so im looking at head studs and gaksets but i dont know what the difference in thickness means on the gaskets. or what the difference is in the head studs.

 

OEM gaskets is what you want, they're all the same thickness.

Studs you can either use ARP's or H-11's. H-11's are more money and ARP's work just fine, but that's your call.

 

whats the thickness of stock. i see theres 18mm and 20 mm. if i use arp's they wont warp as easy as stock will they?

 

Those are not thickness'. Those are the size of the dowels that align the gasket to the blocks.

Originally back in 03/04 time, the blocks had 18mm holes where the dowels sat (again, for gasket alignment). The heads were also 18mm, and the gaskets obviously. At some point in late 06 (you'd have to go against your build date, not the model year) Ford tried commonizing a lot of parts for the up and coming 6.4. The heads were changed to use 20mm dowels (same head on 6.0's and 6.4's, minus a few machining differences). They also changed the blocks over after to accept the 20mm dowels too. Any truck that went in for warranty work (03-07) and needed a head replaced ONLY got 20mm heads, no matter what was originally on the truck. So in theory one could have an 03 truck, with 18mm block and a single 18mm head, and a single 20mm head. The only way to really know is check your build date, and check the oasis to see if heads were ever replaced. You could not buy new 18mm heads at all. With that said... you would buy the gaskets that correspond to the heads you have. So even if you have an 18mm block, but have 20mm heads to put on, you get the 20mm gaskets.

Clear as mud?

Add to that, I believe the rocker boxes are different too. There's probably other small changes as well.

All of the gaskets come with stepped dowels so no matter which set of gaskets you use, they'll work on your block, but they must match the head itself.


Yes, ARP's are fine with stock OEM gaskets. The gaskets are actually really good, they only fail because the stock TTY bolts suck. Of course you can still warp a head, but the stud isn't going to fix that, that's a heat issue.

 

ahh makes sense now. do you when they started going to the 20's? im not at home right now im deployed. im just gearing up to go through my whole truck and give it a monster makeover. motor and suspensions and scoots. i just want to make sure im gettin the right stuff.

im sure you remember my coolant leak issue? do you think this will fix that? im 99% sure that the studs are all stock so that solves that.

 

Any 6.0 built after 1/15/2006 would have the 20mm block and 20mm heads. Anything previous to this would have 18mm. My build date according to my door jamb is 11/2005.

The best way to really know is give the VIN to the dealer you're buying gaskets from.

Another thing worth mentioning... 18mm heads use a T-40 injector hold down and 20mm use a T-45. They must be used with the corresponding heads. So if you have a 18mm block/head combo and replace one head with a 20mm, you need the other injector hold downs.

 

yeah ill just call the dealer and ask them to run the vin

 

Just tell them you're looking to buy gaskets and explain the situation. I have this terrible feeling that you're going to call to get the VIN to order gaskets and they're going to have no clue what you're talking about.