Intake and Exhaust Question?

[Charlie01]

I have a friend that is looking to get a little more power and fuel economy out of his 6.0 along with lowering EGT's while towing. A free flowing intake and exhaust seems like a no brainer to me on any engine but I have been told that with the reputation of having bad head gaskets, changing anything could cause more harm than good. I have another friend with an 03 6.0 and has a full MBRP exhaust and banks intake and has had no issues in 185,000 miles. So my question is, is there any truth to these mods increasing the odds of head gasket damage or is it just another rumor? Any help is appreciated.

[Lilpooh]

Maintenance neglect and over abuse causes HG failure. You can have your buddies read this, it's up to them to follow thru.
Things to consider about owning a 6.0L

CAI don't cause HG failure, they usually destroy the compressor wheel on the turbo, do to lack of filtration.

Exhaust has nothing to do with HG failure, the only con is if you get caught without a cat.

[colo_dually]

The intake and exhaust won't cause an issue with HG's.

For intakes there's two schools of thought; 1) keep the stock unit that filters better than anything on the market, and supports 500HP builds. 2) Get an S&B CAI with the dry filter, its about the only one aftermarket without a bad rep.

For exhaust system, Stainless Steel Turbo-back 4" system from MBRP or Diamond Eye are the most popular. 4" is as big as you need to go for increased flow in a stock to mildly modified truck. 5" systems and Stack kits do nothing for performance without big power being put down.

I would say go with the exhaust described above, and recommend a monitor (like the Edge Insight CS/CTS) vise an intake to your friend. Knowing what's going on under that hood is more important in the long run than the intake and the Insight CS is comparable to what some of these CAI's are listed for.