Front guibo
http://just.razzi.me/photos/863934/4b8f528.jpg

Infuriating to think this $100 part failing could cause a chain reaction to eventually rebuilding the TC. Hard to say if that is the case.

Guibo is rock hard, brittle, cracked.

How many miles are on the car again? Better yet, at what miliage did you start noticing the issue?

142,000

I purchased the car with 140k. When I bought it, I knew this was the final weak link. After this is done, the truck should run for a long time.

Exhaust coming out now. One bolt being a bitch due to location (pass side rear after the resonator). Had to drop the muffler in back to get access to it.

That Guibo is certainly done; but I've seen much worse. When they are really bad, they sometimes come off in pieces.

$100 part, might be worth just doing before 100k, maybe preventative maintenance? Thoughts?

Without question.

Exhaust took about 75 minutes to do.

http://just.razzi.me/photos/863993/4b8f528.jpg

TC out!!!!!!!! 5 hours later.

http://just.razzi.me/photos/864103/4b8f528.jpg

Doing good. 5 hours to drop TC?

I guess the first time always takes forever... I've been there.

Yeah, 5 hours. Exhaust took over and hour of that. As you can see I ended up pulling one of the mufflers... Without taking the bumper off.

As with many jobs, you end up spending a lot of time on a couple of small snags. First was one of the exhaust bolts. Next was figuring out how to separate the drivehaft. Last was getting the last TC bolt.

Massive parts order on Monday and hopefully back together this coming weekend. I trust the installation will go quick, 2 hours.