Upgrades and Victor Reinz head gaskets

[dee004]

Hey all,
Bought my Bulletproof Diesel remote oil cooler, 6.4 banjo bolts, upgraded fuel pressure spring, upgraded STC fitting, upgraded turbo oil feed and return tubes, new welded EGR cooler and uppipe, CCV Mod, new intake elbow, full complement of gauges right down to transmision temperature and then seperated my shoulder so it's all been sitting and waiting til I heal. Since then I have purchased ARP studs and Victor Reinz head gaskets as well. Are there any issues with these gaskets anybody has had or are they good? Didn't have the coin for the studs before I hurt my shoulder but managed to save it up while healing. Didn't want to do the oil cooler without the studs anyway. Any thoughts on the gaskets or anything I've missed would be greatly appreciated. After reading and following Fishermedics fabulous write up I've been chomping at the bit to get going on my 05, 6.0.
Thanks in advance, can't wait to start going to be at least another month or two before my shoulder is good enough.
Dee

[Brieldo]

The general consensus has been that the OEM gaskets are a better product as there have been more failures than acceptable with the Victor Reinz/Black Onyx Gaskets.

[PGreenSVT]

What he said. Get rid of the VR's and go with the oem's or plan on doing it again.

[dee004]

Will do, thanks for the input guy's I think replacing them once will be enough.

[07stroker]

My VR gaskets lasted less than 6 months.

[ckyguy68]

DO NOT use the VR gaskets. Just wanted to back up what these guys are saying. Mine lasted 6,000 miles. Do it right the first time.

[jeffro22]

defintly use the OEM gaskets as mentioned. the VR are crap!!!

[dee004]

Looks like it's a call to Tousley to order some OEM gaskets. Thanks guy's. 6 months and or 6K is scary especially since I tow a fifhtwheel. Sure don't want to do all that work and be at it again. WooooHooo, IH and Ford are actually supplying something for the 6.0 that actually works with the right studs LOL.....
Cheers,

[PGreenSVT]

Actually there is nothing wrong with the oem TTY head bolts. When the egr cooler ruptures and allows coolant into the cylinders the high cylinder pressures that result will lift the heads even with H11 studs. Studs beat the TTY head bolts in terms of clamping force and resistance to stretching but don't think they are immunity to blown head gaskets. Address the egr cooler problem and the likelihood of head gasket issues goes way down.

[dee004]

I've bought everything and will be running a tow tune along with many other upgrades. As a precaution I'm going to replace the head bolts and install OEM gaskets with the ARP studs since I'm tearing everything down to do the Bulletproof oil cooler. Just gotta get the OEM gaskets to replace the VR's I picked up. I do have coolant trickling down the back of the engine and looks to be coming from between the head and block. Just noticed it in the driveway after we got back in from Grove City PA. on Wed last week. Hope I don't have a cracked head. No sign of oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. Any ideas on tests? Degas bottle losing very little coolant. Is there anywhere else it could come from back there?