06 heads replacement
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 8,241
Likes: 155
From: L.A. (Lower Alabama)
Well, having zero experience with aftermarket heads for the 6.0 but plenty of reading time and other wrench turning I'll offer my opinion for what it's worth.
The 6.0, being a four valve per cylinder V8 left little room for cylinder head to block fasteners. Unlike most other engines with a similar lay-out, some of the slide rule types figured proper clamping force could be applied with just four bolts per cylinder. At lower power/boost/RPM's it does seem to work ok but to be honest it's not enough to really make big hp numbers.
Studs will allow it to hold more pressure that torque to yield bolts and fire rings can take you a little farther. Meticulous prep on the block and heads makes a difference. Prepping them with a fly cutter instead of common grinding methods to keep tolerances as close to zero as possible is worth the effort.
We've had a couple posters put up some pics of some seriously ground on heads and the castings are very grainy with lots of flash, narrow sloppy looking parting lines, just overall crappy quality and these are factory heads. Ford has published a tolerance for cracks if that tells you anything. Add to that the quality of the iorn available these days with all the recycling (which can be a good thing in some ways) you get lots of zinc, copper, and other impurities in the iorn while the desire to maxamize profit keeps the nickel low.
This forum is largely populated with folks trying to learn how their trucks work and keep them going without having to sell a child to pay for parts or a shop bill. We have a few rebels who like the high performance mods but most of us understand it's a 4ton truck and not a race car so maybe another forum might have members with more experienced with the info you're looking for.
Given the iffy quality of the factory castings, I think we all suspect a Chinese import would be even Lower quality, and no one who has read this thread has a line on a manufacturer advertising higher quality castings.
My opinion would be that a rebuilt set of Ford castings would be the best bet. It used to be common practice to buy an engine for the race car and put it in the tow truck for a season. Allowing it to take a "set" or even go ahead and crack if it was going to, then freshening it up and modding it for the race car the following season. A thermal cycled and seasoned casting that passes magnaflux is a better part than a new one.
Good luck with your truck. I can understand being annoyed after dropping $10k in it and now the heads are busted.
The 6.0, being a four valve per cylinder V8 left little room for cylinder head to block fasteners. Unlike most other engines with a similar lay-out, some of the slide rule types figured proper clamping force could be applied with just four bolts per cylinder. At lower power/boost/RPM's it does seem to work ok but to be honest it's not enough to really make big hp numbers.
Studs will allow it to hold more pressure that torque to yield bolts and fire rings can take you a little farther. Meticulous prep on the block and heads makes a difference. Prepping them with a fly cutter instead of common grinding methods to keep tolerances as close to zero as possible is worth the effort.
We've had a couple posters put up some pics of some seriously ground on heads and the castings are very grainy with lots of flash, narrow sloppy looking parting lines, just overall crappy quality and these are factory heads. Ford has published a tolerance for cracks if that tells you anything. Add to that the quality of the iorn available these days with all the recycling (which can be a good thing in some ways) you get lots of zinc, copper, and other impurities in the iorn while the desire to maxamize profit keeps the nickel low.
This forum is largely populated with folks trying to learn how their trucks work and keep them going without having to sell a child to pay for parts or a shop bill. We have a few rebels who like the high performance mods but most of us understand it's a 4ton truck and not a race car so maybe another forum might have members with more experienced with the info you're looking for.
Given the iffy quality of the factory castings, I think we all suspect a Chinese import would be even Lower quality, and no one who has read this thread has a line on a manufacturer advertising higher quality castings.
My opinion would be that a rebuilt set of Ford castings would be the best bet. It used to be common practice to buy an engine for the race car and put it in the tow truck for a season. Allowing it to take a "set" or even go ahead and crack if it was going to, then freshening it up and modding it for the race car the following season. A thermal cycled and seasoned casting that passes magnaflux is a better part than a new one.
Good luck with your truck. I can understand being annoyed after dropping $10k in it and now the heads are busted.
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