Getting the Stock Rear Exhaust Section Out of a Surburban

[CTX-SLPR]

Howdy,

Searched for this and didn’t find anything so I thought I’d give my experience of pulling the factory rear exhaust section out of my 98 454 K2500 Suburban. It’s not easy, especially solo, but can be done. The really annoying part is you have to pull the rear driveshaft to get it out as you have to go behind the transfer case output.

1. Either jack the vehicle up or put it on a lift so the rear axle is at full droop. You can do this with the passengers side rear shock in place if you want but taking it out will give you a bit more maneuvering room.
2. Take the gas tank skid plate off. There are seven bolts, four on the rear axle side and three behind the bumper. Make sure you aren’t taking the tank straps loose as especially the ones by the bumper are in the same line of bolts. Also be careful you don’t let one side drop all the way and hang it on the outer side’s tabs or you will bend them.
3. Remove the rear O2 sensors from the pipe and the sensors from the mounting brackets by gently prying the retaining clip for the “Christmas Tree” section up and pulling the plug body forward off of the clip. The rear most one is under a cover held on by a 1/2in nut on the outside of the frame.
4. Undo the mid cat flange 15mm nuts. A ratcheting wrench works best for two of them and shallow socket on a 6in extension works best for the last one to get you between the cross members for a bit more swing.
5. Unhook the rear exhaust section from the rubber hangers and pull it back so the flange rests on the cross member to keep it out of the way.
6. Unbolt the hanger bracket behind the passengers side rear tire and remove it.
7. Mark the yoke and shaft and pull the rear driveshaft out so you have space to maneuver the pipe into the space behind the transfer case.
8. Pull the rear exhaust section backwards till you can slide it sideways behind the transfer case output seal then walk it backwards till you can get it down past the crossmember. Mind the emergency brake cable tube on the axle
9. Slide the flange end over to the drivers side and wrestle the axle kick up up and over the rear axle then slide it back towards the passengers side to get the tail pipe snaked past the axle.

Installation is reverse of the removal with the same spots to watch out for such as the heat shield on the top of the kick up getting snagged on the frame when you’re getting the kick up over the rear axle. If you’re not going to reuse it, just cut it behind the muffler and pull the pieces out.

Hope it helps someone,

 

[ZRoe]

Thanks for taking the time to write this. Sharing our knowledge is a wonderful thing.

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