Duramax Head Gasket Replacement

[Robyn]

I agree.
But Gale Banks has not been known for peddling "Goody yum yum" parts simply to make $$$$
Gale has always worked to deliver fixes to real problems......

I have never met Gale buy have used some of his parts....Always top shelf stuff

[More Power]

I agree.
But Gale Banks has not been known for peddling "Goody yum yum" parts simply to make $$$$
Gale has always worked to deliver fixes to real problems......

I have never met Gale buy have used some of his parts....Always top shelf stuff

I believe that if Banks thought (or could show that) head studs provided a justifiable benefit, he'd be selling his own - "he is a businessman" after all.

Still... I wish Banks hadn't used a non-Duramax 6600 block deck pic to try to make a point about weak threaded holes in a block deck. That pic wasn't necessary. In my opinion, Banks' opinion/in-house testing is enough to make the point. I trust him.

Studs, however, do have one real advantage over TTY head bolts... Studs are reusable. But... you can buy 3 sets of TTY bolts for the cost of one set of ARP-2000 head studs. This reusable advantage might be important for racers who are inside their engines on a regular basis, but not so much for a grocery getter, commuter, or RV/boat hauler.

As discussed in our Duramax Service Guide, the fire-ring on these head gaskets tend to Brinell (create an impression in the aluminum head decks) over time due to the clamping load of the head fasteners. Both the factory TTY bolts and the ARP studs are torqued to the very same level - 125 ft/lbs. I measured the final torque of the TTY head bolts using a torque wrench during the final TTY angle sweep during installation. And, I installed a set of ARP head studs during another of the Duramax head gasket projects I did a couple of years ago. So... studs aren't being used to add more clamping load, because that would create a deeper fire-ring impression into the aluminum head decks.