SOCOMech
Famous Raptor
Seeing as I've had a few invites from friends to go to Glamis next weekend, I figured I need to just bite the bullett and get these mods done......well ok, it was the headers I wasn't looking forward to. Finally had the time this weekend and got them in.
First and foremost, HUGE props to Mike at 5 Star for getting me my tunes on Saturday, within a couple of hrs. of e-mailing him about them, top notch service from that guy! So the Kooks are a very high quality and look amazing, my knowledge of them stems from the Mustang community where they have a very good reputation. I did the install in the driveway and mostly by myself, till a friend came over while in the middle of doing the passenger side, so that helped. Just know this, the install sucks. Had I been at work, on a lift and everything I needed right there next to me all layed out nice and neat, it would've been muuuuch smoother but, I took the hard road by doing it in the driveway and by myself. The driver side goes first and really wasn't all that bad, you need to lift the engine to do either one.
Onto what made this suck, the passenger side......not mention a gripe I have with the install instructions from Kooks. The instructions make it sound like you just do this step and move on to the next but, they leave out things here and there.....here's a few things that would've been nice to know...
1) Removing the stock y-pipe suuuuucks. You're supposed to do it before hand but, there's no way to get it out without lifting the passenger side of the engine. It hits on the exhaust flange studs and won't allow you to pull it forward to get it out of it's mounts in the center section. There's also two mounting points that come off the side of the trans that need to be undone.
2) In addition to removing the intake, dis-connecting the battery, and what-not, while still up top in the engine bay, it tells you to take this time to loosen up and remove the top row of header nuts.....then "the rest of the process will take place underneath the vehicle". Wrong. I was up and down on top and under the vehicle a million times. Sometimes, it's easier to get the bottom row from the top. Space can be an issue so a small 1/4 ratchet with a 3/8 adapter comes in handy. Oh and cordless impacts are your friends
3) Take the front wheels off, it opens up a whole new alley to work in.
4) Take the transfer case driveshaft out, just the front of it though and that allows you to swing it out of the way to work. Also take the sway bar off.
5) The motor mount bolts that get taken out are 24mm, not 22 as the instructions state. The driver side had plenty of room for me to get my 1/2 impact in there and zap it out and back in.....the passenger side, I had to use a swivel but it wouldn't budge. So I took the 3 bolts that hold the motor mount to the block....one in the rear of the mount, 2 in front, 13mm.
6) The dip stick needs to be removed (I'd heard this already, but the instructions say nothing of it). Put it back in BEFORE lowering the pass. side back down.
7) Be prepared to go back and forth between underside, in the wheel well and from the top of the engine. Swivel sockets and ratchet wrenches are very handy and as I stated before, a small 1/4 ratchet to get into the tight spots.
8) An extended harness for the passenger side rear o2 sensor is supplied, would be really nice if they included one for the driver side rear o2 as well. You need to undo the connector from it's plastic retaining clip and pull the loom down enough to connect to the sensor. As it sits, it's somewhat close up on the bottom of the trans. pan......enough room but, it's pushing it.
9) Flat washers are supplied for the new header bolts but I got some lock washers instead, should prevent having to tighten them later on. Also, you'll need an inverted torx bit to get the stock manifold studs out, an E8 to be exact.
10) The actual removal of the stock manifolds and installation of the headers is not bad at all, they go in rather easy. It's this other little piddly crap that gets you hailing f-bombs.
All in all, the driver side was way easier and than expected and the passenger side sucked balls......that has alot to do with some things I wasn't expecting though, like the y-pipe debacle and motor mount.
I'm sore as shit from the whole thing but, I look in the fender well and see those works of art and I feel much better. THEN, I install the tune, fire it up and take off down the road and it's like the job never happened....it's great. The sound, especially with my Magnapack, is down right NAAAAAAAASTY, my buddy equated it to a trophy truck. (Probably not just like that....but close
) I notice the biggest difference in the low and mid-range.....when strating from a stop it has that bad-ass lunge forward with the sound of the motor letting out a nice little "WRRAAAP!". It almost has an aftermarket cam sound to it, the added raspyness from the headers really accentuates the lope and sounds awesome. Throttle response is right there and a very welcomed addition.....no more gradually going to 3k rpm in park, when you hit smack the gas real quick, it zooms to about 5k....quick.
I'm very happy with the performance and sound of this, it has just made this thing even more beastly and treat to drive. I would recommend the mods......I would not recommend the one man installation in a driveway
......
Any questions on the install, feel free to ask!
First and foremost, HUGE props to Mike at 5 Star for getting me my tunes on Saturday, within a couple of hrs. of e-mailing him about them, top notch service from that guy! So the Kooks are a very high quality and look amazing, my knowledge of them stems from the Mustang community where they have a very good reputation. I did the install in the driveway and mostly by myself, till a friend came over while in the middle of doing the passenger side, so that helped. Just know this, the install sucks. Had I been at work, on a lift and everything I needed right there next to me all layed out nice and neat, it would've been muuuuch smoother but, I took the hard road by doing it in the driveway and by myself. The driver side goes first and really wasn't all that bad, you need to lift the engine to do either one.
Onto what made this suck, the passenger side......not mention a gripe I have with the install instructions from Kooks. The instructions make it sound like you just do this step and move on to the next but, they leave out things here and there.....here's a few things that would've been nice to know...
1) Removing the stock y-pipe suuuuucks. You're supposed to do it before hand but, there's no way to get it out without lifting the passenger side of the engine. It hits on the exhaust flange studs and won't allow you to pull it forward to get it out of it's mounts in the center section. There's also two mounting points that come off the side of the trans that need to be undone.
2) In addition to removing the intake, dis-connecting the battery, and what-not, while still up top in the engine bay, it tells you to take this time to loosen up and remove the top row of header nuts.....then "the rest of the process will take place underneath the vehicle". Wrong. I was up and down on top and under the vehicle a million times. Sometimes, it's easier to get the bottom row from the top. Space can be an issue so a small 1/4 ratchet with a 3/8 adapter comes in handy. Oh and cordless impacts are your friends
3) Take the front wheels off, it opens up a whole new alley to work in.
4) Take the transfer case driveshaft out, just the front of it though and that allows you to swing it out of the way to work. Also take the sway bar off.
5) The motor mount bolts that get taken out are 24mm, not 22 as the instructions state. The driver side had plenty of room for me to get my 1/2 impact in there and zap it out and back in.....the passenger side, I had to use a swivel but it wouldn't budge. So I took the 3 bolts that hold the motor mount to the block....one in the rear of the mount, 2 in front, 13mm.
6) The dip stick needs to be removed (I'd heard this already, but the instructions say nothing of it). Put it back in BEFORE lowering the pass. side back down.
7) Be prepared to go back and forth between underside, in the wheel well and from the top of the engine. Swivel sockets and ratchet wrenches are very handy and as I stated before, a small 1/4 ratchet to get into the tight spots.
8) An extended harness for the passenger side rear o2 sensor is supplied, would be really nice if they included one for the driver side rear o2 as well. You need to undo the connector from it's plastic retaining clip and pull the loom down enough to connect to the sensor. As it sits, it's somewhat close up on the bottom of the trans. pan......enough room but, it's pushing it.
9) Flat washers are supplied for the new header bolts but I got some lock washers instead, should prevent having to tighten them later on. Also, you'll need an inverted torx bit to get the stock manifold studs out, an E8 to be exact.
10) The actual removal of the stock manifolds and installation of the headers is not bad at all, they go in rather easy. It's this other little piddly crap that gets you hailing f-bombs.
All in all, the driver side was way easier and than expected and the passenger side sucked balls......that has alot to do with some things I wasn't expecting though, like the y-pipe debacle and motor mount.
I'm sore as shit from the whole thing but, I look in the fender well and see those works of art and I feel much better. THEN, I install the tune, fire it up and take off down the road and it's like the job never happened....it's great. The sound, especially with my Magnapack, is down right NAAAAAAAASTY, my buddy equated it to a trophy truck. (Probably not just like that....but close
) I notice the biggest difference in the low and mid-range.....when strating from a stop it has that bad-ass lunge forward with the sound of the motor letting out a nice little "WRRAAAP!". It almost has an aftermarket cam sound to it, the added raspyness from the headers really accentuates the lope and sounds awesome. Throttle response is right there and a very welcomed addition.....no more gradually going to 3k rpm in park, when you hit smack the gas real quick, it zooms to about 5k....quick.I'm very happy with the performance and sound of this, it has just made this thing even more beastly and treat to drive. I would recommend the mods......I would not recommend the one man installation in a driveway
......Any questions on the install, feel free to ask!
