Soooo after a long 4 hours of disassembling my 8 i got my AEM CAI installed and I found out very quickly that I have no idea how to put back in the push in tabs.... i broke 2 trying and after 30 minutes of failing i had to quit before i lost my mind... Please help me out I need my car tomorrow night and if I cant get these tabs to go in im screwed.

 

....which push tabs?

 

push tabs for the bumper, for the fender and the underbody, they are all the same size and work the same but i cant seem to get em back in.

 

Pull the center back out. It is much easier to install them before you push in the locking pin section. Just pull it apart and squeeze the little tabs together and shove it in the hole carefully. Making sure all the tabs go into the hole before pushing it in fully. Then slip the insert piece in all the way and your done.

 

maybe tomorrow morning it will be easier for me... iono it just frustrated the hell out of me. I understood the idea of it but they just didnt wanna go in.

 

Give them a little twist as you push them in too.

 

Thanks, i will be waking up early in the AM to try. I still cant bear to think about how many damn tabs I will have to put back in!

 

sooo i tried again this morning and I am still having trouble i seriously might have to bring it to a shop..... how much pressure do u guys have to put on the pin before it pushes in? i feel like i had all the pins pushed in and pushing really hard... my thumb is killing me from pushing on the top of that damn thing.
Even if i get one done i dont know how i am gonna get the other 30 in lol >< FML!!!!!!!

 

O_o the plastic push tabs really shouldn't be giving you a hard time as long as you understand how they work.

There's 4 prong looking thing on the bottom and there's a center piece - the center piece usually screws out leaving the 4 prongs to detract back into the center.

When you put the center piece flush with the rest of the tab - it expands the 4 prong thingies making them lock.

It's quite tough to push plastic tabs in if the center section is screwed in flush with the tab. Just give them a small counter-clockwise turn (about 1/4) with a phillips head screwdriver and they should screw out far enough for you to push the whole tab in.

Then simply turn clockwise to make the tab flush again and lock.

Hope it helps lol

 

SOOOOOO im about as useful as an ******* on an elbow.... i was trying to use the wrong push tabs for the top of the bumper and those are the only ones that are different.... once i figured that out I got it all put back together in 15-20min and took her for a spin and shes sounding quite nice in the higher RPM's. Thanks for all the replies and dealing with my utter stupidity =D