I had my front tires on a doublelevel 2x12 wood ramp I made to just give some clearance for the nose as the rear is lifted. A single 2x6 or 2x12 would suffice I would think. Make sure you chock the wheels well as the car rolling is really the primary potential for a major incident while doing this IMO. Oh and the jack I was using had a 20 inch max lift, it is from harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-l...ack-67022.html It also has about the lowest profile bottomed out of any affordable jack I've seen. Been very happy with it by the way.
The other component is the wood blocks you use on top of your jack to get extra lift. I used a 2x6 on the top and bottom with a pair of 4x4 blocks sandwitched in the middle. I felt the 2x6s have a better/wider base to sit on the jack pad and it better spans the rear crossmember vs just using the 4x4s. My bottom 2x6 (that I normally use for lifting the car) and the 4x4s were 18" long which is pretty close to the perfect length to cover the whole crossmember. The top board was 26" in length or so, worked fine.
That sounds/looks really rigged up, and I was very apprehensive about doing this swap because of the necessary wood blocks.
Just as in 97vette.com's article you first lift the car up and rest it on either a set of blocks under the tires or smaller jackstands (the big stands are too tall to get under the side lifting points initially), and then add in the extra wood blocks. Then just slowly lift a couple inches at a time, switching to the large stands and then ratcheting the stands up to the next height as you lift.
If the jack were to fail or wood give out somehow if you're just lifting a inch or so at a time off the stands it isn't likely to cause damage or tip off the stands. These beefier stands have a wide stable base, be pretty hard to tip those IMO. At no point did I feel the car was unstable while lifting.
Anyway, I had no trouble getting the car well up over 34" or so just on the jack, resting down on the stands for the removal I had right around 31-32 inches of clearance between the ground and the bottom edge of the rear fascia. I had doubledecker hockey puck jack pads on the rear-side lifting points above the jackstands (how-to here: http://www.97vette.com/howto/liftpads/index.html). Again the stands don't need to have 30+ inches of lift when used at the side lifting points due to the angle of the car w/ the rear lifted.
Loosen the sway bar mounts and swing the sway bar down out of the way. You can then snake the stock exhaust out in one piece.
Oh and one little tip, most exhaust removal articles/posts indicate to remove the rear exhaust mounts/hanger pieces, but urge caution not to push the studs up into the car when you remove the nuts. Well you don't have to remove those at all. Just pull/wiggle the exhaust pipe/flanges where the axelback hooks to the stock H-pipe to give clearance so the whole muffler/over axle pipe can move backwards and push the muffler right out of the hangers. Worked like a champ, no need to mess w/ the hangers at all. Throwing the XSPower mufflers at least (I presume just about all kits) back up onto the rear mounts was painless as well.
Some pics:
Overall shot of car lifted
Another shot showing the clearance:
Shot of the jackstand on the passenger side:
Shot under the rear area there:
Last edited by GM Fan; 05-09-2010 at 10:31 PM.
05-18-2010, 11:46 PM
#3
Team Owner
Member Since: Mar 2004
Location: Oklahoma City OK
Posts: 58,255
Received 1,673 Likes
on
1,296 Posts
C6 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
I'm glad it worked well for you!
12-01-2010, 04:56 PM
#4
Cruising
Member Since: Sep 2010
Location: Seekonk MA
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm in the process of changing my stock mufflers to Corsa exhaust. I got the left side muffler out just fine. The right side will NOT come out over the axle. Left side came off easy. Right side, the flange is hitting the side of the transmission case and the sheet metal piece that covers the floor. Is there some trick to getting the right side out?
Jim
Jim
12-01-2010, 05:10 PM
#5
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Jun 2010
Location: Yorktown Virginia
Posts: 2,809
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
I'm in the process of changing my stock mufflers to Corsa exhaust. I got the left side muffler out just fine. The right side will NOT come out over the axle. Left side came off easy. Right side, the flange is hitting the side of the transmission case and the sheet metal piece that covers the floor. Is there some trick to getting the right side out?
Jim
Jim
