I'm able to do just about anything mechanical. Do I need to lift the body off the frame or pull the engine to do the studs? I did my up pipe in the driveway without pulling or lifting . I was on the hiway with about 1500lbs in the bed and hit 34psi at 85mph. Scary.......

 

it is possible if you remove the HVAC box on the passenger side but from what i hear it is just plain easier to lift the cab and the method preferred by techs. reason being is with the cab pulled it is so much easier to walk around the engine. you full access to the entire thing which will enable you to put the proper amount of torque on the studs as well.

but every man for his own poison! if you think it would be easier not to pull the cab then go for it!

 

I was thinking....what if you removed the fenders/wheel well liners and obviously the hood, tires off and on jack stands.....That would be the way I tackle that job. I have seen the cab off and it is pretty impressive....but there has to be another way...There Always Is.

 

Good luck on getting everything properly lined up again!

 

no one said there wasn't another way. he just has to decide what would be easiest for him and what he feels comfortable doing!

 

Here is the problem, how are you going to get those heads out to get them shaved if they need to be if you leaking coolant? If your going to be doing this, your going to want to do it correctly, because even with studs, if you don't install them correctly, you'll still have problems. The only good thing is that you'll be able to reuse the studs versus the one use then done bolts.

Either pull the engine or lift the cab, however it's done. Pay someone, do it yourself, rent the facilities, whatever, it will be far cheaper to get it done right the first time and not have to take it back in later and miss even more time with the use of the vehicle(if you actually need the vehicle for work or other things, if it's just a DD and you have a spare vehicle than this may be a none issue).

There are people that have done it by doing it one at a time swap. They have reported success, it hasn't been that long ago though, I'm just waiting for it to go bust on them though. It just defies logic sometimes to try to do something like this the "easiest" way possible, when it should be the "easiest and most efficient way possible"(which may not be the really easiest way out there, but it's the easiest way without as much worrying then the other).

There are just too many things that could go wrong with something like this and that percentage is even higher when you try to do the shortest shortcut that you can to get it done.

 

pictures in my album of my install. used engine lift to get the big heavy heads out of the engine bay.

 

excellant writeup/pics - how long did that take you? And was it for blown headgaskets or preventive measure?

 

I just looked at your pictures. That looked like quite a job! How long did it take you to do?

 

Relax bro, it seems that my post struck you wrong. Relax

 

If you have a way to get the cab off its a gravy job, honestly. Getting the cab off isnt a big job either of you have a lift. But if you dont have a lift I can honestly say I wouldnt attempt it..... It would just be a major pain in the ****! Obviously its possible but dam I rather get kicked in the nutz then have to do it that way.

 

i didn't mean for that to sound belligerent! it was not my intention at all to come across that way. my apologies

 

It's all good. Just wanted to make sure. Take Care

 

The gaskets were toast on my truck. I started it myself on a friday afternoon 3 or so till 9pm, then a buddy helped me all day on saterday, Maybe 9hrs. Then on sunday the father inlaw helped and had it running sunday evening. I lucked out and my heads didn't need to be shaved, that would have taken days. It really wasn't that bad doing them in the truck, if you don't have a lift.

 

did you buy new tty bolts or did you get ARP studs?