I heard a rumor about the head gasket on 6.0L being cheap and to be careful about adding mods to your truck and not replacing them with stonger ones. Can anyone shed a little light on this for me?
-Eddie

 

I think there are re-designed head gaskets that Ford puts on troubled vehicles, but I am not sure. If you are going to mod your truck then you might what to change the head gaskets and studs. But some trucks do have head gasket problems with out any mods.

By the way, why should Ford design in an extra factor of safety so you can mod your truck? I wouldn't call them cheap. My head gaskets are fine on my stock truck (42,500 miles).

If you want to mod your truck, and your modification increases the peak cylinder pressure, then do the head gasket and head stud mod also.

 

You can read my sig for the mods I've done so far. Notice, no headgaskets listed. I'm still running the stock ones with no problems yet. When they do give out, then I'll replace them with a set from Hypermax and studs from ARP.

 

There is a article in this months fourwheeler magazine which talks about the dangers of head gasket failure on trucks that are modified to put out more torq and HP then the 6.0 is designed for. I will not modifie my truck it runs great in stock condition.

 

syc,
If you are happy with the way your truck runs, then by all means, leave it stock.
If, however, you find the performance mundane, boring, or just not a lot of fun to drive, do it up. I have personally seen somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 trucks with the cab off (including my own) getting headgaskets and/or studs, and most of these were COMPLETELY STOCK, just tow monsters. The early headgaskets (03-04) were mediocre at best, but I have seen 05-06 trucks with a gasket kicked out of them too. If you are going to run the truck hard, or tow hard, aftermarket studs and/or gaskets are great peace of mind.

Tim

 

My truck is almost done in the garage. MY Hypermax500 gaskets and ARP head studs are the new addition to my truck. I want to turn my truck into a Tow King. Ive got pictures before and after of the work being done and a picture of the stock head gasket. Very different from what im putting in.

 

I was just fixin' to ask if gaskets and studs could be done at home when I saw the "cab off" line. About what does it cost to get the gaskets replaced and studs installed? How many folks have re-blown the gaskets after this repair/upgrade?

 

I have actually seen two dealerships that installed aftermarket gaskets and studs for customers... under warranty. You would have to call around for labor rates, but I believe it pays about 23 to 25 hours, so at roughly 80 bucks an hour... $2000.00.
My truck has Hypermax '500' gaskets ($500), ARP headstuds (now about $500) and performs flawlessly, not a drop of coolant where it does not belong. I routinely drive my truck very hard, and my license plate reads 'TOWHARD'... so that should give you some indication of what I am about. I have seen 1400 degrees EGT and 35 lbs. boost, no problems. I have several friends with the same gaskets, or the original 'machine type' Hypermax gaskets, and zero failures.

Tim

 

BTW there are two schools of thought on this:

1) The factory Torque To Yield head bolts are the problem due to the exhorbitant amount of stretch required for the clamping force needed

2) The factory MLS head gasket was the issue due to combustion pressure
forcing the gasket layers apart, ultimately compromising the sealing ability of the gasket

The original Hypermax gasket uses a reuseable gasket body, and was designed to be used with a new set of factory TTY bolts. These gaskets are
$1000.00

I have personally seen trucks studded with ARP's torqued to 245 lbs. and using a factory Ford (new) gasket, without failure.

I personally spoke with Max at Hypermax many times before gasketing my truck. I was one of the first on the West Coast to utilize his '500' gasket, and the first anywhere to his knowledge that utilized his gasket in conjunction with a stud. All testing, R&D and use at Hypermax, at least up until recently, involved factory Ford TTY bolts. He was unable to tell me what may transpire with the stud install, so my truck was kind of a guinea pig. He was quite happy when the job was done with success, I can tell you that. I just wanted all the extra help I could get to contain cylinder pressure.

BTW, everyone seems to have their own idea about torque specs for different brands of studs/different material.

The early studs I received from ARP after their initial run merely read 'ARP'
stamped into the head, the later ones read 'ARP 2000' and look slightly different from the early ones, even though ARP denies any changes. The early studs were advertised as 8740 Chromemoly, later as ARP 2000. I had heard early on there were some failures (stud breaking just below nut and washer) on the early studs when torqued to 245 lbs.

My personal truck runs the ARP 2000 studs and are torqued to 235 lbs. with moly lube in the factory torque sequence.

Tim

 

6L PWR,
Your truck runs hard, I love it. It would be cool if you never kicked a gasket out of it. I know one thing, after the initial scare with tuned trucks in early '03, alot of tuners worked hard on 'cylinder pressure adjusted' tuning to try and alleviate some of the headgasket problems. I have seen tuning this year that makes just as much, if not more, HP and TQ, with slightly less boost than previous tunes from the same tuners.


Tim

 

I dont do too much heavy pulling with my truck. The only upgrades that I have done has been to straight piped the exhaust and I put the Edge Platinum chip in it. I keep the power setting on the Edge at level 3, not just because I'm worried about the head gasket but the truck and I seem to agree on that setting.

Oh and does anyone know how I can make the truck even louder?

 

I'm betting it won't kick the gasket since I have the stud kit and gasket sitting in my garage. lol That's the way it always seems to work for me.

Easy, step that baby up to level 6, get an Edge Evo set to Tow and stomp the pedal through the floorboard. If it ain't loud enough then, then you need some serious hearing aides. lol

 

Is it possible to replace the head bolts one by one and not have to remove the heads as to retain the stock gasket? Seems as if it would ruin the integrity of the stock gasket in place by not performing the proper torque sequence. So, if this is the case, it would seem to me that upgrading the gasket and studding it is the sequence of choice.

 

I know some that tried this and it doesn't last. There's just not enough real clamping force on the head. It might even cause your head to warp in some weird way. Best way is to remove the cab or pull the motor and do it right. Short cuts will only cost you $$$ and twice the labor.

 

6L PWR

You did all those mod's to your truck and your not worried about blowing more than just the head gasket?