Black Onyx vs OEM vs Other

[Longcut]

Getting ready to do head gaskets, studs, egr delete and powermax turbo on my 04. I havent had any head gasket problems at this point with 160,xxx on the clock. Ive seen alot of debate about head gaskets and was wondering what everyones opion is on the best.

Thanks,
Louis

[Dave]

OEM only the black onyx have way too high of a failure rate to consider anything else

[Term3]

Do a search and you will see no one uses anything other then OEM head gaskets. Well at least anyone that knows what they are doing.

[windrunner408]

I agree that OEM is probably the best route to go.

Without doing a complete study from one mechanic doing 20 trucks with the OEM and 20 others with the black onyx, all with the same block prep work and cylinder head reconditioning, then I think the debate will continue for ever. Some think as long as the block and heads are prepped properly it doesnt matter which gasket you use, but I have heard of too many guys with having everything checked out properly still experiencing head gasket failures with the black mls head gaskets.

So I just say that if stock gaskets will hold 1000hp then why go with anything else?? JMO.

[risco]

oem aftermarket doesnt always mean better

[dieselmatt]

...here we go again...

[Country Mav]

Your OEM have lasted you 160000 miles... stands to reason that if you add studs, then another set of OEM gaskets should be good to go for a looooong time. Too many black onyx gaskets failing for my taste. Good luck and choose wisely!

[07stroker]

My BO head gaskets only lasted 6 months. And that was with 185's and an 03 turbo, and I had elites cam to lower back pressure. Now I'm putting 190/100's with elites SSX and h-11 studs with OEM gaskets.

[Longcut]

Thanks for the replies!

I was leaning toward the OEM gaskets anyway but wanted to know what everyone else was running. I bought a set of BO gaskets back when they were all the rage but I think I will just leave them on the shelf and order the oem's.

Country Mav - Yes 160,xxx on stock head gaskets with TTY bolts and a SCT x3.

My gaskets arent blown but my turbo is, so I was going to go a head and stud it while I have it tore down.