Tty bolts vs studs.....yeah....another thought.

[More Power]

The guys over at Quadstar Tuning have been using head studs for several years now with great success. I've been following them for a few years, and have been impressed with what I've seen. They don't follow the typical hokey 6.5L aftermarket stuff (like bypass cooling mods and such), but seem to really know what they're doing.

Casey

Our 6.5TD Project truck accumulated nearly 300K miles over 7 years, using Fel-Pro factory equivalent TTY head bolts and Fel-Pro head gaskets. This was a performance engine, in a truck used to tow most of those miles. There were no head gasket problems during the time we had it. I don't know what else I can say to prove the case for TTY head bolts and Fel-Pro head gaskets (and a correct installation). That said, it's not my intention to discourage anyone from installing head studs. I'd simply like to see some real-world long-term data to compare, before suggesting that the far more expensive studs actually provide some tangible benefit.

I used factory TTY head bolts in Lil Red's Duramax head gasket replacement project in late summer 2021 and in Sarah's fall 2021 6.5TD build for her 1994 Blazer, and feel extremely confident in doing so. Extremely...

Incidentally... I learned during the two Duramax head gasket projects here at TDP in 2021 that the final torque for the ARP head studs was identical to that produced by the factory TTY head bolt torque-angle setting. I used a torque wrench to install the TTY head bolts so I could measure final bolt torque during the final torque angle sweep. I was curious... This final torque value for either the ARP studs or the factory TTY head bolts for the Duramax wound up being 125 ft/lbs - identical between the ARP studs and what the torque angle setting wound up producing for the GM factory TTY head bolts. So... there is no more/less clamping load whether using TTY bolts or ARP studs. I found that very interesting...

One of those Duramax 6600 head gasket projects I completed in mid 2021 included ARP head studs. I felt like I needed the experience, so I could add more to a discussion comparing studs/TTY. In so far as having an opinion about studs/TTY for the Duramax at this point 2-1/2 years into it, the only difference I can positively identify is that I spent $418* more for the ARP studs than I would have for TTY bolts. Jim Bigley

* current 1/26/2024 price difference - $613 for the ARP-2000 Duramax head stud kit at Amazon and $195 for 36 TTY head bolts at Merchant-Automotive.