the first plug change. DIY or no?

I did mine at around 24,000 miles and had no troubles. A few of them squeaked a little, but all came out without too much drama. Take your time and make sure you put everything back as it should go. Don't force anything, and you'll be alright. It took me less than an hour and I was just messing around.

Frank

agree.. I was nervous as heck when I pulled mine but in the end it was really easy. Just spray some penetrant in there a while before, then when you break them loose spray some more in and let it sit about 10 mins, and then take them out.. They say do it when the engine is warm, not hot, not cold.. I did it stone cold and no problems, but I only have 15k miles on mine.

Took about 65-70 lbs torque to get mine out.

I used a torque wrench for the removal and none took more then 45 ft/lbs to remove. I have read that if it is going to take more torque then that, you may be in trouble. Do an amazon search for Aerokroil, after you select it, you will see the other things people bought along with the aerokroil. There is a special deep socket from OTC, the nickel antiseize and the removal tool incase you break a plug. So if you want you can get it all right there.
Good Luck