I agree but I just saying what I saw in a magazine. To do it the right way and I haven't seen the instructions would be remove the rockers, head bolts and head. Clean head, deck and rockers. Chase head bolt holes and reassemble using studs tightened finger tight and torque nuts to spec. Yes it is a pain because it is tight or take the cab off. Have a great weekend.

 

You do not need to remove the head, in fact I always discourage head removal when I am talking to people on the phone here at work.

When I installed head studs on both of my trucks I did them one at a time and this was 3 1/2 years and 120,000 miles ago. I see 65 psi boost dailly, I have drag raced and sled pulled and towed more $hit than I care to remember.

DO NOT REMOVE YOUR HEAD.

The head has been through so many heat cycles and cool down cycles over the years that there is a lot of pent up tension in that head. When you unclamp it completely by removing all of the head bolts that is when you will allow it to warp. I hope that makes sense.

Think of it this way. If you take a wet piece of would and lay it in the sun it will dry, but the thing will bend, twist, and bow to the point that you can no longer use is.

Take the same piece of wood and get it soaked again and set it under a heavy rock and let it dry and it will stay perfectly straight.

When I do head studs on my trucks and countless trucks that have rolled through our shop, I do them one at a time. Pull out the factory head bolt and lube up the new head stud, torque that studs to 100 foot pounds and move on to the next one.

Repeat this until all of your studs are in place.


Then start in the middle of the head and torque all of the studs in a spiral pattern outwards at 125 foot pounds until all the studs have been torqued again.

Then I start the truck and let it idle for about 45 minutes or until the coolant has reached normal operating temps.

Shut the truck down and torque all the studs using the same spiral pattern at 135 foot pounds.

If I am working on a very high horse powered truck (700+) I will tell them to drive the truck for a week or two and bring it back and I will do an additional torque on them but still only at 135 to make sure no stretching occurred.

Feel free to give me a holler if you have any additional questions. 1-208-777-1977

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On a side note, you should check the valve lash! You are clamping the head down a lot harder than the factory studs do so more than likely your valves will be a couple of one thousandths loose. The Cummins tolerance is pretty forgiving as far as staying inside factory specs. But it's nice knowing that everything is perfectly even.

 

INDEED as to what vinny said and it will get the job done. The only time you have headgasket issues is when you blow your head gasket and you do not take the head and the block into to get decked. Because if the headgasket goes it means your head has warped and walked on the block creating and uneven surface to clamp to.

 

DONT REMOVE THE HEAD
"Why will the head warp? If it's evenly torqued, following sequence, and tighter than stock, i just dont see how it would..."
Exactly!! It Wont.. and it cant Warp

 

Scott and Vinny,

It's good to hear from since you moved from Vegas to Idaho.

Knowing what you guys do I would do that. I bought gauges and a pipe for my 03 from you.

 

mine are torqued to 155#'s.. had to replace gasket thats y i bought the studs...

 

Great info vinny I appreciate it. I'm doin the studs here in about an hour. It's really not a big deal I just wanted to make sure I'm not gonna mess anything up... Every vehicle is different obviously. I think I should be good to go in a few hours. Thanks guys once again i appreciate it

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UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



PM's please on o-ring/fire ring the head. Bad bolt from arp broke off inside block so i gotta go get it. Its a saturday, ARP isnt open so i cant see what they wanna do about the situation. Its the number 2 stud in the center. Broke on initial retorque process. Completely out of the blue. Everything is going fine, and pop. Torque wrench set at 125 lb/ft. Can i re-use the studs in the truck or should i demand a new set from arp? help me out guys im lost here. Let me know what's my best route... I have no transportation now What are my options for not o ringing the head and just putting a better than stock gasket on it?

 

Update to my update. I managed to get the stud out of the block. Can I back all the bolts off the 110lbs and put a stock head bolt in it's place for the time being until I get a new stud??

 

did you run a tap threw all of the holes before installing studs?

 

Negative. Hard to find a tap that will work with the head on. They didn't feel to be dirty inside, and threaded nicely. I don't believe that is the problem. I did a retorque on all the bolts again to 125 and all the others are fine. I even bought a new torque wrench in the process. Had to be a faulty bolt. I left the arp's in place and replaced the broken one with a stock bolt for now torqued to 112 until I can get a hold of arp for a complete new stud kit.