It hasn't happened yet but if my 2000 5.4 should blow a sparkplug (a co-workers 4.8 in his 2003 f-150 just blew one).. Are there a good set of aftermarket heads made?.. I know alot of people put the inserts in,and unless you do all of them, aren't the other 7 still prone to blow? If the heads are flawed wouldn't it be a better idea to replace them with a better aftermarket one, or is it a BIG job.. Maybe I'm just paranoid, and it will never happen to mine .. But I would like to be ahead of the game if it does happen....

 

i know modular racing makes a aftermarker head for the 2 valve that is supposed to produce 40 more horse and 70 more ft/lbs and has 8 threads for the plugs compaired to the 5 the factory used on these. they also have custom cams. i think the heads run about 1400 bucks a piece. i'm saving up to buy a set.
you can reach them at http://www.powerheads.com
hope this helps

 

Those heads are a bit over the top for a heavy truck. Patriot has a set of heads that are a bit tamer for a heavy truck.

 

Just pull a set of stock heads and ship them to Foxlake Racing for one of their CNC port jobs. Stage 1, 2, or 3. Cams, valves, springs, whatever. They can put inserts in the 4-thread heads and they'll be perfectly fine. Stage 1 heads, stock valves, Comp Stage 1 truck cam and springs will be a good setup. Probably spend a bit less than $2800 too.

 

No such thing as an aftermarket 2V head save for the FRPP/SVO castings (which are far and away the best 2V heads ever made), all of the companies are just working over and performing valve jobs on stock Ford NPI/PI castings. They do nothing to address the spark plug theads.

Just get your hands on a set of 04+ model year heads with 8 spark plug threads or install the timeserts.

And Patriot heads suck, they cut the swirl dam (reducing compression and swirl, forcing you to run a ton of timing) and can't seem to get the valve guides right. As 2000BLK54 says, Fox Lake all the way. The have a MUCH better porting program and excellent quality control.

 

That's what I've noticed, only ported OE heads no aftermarket castings. If I were to go through the trouble of using OE heads, I'd start with 4v and I think it's a navigator intake.