Gilly,

Well can't argue with that.

Thank goodness for air hammers. I never would have gotten it off without it. Even with the air hammer it was kind of stubborn. Below is a phot of the inside of the hex coupler that attaches to the hex on the A-arm.

Getting the convertor and all out was easy. I loosened the exhaust clamp for the other side of the vehicle that goes to the muffler and with that done I was able to easily push the muffler back so there was plenty of room to pull the other side off and back.



The next photo is of the the part on the A-arm that the coupler above goes onto.



The next photo is of the convertor which shows a hairline crack in the center of the weld bead. I've cleaned it with a stainless steel wheel so I will get a good weld.


They used some sort of assembly paste not really grease in the coupler and on the rear part of the bar that is adjustable, the part that sits on what seem to be a teflon pad or base of some sort. What assembly lube do you think I should use?

While I'l not be ready to put everything back together until next week I'm wondering what the torque spec is for the exhaust flange bolts? I'm thinking not much, like mayble 20 or 25 NM.

Thanks for all the help.

Edited:

Here's the other reason the driver's side to the exhaust system was so easy to remove. I took out the crossmember that supports the transfer case. It was held in by 6 easily accessable bolts. The transfer case is supported by the jackstand.