Well guys, ive been thinking about it and im gonna go ahead and do studs. Ive seen a few guys do the studs one at a time and thats the route im thinking of going. I dont have access to a lift or the place to put one. Gotta build a shop.

Anyways,

My truck is a 2005 F350 Drw 4x4 CCLB bone stock. I just purchased it about 2 weeks ago and it has 197k on the clock and it runs like a dream. Only thing that bothers me is the oil temp is 6-8* more than the water temp but i guess thats normal. I want to stud it for piece of mind. The gaskets were replaced at 65k by ford dealer in Ga. In '06. Its not had any issues at all since 75k. Truck runs beautifully. Holds pressure (after sitting) in the degass bottle for days.

My question is as follows,

How many hours will it take to do this job? Should i save my $ and pull the cab and change the gaskets? Would it be easier to just pull the motor and reseal everything? How long to pull the motor?

I have good mechanical abilities and have done many motor swaps and transplants and rebuilds so i have plenty of skills and knowledge just no major experience with the 6.0L. One reason i bought the truck is to learn about this motor hands on. Please any advice will be greatly appriceated.

 

1st you DO NOT need to pull the cab to do studs.

2nd do it once do it right, change the gaskets and have the heads checked.

3rd 6-8 spread is not bad at all.

I took me 2 full weekends to do my studs with cab on in my garage.

If I were you since your there, updated the stc fitting update stand pipes and dummy plugs, do the blue spring, bullet proof egr cooler with a new oil cooler.

Bullet proof the truck in one shot.

 

You plan on tuning it?. If not dont fix what aint broke. Your oil temp is perfect, and as long as you dont have any signs of coolant coming out of your degas bottle or white smoke i would enjoy the truck until you have to work on it.with 197k on the clock it sounds like you got a good one. This is just my opinion though.

 

I have thought about tuning it but only for economy. This truck has plenty of power stock. Itll do anything i will ever need and then some. I dont tow as much as i used to but when i do it can be as much as 37k combined weight. I dont tow that but a few times a year but usually its the ski boat, fifth wheel, horse trailer, etc. I dont abuse my trucks but i do work them. I drive for a living so you can understand i know what im doing.
Is the oil temp typically warmer than the coolant in these trucks? Even running easy and light? I towed 16k the other day and the water temp increased to 201 and oil was at 203. Seems the harder i work it the closer the delta is.
I love this truck and wonder why i never bought a 6.0l sooner. Its night and day towing with the 6.0l and Torqueshift vs the 7.3l 4r100. Ford built one hell of a truck.

So im basically getting two answers now. Leave it alone unless something happens or bite the bullet and do the whole thing.

Anymore comments.

 

Ditch the egr cooler and forget the studs unless you're looking for a hot tune.

I'm with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" crowd.

 

So at this point it sounds like i should just forget about it and save my money. Im fine with that. Haha

So does everyone think i should be fine with running an economy tune on stock TTY bolts that have 140k on em? Its never been tuned before. Or am i on borrowed time at that point?

I guess ill go ahead and buy a coolant filter and do the blue spring upgrade. Sounds like my best bang for my buck. I ordered a 4" diamond eye exhaust that arrived today so ill be installing that in the next week or so. I gotta say you guys are the people to talk to on the net about these motors. Havent come across another site that is as knowledgable. Thank you.

 

With any kind of tune you run a risk for anything.

I know people who are running around with SRL tunes with the SCT tuner with stock head bolts and they are not showing any signs for failure. They have 180k plus miles

 

37K you have ***** , these are strong trucks but almost 30k behind it is just dumb.

 

Head studs may reduce the odds but are not a guarantee that you will not have a head gasket failure.

 

Hahaha. Well thats my combined weight. The trucks gvw of 13k and my gooseneck at 24,500 is 37.5k if loaded to the max. Im usually around 33,500-35k depending if i have a couple extra buckets No way would i put 30k behind it.


Well i guess ill stick with if it aint broke dont fix it. When it does, ill spend the money. Itll give me a reason to buy a twin post lift Im unsure of tuning it so ill probably leave it alone and just drive it like it was designed. Im strongly thinking of doing the upgraded egr cooler and oil cooler when the delta gets a little greater.

Btw is there a beneifit in doing a trans only tune? I see a couple places offering them.

 

I wouldnt touch it.........yet. If youre pulling 37k cgvw and having no problems you'd be crazy to do anything but maintanance on it. Although the blue spring mod is a little self assurance that the fuel pressure is good. Its easy to do also.