I have read alot of people on here have head studs and I was curious as to how soon I should get them done, and how hard is it to do. Do I have to pull the head or can you just swap them out one at a time. If I have to pull the head is it a good idea to replace headgasket and is there a certain gasket I should get or just a factory one.

 

I wouldnt say you need them yet but they are good insurance. You just change them one at a time, never have more than one loose. Chances are if you pull it you will need the head milled to get it to seal again. They are easy to do though. I did mine in the driveway. Mine worked fine but my gasket was already damaged so mine blew anyway when I put the tins on. You may need to bottom tap some of them to get them to bottom out enough but you can do that one at a time as you pull them. I cant remember the size of tap but you can buy it local I'm sure. Just make sure and clean all the holes out and use plenty of moly lube if you do decide to do them.

 

The folks I have work on my truck tell me theyve seen too many head gaskets pop that have been studded by removing one stud at a time and upgrading.
Whether thats because the gasket is still stock or what, who knows.
When I get studs Im doing the orings at the same time.

 

If it's in any ones budget it is definetley to go.

 

is it even worth it to run head studs with a stock head gasket? i was thinkin my head gasket it still in primo condition cuz it doesnt have very many miles on it. id rather not pull the head off but i wanna run twins and bigger injectors. lookin to push 65psi out of it

 

If thats what your after you might as well go ahead and O-ring and stud it. I learned the hard way. Instead of putting my truck down to do it. It put itself down and I had to work around it not being ready.

 

ok what if i bring my expectations down and say around 45 50 psi

 

I had mine up to 50 lots of times and popped it at about 25-30 psi after I installed the twins just driving to work.

 

Its totally random with these trucks.. some hold up to piles of abuse and some blow at low pressure.
If you want to run >45psi on a single, or run twins, you pretty much have to o-ring and stud for insurance. Also high timing, water/meth, propane, NOS will make life harder on a gasket.
If you have a high mileage head it might even be worthwhile to order a loaded replacement from pure diesel power. theyve got some good deals on OEM heads and offer porting, etc.

 

Installed twins - 45 psi - blew head gasket, anything above 40 psi is what people say is grey area. If you take the head off do it all at one time, o-rings, check valve springs, head studs, millwork, check for surface cracks, etc etc.. Get it right and then start playing. I started playing, blew the head gasket and now without my truck, but Tim at TRE diesel is taking good care of me. Like the old saying goes, you half-*** something and it will come back to bite you.

 

I got a .020 overthick cummins gasket with stock bolts with a special torque procedure and mine holds 50-55 daily

 

Mine sees 50 psi every day, so far still all stock on the top end.