Do head studs really break?

TheSh111t

TheSh111t

That one guy
Joined
Sep 30, 2008
Messages
68
Hey guys, long time since I've been on the board. Life happens sometimes. Now to my question. My new cylinder head arrived yesterday I am about ready to do the O-ring/head stud thing. I have a question about head studs. On quite a few posts I read that some people recommend against running head studs on the street because they are more brittle then stock head bolts. I am a gasses guy at heart and run studs on everything I build but these Cummins engines are a whole new animal to me. I have my mods listed in my signature and I KNOW I'm living on borrowed time with the stock bolts and no O-rings. So I got a new head, I'll be doing a little pocket port work to it and have the valves back cut and the head machined for O-rings. What should I do about fastening the head to the block? Are ARP 2000 studs really that likely to break? Are they any other options that may be better suited to my needs? The truck is a street toy and gets driven 3-4 times a week.. I also do a little light towing with it. I don't sled pull or drag race the truck, but I do like to get on it on occation from a stop light or freeway onramp. I'll be adding larger injectors (7x12) in the upcomming weeks so I will have to assume that boost from the compounds will increase as well (Just not sure how much). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Blown headgaskets are never fun. Hence the reason for my post. I want to do this right the first time. Are any studs more or less likely to break than others? Is there anything I can do to stand the best chance against breaking them? Aside from torquing them correctly with the correct lube and be sure not to OVER torque them? Are there any other options available?
 
from everything i read, they just break at random..........practically almost everyone with a bigger turbo has studs
 
Thanks guys. I'm just going to order up a set of ARP2000's and hope for the best. Can anyone tell me the thread pitch so that I can go out and get a thread chasing tap? Do ARP's require you to bottom tap? If so I'll skip the chasing tap and just buy a bottom tap.
 
yes they do break i just went through the problem it really sucked it was just random everything was put in correctly so who knows luck of the draw
 
Most of the "pro" diesel shops in Georgia use stock head bolts torqued to 150+ for o-ringed heads.

I personally will only use stock headbolts, unless I was given a set of studs for free and I didn't have stock head bolts available!
 
No kidding!!! I thought i was pushin it at 125! Knock on wood..so far doin good but i'd like to get a set of studs soon...Good luck with ur build.
 
what should arp studs be torqued too? ill be doing studs and gasket soon and would like to know.


Thanks
 
renopker said:
12x1.75 tap size
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Thank you.
Edit: Do you know if I'll need to bottom tap for ARPs or just chase the threads?

TMONEYDIESEL said:
You don't need studs,
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I'm at the point that I may very well not need them, however I know I'll feel better installing them. I would hate to go through the entire process only to have the head gasked blow later on. Provided that I don't break a stud, in your opinion, would you say studs hold more securely then stock bolts?

Big Blue24 said:
For the big HP builds, they take stock bolts up to 180 ft lbs!

150 is just a good safe number for a hot street truck that needs a reliable seal on the head gasket.
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I re-torqued my used stock bolts to 125 (No o-rings yet) and 1 of them felt like it gave. I took it out and it looked ok but I was affraid to reinstall it. I ended up replacing that one with a new stock head bolt. I would feel a little concerned torquing old stockers past 125 (Call me chicken) unless perhaps they were all new but even then I would be a little worried to take them to 150 let along 180. I had no idea people were taking them to these torques. Are these people using stock bolts because it is far cheaper then studs or because they feel that they are better suited then stock bolts (ie. don't break like studs do on occasion)? Sorry for all the newbie questions... But I am in fact a newbie. :doh:
 
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Sorry for the mix up. Here, I fixed it.
Are these people using stock bolts because it is far cheaper then studs or because they feel that they are better suited then studs
 
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