ARP HEAD STUDS or STOCK HEAD BOLTS

[9365turbo]

I'm getting ready to change the head gaskets on my 02 LB7. What would be better to use Stock bolts or ARP head studs? My truck has 180000 miles. Studs are $550.00 off ebay. Stock bolts from Napa are $170.00

[Kennedy]

Studs are always a good idea, but make future service more difficult as they need to be removed to pull heads in chassis.

[9365turbo]

True,but wouldnt the stock type bolts cause it to blow a head gasket in the furure though?

[conway]

(True,but wouldn't the stock type bolts cause it to blow a head gasket in the future though? )
You have 180,000 miles on your truck. Did the stock bolts cause your truck to blow its head gasket? How often did that happen? Is your truck stock?

[havenopower]

Head studds are always a good idea. its like prevenative maintance. But if your not going to push the engine then you dont really need them. I would still change them

[9365turbo]

I'm not sure if the head gasket is blown,but the coolant burping out of the overflow is a sure sign of it. The injectors were changed before 100K. A member told me anytime your injectors are changed sometime in the future you will have coolant burping problems. Caused by loose injector cups. which can happen during the injector change. Is that my trucks problem. I dont know until I take it apart. Also I was told the constant cooling and heating causes the stock bolts to stretch over time causing head gasket problems. My question is why do the LB7's have coolant burping issues?

[DmaxMaverick]

There's no indication of the early head gaskets failing due to head bolt stretch. None. The explanations I've heard, and backed by limited observation, is the nature of the gasket lamination to break down. Hence, they've been redesigned, and it seems to have eliminated this issue for the most part (nothing is really absolute). With stock to moderate power levels, stock head bolts should not be an issue. They don't "stretch", to any significant degree.

The reason for the coolant leak issue and injector cups on the LB7's is absolutely avoidable. The cause is, the injector cups are "wet", meaning they are the barrier between the coolant passage and injector hole in the head. The seal at the base of the cup can be upset (sealant loosened/broken), leading to leakage under pressure. This is caused mostly by improper injector removal, but can happen even when everything else goes as it should (Murphy's law). This is the reason most will recommend resealing them any time the injectors are removed, which eliminates the issue almost entirely. It seams most dealers won't invest the time to do this (not covered by the warranty unless an obvious leak, or the cup unseats during injector removal), and assume they won't leak (a gamble they often lose). Sealing them is not difficult, but does take some time to do. Some extra time is cheap insurance if you are doing an injector replacement yourself.