stud the heads?
Senior User
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 462
Likes: 1
From the factory ford put in bolts that are a weak link in engine department. Get too much boost, to much compression, egr goes south, ect ect and these bolts start to stretch which causes you to blow some head gaskets. You replace these bolts with some higher strength studs which are threaded on both ends and in theory won't stretch giving you more clamping force on the heads. If your gonna do any engine mods to you truck, tuners, more boost, ect ect this is something you should consider. It is costly but worth it in the long run.
Senior User
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 462
Likes: 1
It's a pain alright. IMO. There's not much room under the hood of these trucks so most people lift the cab off. It's been done with the cab still in place but it's not fun by any means. I've have yet to do this on my truck as i don't have access to a lift and i'm not really wanting to try to do this with the cab on. Any who good luck if you attempt it and also welcome to FTE!
Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,285
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yeah it's definitely a project to do it yourself, and pretty pricey to have a shop do the work. if you do it make sure to get the heads checked for cracks and get it deck and manga fluxed. if you don't check you may end up having to do it all over again. but once the motor gets studded it will have a lot stronger top end!!
Logistics Pro
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,616
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Definitely the weak link on these engines is the head bolts, egr cooler, egr valve. Take care of these three major PITAss*s and you'll have a damn strong, dependable engine.
I have not done studs, but I will when needed.
I have not done studs, but I will when needed.
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New User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 6
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Damn, I din'think it would be such a project till I looked at it, thanks for the input, I'll wait till I need to do it then figure out how.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,626
Likes: 7
From: Plano TX and Brentwood TN
None of y'all mentioned that you could also pull the motor in order to do this. None of the options are exactly less labor, but there are options to getting it done.
If you have issues with the heads(puking etc) that to me would pretty much eliminate the option of doing it with everything in and on as I would want to make sure I got those heads checked. If you are doing it as a preventative thing, then you might be able to get away with doing it one at a time with everything in and on.
If you have issues with the heads(puking etc) that to me would pretty much eliminate the option of doing it with everything in and on as I would want to make sure I got those heads checked. If you are doing it as a preventative thing, then you might be able to get away with doing it one at a time with everything in and on.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2006
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I had minor puking issues that were initially caused by a clogged EGR cooler. How did I know it was the cooler and not the HGs? I sampled the coolant tank for exhaust gases and found none. However, about 6 months later, after my X was out of warranty, the puking increased so I checked the coolant tank again and I had a very slight exhaust gas indication. I decided to install the studs and that cured my puking problem.
If you have the ability, money and time, installing studs will virtually guarantee no future HG problems, especially if you run a tuner. Also, while you are at it, you should either eliminate the EGR cooler at about $500 or get an upgraded EGR cooler from Neal Technologies for about $350. Either way that eliminates another 6.0 issue.
DSMMH
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,626
Likes: 7
From: Plano TX and Brentwood TN
You can also just bypass it if you don't want to have it there, but still have something there for the visual inspection(if applicable). That's what I have done and I have had zero issues, but get someone that has the right equipment(exhaust/muffler shop) as the metal on the up-pipes is rather weak compared to other metals and breaks easily when hot.