I just talked to a mechanic about installing an EGR Delete/Oil Cooler kit on my 6.0 and he said studs must be installed no matter if I don't tow or run any tunes on it. He said quite firmly "YOUR MOTOR WONT LAST WITHOUT STUDS, THEY ARE NECESSARY!!!" Well the mechanic that works at my Ford dealership said he is 100% sure id be fine with the TTY bolts as long as I dont do any tuning or tow heavy.

Can someone please shed some light on this? It is quite confusing. I got one guy that has never even seen my truck before acting like freakin Bill Hewitt and another who has worked on my truck numerous times and says my truck will be fine!

 

I think you just take your chances with out them I plan on putting them on mine eventually but my uncle has an 04 that he's put over 100k on and never had a problem to speak of and all he does with it is pull heavy I if you're keeping her turned down and don't do anything extreme you should fine but that's my opinion

 

That's what I was thinking too. They had been replaced not too long before I got the truck because they appeared brand new to the mechanic (I saw them too they looked great). I called the shop and they said the head gaskets were replaced at around 180k. I'm now at 200k. The guy who said I needed the studs said I would be good for awhile but in the long run I would need them.

 

I have 270k on my truck and I just put studs on about 5k ago, my head gaskets were still good but I was pulling motor to upgrade to the newer style HPOP system so I decided to go ahead and do studs since the motor was going to be out. The keys to keeping things from blowing is to Delete the EGR cooler, rebuild the oil cooler and add a coolant filter, don't over tune is probably the most important. I tow alot and always on the tow level on my edge/alot of people don't like Edge but I have no complaints/ I tow smart, keeping an eye on EGTs, letting the truck work and not flooring it and overworking it.
Alot of problems are caused by the oil cooler, when it clgs the oil temps skyrocket wich can destroy orings in the injector circuit/dummy plugs-stand pipes-orings on top of injectors,,, also when the oil cooler clogs there is not enough coolant to keeps the EGr cooler filled with coolant so it will STEAM and this steam entering the engine can pop head gaskets and even cause heads to warp causing gaskt failure.

 

Only reason I'm a bit skeptical is they have had to be replaced in the past and I have no clue on the exact cause.

 

the head gaskets or the other parts i talked about? the oil cooler will clog if you don't have a coolant filter, the egr cooler is not adequate for what it is supposed to do allready and a clogged oil cooler even make the situation worse.

 

I was talking about the head gaskets. Sorry shoulda explained. What happened was it had head gasket failure in the past and idk if it was EGR related or not because my truck has had no EGR cooler issues in the 200k miles its been on there.

 

Studs "required" honestly no. bobfbigman has stated the things to do to prevent the requirement. IF for some other reason you are needing major work then do studs. I ran my 2006 for years with mild puking of the degas bottle. I saved up the parts and cash to install studs. I have had studs for the last 20 months, NO major issues prior to that or since. I ran tuned/chipped before studs. When it was all pulled down the tech said everything looked just fine. Heads got a clean bill of health and now I have fun with no worries.

If the truck is fine just drive it. When it goes out get studs.

 

When I bought my gaskets at Ford I pulled the bolts out of the box and laid them on the counter and told the parts guy to keep them, he laughed and through threw them in a bucket and it made a funny sound. I asked what that noise was and he let me around the counter to see a 5 gallon bucket just about full of the stock head bolts people left there.....

 

I agree with you, but why was your truck puking from the degas bottle? Clogged oil/egr cooler?

I did the EGR delete, new oil cooler, coolant filter kit, FICM and blue spring upgrade right after I purchaed my 6 liter. I also did the VC9 coolant flush prior to the upgrades/repairs. I ran distilled water and then found the CAT EC1 coolant. From what I understand, the CAT coolant has no silicates and is a far superior coolant as International recommends this coolant. I do not plan on a stud kit unless I blow a head gasket....hence, stock tune with an Atlas 40hp tune on the FICM and it's done