head studs

[jake06]

at what performance level do the stock head bolts not hold up. Looking @ sct livewire and exhaust for my 06. If head studs are needed what is a ball park cost for a service shop to install this. I have read the article in this months diesel power mag, just looking for others input

[shu873]

Originally Posted by jake06

at what performance level do the stock head bolts not hold up. Looking @ sct livewire and exhaust for my 06. If head studs are needed what is a ball park cost for a service shop to install this. I have read the article in this months diesel power mag, just looking for others input

On your '06 the stock bolts should hold up "fairly well". Meaning that you should be ok up to a certain point. Some trucks can and will still stretch the bolts on stock programming, and the risk goes up with a tuner. SCT is the safest as well as the most powerful tuner IMO. If you decide to stud the motor, $2500 ballpark guess for the cost including the studs.

[jake06]

intresting that even @ the stock level the head bolts are a concern. anyone done this project themselves?

[shu873]

I did.

[bigd4x4]

Originally Posted by shu873

I did.

Did you do it without pulling the motor or cab?

[jerseyredneck1]

Please let us know if this was done without pulling the motor or cab. I have a similar question on a different thread. I was under the impression when I bought my '07 6.0 that this problem was addressed by Ford and Navistar. From what I'm hearing on this website, apparently it isn't.
I'm beginning to think I should stud my engine before I do ANYTHING to it and I should wish nothing happens to my engine just driving down the street. I love my '07 King Ranch dually (It's my dream truck.), but I don't want any embarrassing problems. My '97 7.3 was bullet-proof and never gave me any trouble.

[notch93]

i was curious to if you pulled the heads with the motor still in the truck. i was told that was impossible.

[bigd4x4]

I think it is impossible to remove the heads. The question is if you can replace the bolts with studs one at a time.

[shu873]

Mine was done by pulling the cab. It was done by a ford diesel tech. not me. I know of one person did the studs one at a time without pulling the heads off, but he pulled the cab too.

[drose6102]

I have done some recalls on the 6.0L replacing the rocker arm assemblies. Its fine to remove one head bolt at a time, as long as you replace it with a new one and torque to spec. before removing the next one.