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So if you had to choose between a high quality head (BOLT) OR low quality head (STUDS) what would you choose. Obviously studs are the better clamping method. It seems like you could get a really high-quality bolt for not much more than low quality studs would cost, so just curious if that was your only choice which one would you choose.
Going with a known quality part is the best route IMO. (as long as the price VS performance is there) ARP head bolts are relatively cheap compared to ARP studs anyway.
As to which is better its tough to say. Many have snapped a china stud at 45-50-60-70-80ft lbs.then replaced them and re-torqued to the same value without issue. To me quality control of the ARP bolt seems like a smarter bet for my money. When you see what a good tune will do with an OEM head bolt... I wouldn't worry about the overall clamping force as much as having a proper tune up. I've been 156 at 3100lbs on my 4.8 so far. Around 22lbs on an S480. Had no head sealing issues with the ARP bolts.
Thanks I appreciate you taking the time to answer I didn't actually think anybody was after I realized it was a 2017 post but that helps out a lot that's what I've been struggling with I realized when it comes to this kind of stuff you don't want to cheap out but damn this is getting expensive nevermind the fact that I wasn't going to stroke the motor out so I had already bought the OEM bolts. I just wanted to put cam in and GAP my rings for nitrous. But when you're sitting there looking at the stock rings and the motor is pulled out of her car just for that reason it's kind of hard justify putting it back in and putting it back together without doing what you really want to do to it and it just keeps going and going. Sorry for the punctuation and spelling I voice texted all this
maybe im completely wrong and dumb, but i dont like the idea of the arp bolts in an aluminum block because it seems like it would be harder on the threads in the block. i know its rare/has never happened according to how often it comes up on here, but its just something that i dont feel comfortable with. ive had good luck with the 'speedmaster' studs but i havent bought any in several years. i just did a quick look the other day for ebay studs since i have a project coming up, and they have 45-50$ sets these days. i think id still do the $110 stud sets.
I have a set of the early Gen IV speedmasters. Been torqued and un-torqued 4-5 times and were even used when I had the cylinders honed with torque plates. 78ft lbs.
They were a little rough out of the box, spent some time with a thread file. But they never failed.
I switched to ARP when I forged the bottom end.
Same thoughts on the alum block threads. better safe than sorry.
I may use these old ones on an NA build. But wouldn't buy any more.
What is it with this LS parts inflation in recent years, over the old school V8's ? The LS has become so popular, the USA parts manufacturers are taking advantage.
So.... you can now add me to the china head stud user list. Just bought a set of 2004onwards studs for $100 australian dollars delivered. Knock on wood they all torque to 72 ft/lb and i'm done. Not for a boosted engine, so i'm not too concerned about their holding capability and i'm not interested in torquing them any higher. Like already mentioned in this thread.... any stud used is still better than winding a head bolt into aluminum.
I'd prefer ARP bolts over a china stud. roughly the same cost and the quality control is 100x better. Shear strength of the china stud is no better than a factory bolt.
I'd prefer ARP bolts over a china stud. roughly the same cost and the quality control is 100x better. Shear strength of the china stud is no better than a factory bolt.
I want to say 7 years ago when I bought my China studs they were half the price of the ARP bolts.
these days the Chinese styds cost more and I swear ARP bolts are cheaper than they were.
put them side by side and there is no comparison in the quality/material. The Chinese studs have given me not one problem, but they ain’t half the fastener that’s ARP is. But comparing them to the factory TTY bolt may be a “stretch” 😂
I’ve used ebay china studs with the takeoff nascar nuts for $15 a set or so. Zero issues with headgasket seal on SBE junk on 30psi. Not even sure if the nuts make a difference but they have a much larger base then what comes in the standard ARP kits and they are cheap.
Thanks. I just bought 2 sets of 10 new ARP nuts here locally, in 7/16-20 but in hex head, 5/8 socket size. They're not nascar spec but they still look nice and beefy compared to the china nuts. The hex head nuts are typically even thicker than 12 point nuts. I don't mind using hex head nuts over the 12-point style. In fact i think i prefer them, together with using a HD 6 point socket.
Back when this happened, I took my snap on torque wrench down the road to the snap on dealer to verify accuracy, which was spot on. I also took a handful of nuts and stud to play around with. At approximately 30ft/lb most would start to crush the nut upon itself, the nuts are stuck on those studs. Bad luck maybe? I bought ARP's
Back when this happened, I took my snap on torque wrench down the road to the snap on dealer to verify accuracy, which was spot on. I also took a handful of nuts and stud to play around with. At approximately 30ft/lb most would start to crush the nut upon itself, the nuts are stuck on those studs. Bad luck maybe? I bought ARP's
Wonder if the chines variety's have different grades, did you use the speedmaster brand summit sells?
The issue I had was one snapping alt low torque value. It broke off 3” below deck surface for no apparent reason other than it was weak. Getting it out was not fun at all. I do agree that ARP bolts are really overpriced, and probably way over engineered for most purposes, snapping head studs or bolts off below deck surfaces sucks.
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Cheap stud quality bolt? 
