How do you remove the slip-ons on a 2011 Tri Glide????

[joeychitwood]

Tomorrow morning, a friend (with excellent mechanic skills) and I are going to install a Jackpot 2-1-2 headpipe, high-flow air cleaner and Dynojet Power Vision tuner on my 2011 Tri Glide. After peeking at the rear muffler mounting brackets this morning, I'm scratching my head wondering how one gets a wrench onto the bolts, especially the farthest aft bolts. (To make things worse, the rubber spacer in the frame bracket butts right up to the bolt making it impossible to get a socket over the bolt. I will somehow have to push the spacer forward away from the bolt.) I plan to jack up the rear end to get a little more work clearance from the floor, but the space available for wrenches between the frame and the bolts appears extremely limited. Are there any secrets to removing the Tri Glide mufflers? What tools do you use?

If you've never looked carefully at the area, here is a photo I took this morning:

[trikermutha]

I just did mine on my 2010 and used a offset rachet wrench. The rubber grommet slides and can be moved away from the bolt head. It is still a pain to do..One other way is to remove the trunk box. I dont think that anyone wants to go that route.

Good Luck,,

[eagle1]

looks like you need a 1/4" long extension, with a univeral and a 1/4 tp 3/8 adapter. and a torx #45. and if yiu have it a 1/4 to 3/8" adapter so you can use a 3/8" ratchet. be sure to use a lot of pressure when you loosen the bolt so as no to stripe it.

[1550vt]

I believe it is a 1/2 inch, unless they have changed the size on recent models. You can get the closed-end of a 1/2 inch box wrench in there....the one that has the angled head. Usually, you can turn it with the handle pointing down and "get enough" of the wrench on the bolt to loosen it up. Once you back them out a turn or so, you can lift the muffler up and it will expose the bolt head so you can get more wrench on it. The fixture on the muffler is threaded so there is no nut to hold. In most cases, once you get them loose, you can finish taking them out with your fingers.

Not quite as bad as heart surgery....just takes some patience. Just keep some upward pressure on the pipe as you go.

[joeychitwood]

The muffler has a simple bracket, so there is both a nut and bolt to work with. The farthest forward bolt looks doable, but the most after bolt looks like it will be a challenge. I might be able to loosen it from the end of the pipe rather from the side.

[10rhrk]

It takes a 1/2 Inch open end/box end offset wrench. Go out the night before, loosen the muffler clamps and spray WD40 on the end that slips onto the header pipe's. Hope you have a lift or jack stands to get the trike up some. The rear mounting bolts are a pain to get to,but if your friend is a experienced wrench, you shouldn't have a problem. Hardest thing I found was getting the bolt's started back into the new mufflers. Good luck!

[msocko3]

Like ohers have said 1/2" wrench is what you need, I use the boxed end kind that ratchets to speed things up. The rubber can be slid so you can get at that other bolt easy enough. You'll find you have to wiggle the mufflers around some to get them to come off, taking off the rest of the exhaust is a walk in the park.

[sprinkman]

From the pic looks like your rubber bushing has slipped out of its bracket.

[10rhrk]

From the pic looks like your rubber bushing has slipped out of its bracket.

That's the design of this bracket. If you look close, the rubber is an isolator from the bracket bolted to the muffler to the mounting bracket. It is still in place, just slipped back against the back bolt. As the bike heat's to operating temp's, the exhaust will expand and slide towards the rear. Looks like everything is functioning normal. If you looked at mine, you would see the bracket farther back because I didn't want a lot of muffler sticking out, I slid mine farther on the header pipe.