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Arp torque to 215 ft lbs vs high hp

15K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  Tuscany 
#1 ·
I know Arp lowered the torque to 215 on their bolts with ultra lube, and from all my reading everyone still tightens the more than that. So my queston is do you think 215 is enough when you start doing larger injectors and turbos or will you be just fine. Looking for first hand experience and opinions.
 
#3 ·
Wow this is a tough one and you'll probably get a whole variety of responses. First the NEW value is 210ft-lbs vice 215.

When I did my head gasket job, I torqued the studs to the fat side of 210ft-lbs on the scale of the torque wrench and my head gasket job has about 12k miles (almost 1 year) on it and I am running 190/100 injectors and even did a 605hp run with 44+psi of boost three times and all is good so far. I have also seen EGTs as high 1800F a few times with some WOT runs.

I would recommend torquing the studs to anywhere between 215-220ft-lbs to make sure you have at least 210ft-lbs unless you lift the cab on your head stud install because when you do it with the cab on it is hard to get the same torque angle on each stud of the motor.

I have heard of torquing to 285ft-lbs but I am not sure what (if anything) is gained by going that high. These studs break at around the 315ft-lb mark.

JMO on this and hope it helps.
 
#4 ·
I'm a huge supporter of torque it per ARP's specs.

Even if you don't snap a bolt, I wouldn't want to yeild the thing either.

Nate's mentioned his is a little over ARPs recommendation, and he's putting a lot of power down without issue.

Mine are per ARP's spec, and 26K later running a race file, I haven't had a problem. Turbo's next on the list.
 
#5 ·
This is listed over on XDPs page for ARP studs so take it for what it's worth as I haven't asked ARP about this.

"ALERT: Ford 6.0L Diesel Head Stud Customers

ARP is aware of forum postings recommending torquing our Ford 6.0L head studs to 270 ft-lbs.

We DO NOT recommend this. This will YIELD your studs.

Please follow the instructions that came with the kit!"
 
#6 ·
I went to 220 just in case my couple year old torque rachet is not as exact as new


Sent from the moon
 
#7 ·
Yea I have to say that I think torquing to like 270ft-lbs isn't really gaining anymore clamping force than a true torque to the factory recommended spec of 210ft-lbs but is rather just non-elastically stretching the stud.

However, let's look at how the torquing process goes down (for guys that do their own wrenching and know about busted knuckles). When a nut/bolt is stationary, it takes more torque to get it to move as compared to just after it starts moving due to inertia and over coming the force of friction (hence the reason for the ARP Ultra Lube) in the threads of of the nut and stud. So you start torquing the nut and you get very close to but not quite 210ft-lbs to make the wrench click and you run out of room to go any further (hence the cab is on and the engine is in the truck). Now you reset and start torquing again and the wrench clicks but the socket/nut doesn't move, my question is is the nut truely at 210ft-lbs?? I am inclined to think that it isn't for reasons mentioned above and am hence more inclined to just bump the torque wrench setting to 215 or so just so the 210 is actually reached.

JMOs and hope it helps.
 
#8 ·
Don't over-torque! ARP has those specs for a reason. When you torque a bolt it actually stretches. As in the previous post, over-torquing the studs can yield/over-stretch them. Is 5 or 10ft-lbs over going to hurt? Probably not. Aside from the obvious problems with the studs, you could always pull the threads out of the block. That would hurt your feelings in a hurry :hehe:
 
#10 ·
To my knowledge the studs DONT stretch (I have used them on gassers a bunch) ... and that is why they are reusable, once a bolt yields or 'stretches' it should not be re-used. ARP has given that spec because they dont want people to yield or stretch the stud as the stud then becomes a vulnerability.

Again this is to my knowledge from using studs in the past, I was NOT trying to be a dick :)

Todd
 
#9 ·
Sorry about the number, didn't have the instructions in front, going off memory which apparently isn't any good lol. Thanks Nate that was just thats just the kind of info I was looking for. My truck should be done today, and other day when I went in the mechanic was reading the instructions so I'm assuming he'll do it 210. Was just curious if it would matter or not. Thanks for the replies
 
#14 ·
I agree with you all. I was trying to say that the bolts do stretch a certain amount (we measure rod bolt stretch for instance). When you torque them to a specific torque we check for proper stretch. All bolts stretch and my point was that overstretching them causes them to weaken. I think we were all saying the same thing:rofl: Bottom line is that using the right torque is imperative.
 
#15 ·
I ran mine to 220 and never had any troubles. Used the arp lube as well. We done my wife's truck and my cummins per the instructions and haven't had any trouble either, and all three have been under severe duty conditions.
 
#19 ·
I talked to a rep of arp recently and he specifically told me to not over torque these studs. He stated that the ultra torque lube allows you to put 210 ft/lbs of torque on the studs as compared to 245 ft/lbs without the lube and still would have the same clamping force. The idea behind this is that the lube is allowing you to more easily reach the desired torque because of the lesser amount of friction as compared to when your torquing metal on metal. So essentially your getting the same torque rating with the torque lube and only torquing to 210 ft/lbs as you are without the lube and torquing to 245 ft/lbs.

Also he made it clear to thread the studs all the way into the block and then back them out 1/8th of a turn and you want the studs to be loose inside the block and only torque the nut not the stud. He also said to use rtv sealant on the block side of the studs and the arp ultra torque lube on the nut side of the stud, washers, and nuts. Hope this helps clear things up a little bit.
 
#18 ·
I for one followed the ARP instruction four times now. I did one stud for blot method on the MAD truck and have not had any problems. I torqued to 210, and have had as high as 35psi of boost and ran 1800 degrees at WOT more times than I would want to say. I plan on not doing anything to the heads until I cahnge them in the fall. I will be running with the combo I have planned and should hit 600rwhp. Hope that helps out.
 
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