I just installed an aem cai last night on my 08tl-s. It took a little over 2 hours, about an hour and a half of that involved removing the existing intake. Is the intake the same on all 3G tl and tl-s'? The damn intake pieces by the wheel well were a real pain to get off. Getting those damn rivets off were the biggest pain. Granted it took longer because I did it the right way and didn't break anything off of the original intake so I can sell my intake when it comes time. I have never had this much bs to go through when installing a cai...

I'm going to install the RV6 Jpipe tomorrow night. My car only has 30,000 miles on it so I would think the bolts would come off easier than others. I can't imagine this being as big of a pain as what the cai was to install. Any members who have installed both please chime in and tell us your experience with installation with these two mods, and which you think was easier to install.

This thread should help those who are "beginners" choose what to install if they only go with one or the other.

 

lol, the jpipe is much harder.

- the car is on jack stands and you're on your back. not much leverage to do anything.
- my car had 31k miles when I installed the rv6 v3 jpipe. ALL the bolts were rusted and hard to get off. the car came from Kansas.
-again, you're working on your back with little room to work with.
-it took me all day.

 

There are many variables when installing both. My CAI took about 2 hours to install, but my Jpipe took 5+ hours. I dont have access to a lift and do all my work in my garage with just a jack and jack stands. I would highly recommend spraying the 6 nuts on the precats and the 3 nuts on the 3rd cat with PB blaster before your Jpipe install. 14mm and 17mm, if I remember correctly.

I ultimately had to go to a friend of a friends place that had a lift because I round a nut off on the 3rd cat and couldn't quite get the right angle for a breaker bar. Also, there are several DIYs on here installing both the CAI and Jpipe, both are very straight forward installs. I would just recommend doing a few searches before anyone starts these projects!

Edit: For a beginner I would still recommend the Jpipe over the CAI in a heartbeat. The $$$ to HP ratio is A LOT more with the Jpipe. You will literally feel the difference with the Jpipe, whereas with the CAI you will basically just "hear" the difference, if that makes sense. Richies V3 Jpipe is where it's at!

 

CAI is nearly worthless in gains but does look pretty powerfull lol...Start with the J-Pipe, skip the CAI and use that money towards an exhaust or other mods.

Welcome and goodluck bro!

 

Thanks for the responses. I heard it is best to spray pb blaster while car is hot? True? Also I will be using "drive-up" jack stands so I am hoping that this will give me a little more leverage and room to work with. So basically the length of time it takes will depend on how easy the oem jpipe comes off? How much time did it take you guys to complete after you had the old pos jpipe off?

 

If you have access to an impact gun, then it's a piece of cake. Mine had less than 25K miles never exposed to salt. They came out easily but one stud came out instead of a nut breaking loose.

 

If the vehicle has been exposed to salt, blast it the night before and again 1 hour before beginning work. I did this anyways and they were a breeze.

Since you have a type-s, you will also need to cut a portion of the bottom water shield. Get the new J-Pipe installed and then mark how much of the shield you need to cut. Remove it and then cut it with some shears or dremel tool. I had to remove the pipe brace in the middle as well.

 

The good news is the original owner lived in Baton Rouge, LA. I would like to think that rust won't be much of an issue. The combo of 30000 miles and no salt exposure should help with the install. I forgot all about having to cut the damn watershield. How thick is the shield? Is it worth taking it off to cut it?

 

I was able to do the CAI by myself in a couple hours whereas the jpipe me and my friend actually failed trying for a day. He ended up rounding a nut and we couldnt get it off with us on our backs kicking the breaker bar underneath the car.

I'm going to a professional friday to do it and cat back exhaust at the same time. I'm incredibly amateur but jpipe install seems like it could go from very easy if the nuts cooperate to very hard if they dont and you dont have a lift.

 

When I was doing my research before my Jpipe install I read members spraying the 9 nuts with PB blaster the night before to let it set in more. Part of my 5+ hour install on the Jpipe consisted of regular jack stands, to drive up jack stands, back to regular jack stands, and finally a lift. The drive up jack stands were actually lower and would not give me leverage for the breaker bar. Yes when your OEM Jpipe is off this is a breeze; just takes a little fah-dang-guh-ling when you are doing it yourself. It took me no more than 45mins to remove my RV6 V3 Jpipe and install my OEM Jpipe.

The shield isn't that thick. I used a hacksaw blade with a small handle to cut the plastic. Similar to the one below. The blade itself should be more more than $1 or $2 at lowes, home depot, and maybe even walmart. Good luck on your install! Let us know how the gains feel after the Jpipe!

 

Thanks, Menards ftw!

 

I used a pocket knife to cut the black plastic shield.

 

Is it that hard? My Uncle has all electronic tools and it was easy for him.

 

^i wish i had air tools and a lift.
my 5 hour job would have taken me 2 at the most.

-Bop!

 

So last Thursday I finally got the jpipe installed! My total time - a little over 2 hours. No jack stands, just a small drive up jack. Would have been sooner if I didn't take off the jpipe first instead of taking it off with the third cat.

I used liquid wrench instead of Pb blaster. (cause thats all I had) All bolts came off easy accept 2. Once again this is probably due to the low mileage and no salt exposure. I heated up both of them with a blow torch and they came off like a glove. The weather shielding was cut with a sawzall and took little time.

I think I am past my 15 day noob thingy so I will post pictures soon.