[Megatron315]

Hey guys, quick question, can you reuse apr head studs? I’m in the middle of having everything rebuilt and the truck has “apr 2000” head studs currently. Can I reuse them with confidence?
Also, is there a “best” head gasket that’s less likely to blow?

Trucks been through 3 sets of head gaskets prior to my ownership. Engine went to the machine shop and $5,500 later I basically have a 6.1L brand spanking new 6.0L.

 

[BKB94]

ARPs in my opinion get better every time you use them, as long as they haven’t been overtorqued / stretched. Back in the day ARP recommended 3 cycles of torque to spec then loosen to polish the rolled threads. i like the feel-pro gaskets with slightly taller fire ring, hope this last time you had the heads o-ringed.

 

[ZMANN]

Agreed
ARP's are approved for reuse however if you had previously blown head gaskets you can always check the length
to make sure none were stretched

Felpro or OEM/Mhale gaskets is what most prefer

 

[Racer71]

Clean surfaces is the biggest thing in these scenarios. Also new heads or reconditioned? Some of the new ones aren’t machined the best and may need touched up on the resurfacing mill.

 

[TooManyToys]

You can reuse ARP studs. They are of a grade where the tensioned value of the studs brings them into a state of ~65% of the yield point. It might be a little higher than that.

The roll dies that ARP use are good, but one of the attributes of the special ARP Lube is that in comparison to other types of lubricants, the threads don't polish out; the scatter is lower between how often you retighten them. That, however, depends on the product and is shown within ARP's own data.

Using the 6.0L stud.

The one Detroit #2 ("Peanut Butter") data point is an outlier and probably bad data. Detroit #2 has good lubricity but is known to allow polishing, so the same amount of 210ft-lbs of torque would take the ARP stud to yield and failure with multiple "polishes".

Thread polishing still occurs with motor oil (10w30) and Moly D reinforced lubricant. APR lube is a very unique product and gets you to a consistent point of Preload, where you would need 6 to 7 re-torques to get to the same point with other lubricants. There are instances with critical fastening where engineers state a fastener to go through that many re-torques to settle out.

MLS gaskets need a smoother surface finish and, as Racer pointed out, clean. I, personally, am opposed to the Ford procedure of not milling and leaving staining.

Engineering textbook:

 

[Megatron315]

Clean surfaces is the biggest thing in these scenarios. Also new heads or reconditioned? Some of the new ones aren’t machined the best and may need touched up on the resurfacing mill.

Thanks for all the info guys. One head is new, it’s a proComp and was sent to the machine shop with the block to be double checked. The other head is the original head.