Hey Guy's, I'm going to break down and do the studs, my truck has 33,000 miles on it. should i pull the head or can I get away with changing out the studs ??

 

1 at a time. torque in stages til you are at max torque then go to the next one in sequence

 

Is it possible to put the rear studs in (under the cowl) without removing the head?

How do you torque one stud in sequence??????? Torquing in sequence means doing them all, a little at a time, in the proper sequence described by the manufacturer. This is to pull the head down evenly and not distort the bores.

 

Yes it is, there is a plug on the underside of the cowl. Thats how mine were done, 1 at a time.

 

I had no idea you could do studs so easily. Four Benjamins is some change however. At what point do you "need" studs?

 

I think what cbrahs is saying by stages is to remove one bolt install the stud then torque the nut down in 3 steps so a 90 ftlb torque you would torque to 30 60 then 90.

 

If you are doing them one at a time then what is the point of torquing in stages?

 

dont really know thats how i was always taught to torque things but you do have a good point there

 

X2...... pull the factory bolt,bottom tap if you want to ,install stud, torque nut to 125ft lbs, go to next one

 

Why would you bottom tap the block? never understud the reason.

 

1. you can clean the junk out of the hole
2. you can chase the threads
3. I have done three trucks now and on each I cut no less than 1/4" of new threads. I figure for the little added time it takes to do it. It will not hurt anything.

 

i personaly would not bottom tap with the head inplace or without having the correct tap (class 3 fit thread).Using an off the shelf bottom 4 flute straight tap that is a class 2 fit ( more clearence bewteen male and female threaded parts) will almost always remove some amount of metal from the existing threads, this will casue a loss of strengh becuase the crossection of the thread is being reduced even though you end up going deeper into the block. These blocks are tapped at the factory with a high rake angle spiral machine tap that is constanly flooded with coolant and held perfectly parallel to the deck suface to create a tight tolerance thread fit and surface finish. I,m not saying bottom tapping isnt any good, its a great way to get more stud engagemnt, but to do it right with lots of oil that must be cleaned out of each hole, with the right tap and without sideloading the tap in the threads is time consumimg and not possible with the head on the the engine in the truck. Do the studs one at a time using moly lube under the nut and washer and on the threads, torque to specifacation, and then retoque all nuts again once you are done.

 

I have always done stages. it brings in the torque slowly and more evenly stretching the bolt/stud. being in the aircraft world is where I learnt it. it is amazing to see how uneven things get when just going for max torque right out of the box. when I do studs, I do in stages for example like above 30, 60, 90 then after all of them are installed I go over them again and will usually find several that have stretched more than others and can get 1/2 turn or so out of them. maybe I am just too picky but to maintain an even surface tension across the entire head that is how I do it.

 

Thanks For the input gentlemen,I know I need to do this before the weather changes, I can see 60 psi fairly easy.