The reason that the truck is of the chaise is s that they can get access to the heads so they can take them off and replace the Factory blots with head studs so that the heads don't lift off the block while running a tuner that raises the pressure in the Cylinders and also so it doesn't eat coolant.

 

My bad! I meant new and improved bolts.

According to weekendwarriors tale, I was damn close.

 

you hit the stud on the head...no bolts from the factory...all that emmisions stuff was holding the heads to the block..once i discovered this last week, I decided to put something better than nothing in...

 

There you go!!!!

 

Just reinforces my V-10 decision!!!

 

So more pics how goes the battle? My V 10 might b slow but then again i dont need forced in duction to move.

 

actually, i got it back on Thursday..it came back cleaner than when i dropped it off...no squeaks, creaks, or leaks..there were 2 delays..first was that there was only 1 headgasket in Vegas for an 03/04 motor...the 05+ have a different dowel pin size..the second was an unrelated issue that i was having addressed..my EATC(A/C) control head took a dump and had to wait for that ...

i was more than surprised at how well it came out...all my vital temps and the feel of the X are just as they were before the truck was torn down..body is lined up perfectly..i'm very happy so far..

 

My dealer set the body of my X back down perfectly about 7K miles ago. It has not had an issue since the studded the engine. It does not even blow coolant all over when towing the toy hauler.

 

A friend of mine had the studs put on his 16K mile 04 F350 6.0 but don't think they took the body off the frame to do it. Perhaps with the 6 inch lift and 37's they had enough room to work. Know of a 78K mile 04 6.0 on it's third motor. With the mods the guy ran it was no wonder the motor blew up so often, 10 inch lift and 40's.

The biggest thing removed from my wifes 190K mile Excursion was the valve covers to do the glow plugs. Ended up being the glow plug module. Both easy swaps. Then again it's very slow and only gets 18 mpg.

 

please tell me you guys are just having a little fun at the expense of those of us who are not familiar with Ford's design theory. Please tell me you dont REALLY have to take the body off the chassis to work on the cyl. heads. I mean, some of us have had to work on Ford products in years past, and know from personal experience they try very hard to figure up new ways to cost the consumer more money than is necessary for a given repair, but this is beyond ridiculous!

I mean - let's take the "slave cylinder" of the typical Ford clutch as my favorite example ) of many ) of how Ford goes out of its way to make it as expensive as possible. Industry tradition is the slave cylinders are a "service" part, that do have to be maintained. Industry tradition is to mount this device OUTSIDE of the bell-housing, so that it can be quickly and economically serviced.

Ford went to a LOT of trouble to figure out how to make special fittings that will break if you dont know the "secret", so you get to buy a new master cylinder for several hundred dollars, even if you only need to disconnect a hydraulic line. But where is the slave cyl. itself on Ford products ? INSIDE THE BELL HOUSING - you have to pull the transfer case and transmission out to get at it !

So, maybe I should not be surprised that you have to take the body off the frame to do cyl. head work ?

 

this could have been done without removing the body..the body gets raised as it is quicker and easier than removing all the componants that are in the way or pulling the motor....i don't think the procedure was designed/engineered into the 03-07 trucks and X's, but was discovered by flat rate techs looking to save some time(make more $$$)..a good tech can have the body off a truck in less than 4 hours..not to mention it all goes back on as one unit and body panel alignment issues are all but gone..my guy said that an Excursion is easier to get back together than a truck as he doesn't have the cab/bed alignment isssue..remeber, this is how the vehicle was assembled at the factory, body onto rolling chassis...anyone who has ever changed out a downpipe on a 6.0l equipped vehicle has seen the proof..usually the stock DP will have area's which are smashed/dented..this is where the asssembly workers used the exhaust as a "bumper" as the body/cab was coming down...the techs are just working that process in reverse..

the new 08+ Super Duty's were designed/engineered around having the cab removed to access particular componants..i've heard the cabs on these trucks can be in the air in 2 hours or less..