Some aftermarket parts for diesel trucks are pretty job focused. For instance, when you buy a set of 250-percent over injectors, chances are you’re trying to make a lot more horsepower. When you buy a gooseneck hitch for your dually, you’re needing it because you’re going to work the truck with a trailer. As for head studs, though, they are there to work in every scenario.
Whether you have a workhorse that gets beat down working all day or if you have a truck that is built for all-out performance, the truck can and will benefit from a set of cylinder head studs. Most trucks on the road come equipped with a set of head bolts, and while the head bolts will work, over time, there is a possibility they could fail. Why chance it when you’re out on the road hauling cattle or even racing on the weekends? upgrading to head studs is a must-do for every diesel truck.
Working closely with our friends over at KT Performance, they recommended to us their line of head fasteners, Gator Fasteners. Gator Fasteners have a tensile strength of over 220,000 psi and will not stretch like your factory head bolts. This will prevent you from lifting the cylinder head and compromising the head gasket.
Under seriously high combustion pressure, having your cylinder head or heads securely clamped down the block surface is critical. Gator Fasteners come manufactured with rolled threads that are created after heat treatment. This provides optimum fatigue strength. They are centerless ground to assure perfect concentricity. Included in each kit are heat-treated, chromoly steel, 12-point nuts, and parallel-ground washers with a black oxide finish for extra durability.
Do They Fit What I Have?
Gator Fasteners, believe it or not, has a set of fasteners for every major diesel engine platform. For the GMC and Chevrolet trucks, there is a set of Gator studs that fit 2001 Duramax engines all the way to the newer L5P engine. Following suit, Power Stroke and Cummins engines are both covered up to the current year.
KT Performance trusts its brand and wanted us here at Diesel Army to source three vehicles from all different scenarios to try these studs. With that being said, the search was on. We found a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 with a 6.6-liter LBZ Duramax engine. This truck has been modified with a larger turbo, bigger injectors, custom tuning, and a few other add-ons that make the boost number climb pretty quickly.
Running a set of head bolts in this scenario is risky but we need to add head studs. This hot street truck is going to have the insurance it desires when tearing up the roads.
Next, we found a 2006 Dodge Ram with a 5.9-liter Cummins engine. While the factory head bolts in these engines have somehow managed to survive some serious builds. We aren’t willing to chance it anymore on this rig. This truck is a street/work truck that spends a lot of its run time daily driving with a heavy foot. This truck has performance in its future so an upgrade like this is 100-percent necessary.
Having parts that keep your engine together at any power level is critical. Last, but certainly not least, is the Power Stroke. Johnny Farrow is working on building a 2015 6.7-liter Power Stroke engine and plans to make this a workhorse and hot street truck. Since the engine is not in the truck at this time, now is a perfect time to set the engine up with good parts.
Like the other manufacturers, the Power Stroke studs from Gator still feature that 220,000-psi tensile strength and the coatings that provide a part that gives us drivers what we need. We aren’t going to run through and give you a how-to on how to install head studs in this but we are going to give our honest opinion of them going in.
Well, How Are They?
At a glance, they look great. The studs look like they are worthy parts for any build and when you set them next to a competing brand, you won’t see much of a difference. Taking one step backward, we could really tell a big difference before pulling them out of the package.
When it comes to Gator Fasteners, each stud kit was delicately wrapped in plastic and protected inside the box. On top of that, Gator studs come with a large bottle of AMSOIL assembly lube which will be more than enough to lube up these parts before going into the engine with them. It may not seem like much to you, but for us, these small things say a lot.
I talked with each of the truck owners to get their opinion on the head stud kit and since they’ve used other brands before, it is a perfect testimonial. Brennan, the owner of the Duramax, was genuinely impressed. “I appreciate the extra effort Gator puts forth when packaging. As you’ve said, it may not be a huge deal but the small things like this make the difference in my opinion,” he says. “As far as the parts going into the engine, they worked flawlessly.”
Moving on to our hot-street Ram truck, we talked with truck owner, Quinten, to see how he felt about them. “The hardware looks great. The studs threaded into the block as they should, and the finish on the threads was precision cut. I am impressed with the Gator head studs,” he says. “Now that I’ve got some horsepower-capable head studs in the engines, I’ve got the itch to upgrade the truck with another turbo.”
Last but not least, is the Power Stroke. We talked with Farrow about his build, and it seems like we presented the head studs at the perfect time. “The engine isn’t being torn apart simply for the fun of it. It blew a head gasket, therefore, it’s teardown time. It is just easier since the mishap,” Johnny says. This is a perfect example of why these head studs could have helped had we gotten to him earlier.
Closing Thoughts
To us, the Gator head studs are a no-brainer for every diesel owner. The hardware is precision-cut, and all three kits had no imperfections. The nuts threaded on smooth as ever, and each of the kits went into the block with ease, cutting through any grime that could possibly be in there.
For more information about Gator Fasteners and the rest of their heavy-duty hardware, head on over to the KT Performance website here. For more part reviews, truck features, and event coverage, stay tuned to Diesel Army. What are your thoughts on these? Do you think anything will bite like the Gators? Let us know in the comments below.
