I will hopefully be installing my exhaust this weekend and will be doing the down pipe at the same time. In searching the forum for any info on the dp install I've read that the trans dipstick doesn't have to be removed but the explanations of what you do instead are a little vague (twist it out of the way or something?). Can somebody shed a little more detailed light on the subject for me?

I popped it up out of the trans and pushed it aside and could get the stock pipe out of the way. Out of the whole install the dipstick and the clamp on the back of the turbo are going to be the biggest PITAs for ya. good luck

best bet is to take the 2 bolts out that hold the dipstick in... I think they may be nuts on studs though. eiher way take them out and the dip stick will move around to give you the room to get the DP out. I needed to go a step further and pop the dip stick out of the trans for more room but not everyone nees to do that. i'm just one of the lucky ones I Guess

I just installed my dp yesterday. The problem I had is that I already had 5" exhaust on the truck with really sucked for room getting the dp out of there. The two nuts everyone is talking about, one is very easy to get to and the other is up and around on towards the top side of the tranny. Both takes a 13mm I found (for the top nut) its better to use a box rench. The best is if you have one of those box end renches that ratchets. But just pop it out and it moves around enough to get the dp out of there. If I were you I would take down your exhaust first that will give you more room to work. One other thing I reinstalled my trans. dip stick before I put the new dp back in. If you do that you will have to slightly bent the mounting bracket for the dip stick so that the dip stick is about 1/2" away from the firewall. So when your done the ring to get ahold of the dip stick will slightly be under the windshield part the engine bay. But it still comes out fine. Or you could wait and have another pita on getting that top nut tight again. Remember those two nuts do not have to come off just loosen.

Hope thats helps.

Basically sounds like I loosen the dipstick enough to be able to move it around enough to pull the stock pipe out, and if that doesn't work (my luck), just pull it out completely. So, with all that said has anyone had any problems with the dipstick leaking afterwards? Thanks for the input so far guys.

no leaks. it just pops up out of a rubber grommet. It will seal again when its put back in. Taking the front pipe off and jacking the front of the truck up a bit will help out a lot. If you do those things and get the stock DP unbolted and the heat shield off it will come out, there will be plenty of room. Try being gentle and just twisting it out and if it dont work get rough. I had mine almost out and it got hung up so rip on it a bit and out it came

Got the job done today and wanted to say thanks for the advice... it came in pretty handy. I had my brother helping me and I was telling him some of the stories I've read here about it taking hours and hours for the dp and we had them swapped in under 20 minutes(some good luck for a change).