I did some research but can't find the answers I need... There's a rumor that our heads are prone to cracked valve seats and other various faults. Is this true? Also, are iron heads better? And if so, how so? Are our heads destined to crack? Or do heads that hold up this long tend to keep holding up?

 

Its true the stock heads do have issues. Some last some don't Rexx and me have had cracks and I know others have.

As far as I know theres only one set of alunimum heads out there I think. Edelbrock makes them. On their site it says they aren't emission compliant so keep that in mind if you need to pass.

You can get iron HD heads that are better then stock castings.

 

aluminum = lighter but weaker
iron = heavier but stronger

most car companies make aluminum heads nowadays with cast iron blocks. It's cheaper for them.

My advice: don't swap the heads until the stockers have problems..

 

I think the biggest issue with using aluminum heads on an iron block is heat syncing. Im no the fence about this one because my gut tells me that in daily HD situations like most of our trucks are in, the constant heating and cooling would make the heads fail, due to the fact that the aluminum will expand and conrtact at a different rate than the iron block. That being said, however, many vehicles come from the factory in this configuration. I have looked around and when it comes time to do my heads, ill be going for a set of 2.02" Iron Rams (http://hughesengines.clients.nharmon...d&partid=23202)

 

A lot of mustang guys use aluminum heads with no problems.

I would go that route in a second if they didn't cost so damn much. Plus like I said the eddy's say they don't pass emissions. I wasn't gonna take the chance of failing.

 

I know 99-04 heads are aluminum for sure

 

You over-heat, your gonna warp Alum-heads,.. Period.
I run Alum-heads, (trick-Flows 205's) on my blown Mustang.
I had these heads milled twice before I put a V-2 underdriven
blower on it. Just from everyday driving in the summer.
If I hit 220 on the temp-gauge, I was done. That was with a
Mark 8 fan as a puller, (5400 cfm) & a Be-Cool (2800 cfm) as
a pusher fan. 16 degrees of timing.
You've got a truck... While you have a huge surface area for
inlet air in the front, You can still run our trucks hot pretty easy.
And, while shaving 60 or so pounds off the front using Alum-heads,
I'd STILL go cast-iron for a truck... Go cast-iron and send them out
to a machine-shop to have them cleaned-up for better flow. Get a
set of long-tubes, grind the welds off the flanges and re-weld them on
the OUTSIDE of the flanges for better flow. DON'T get Flow-Daddys for
mufflers. (I know, they sound cool). But, they don't flow the best.
Mandrel-bent pipes. Taller gears. The truck will run like a raped-date.

 

^^^ Sounds like you need a bigger rad

You can get both Mopar & Edelbrock heads in alum.
Compared to the stock crack prone garbage my loaded Eddy heads were about 24.5lbs lighter with 650 lift springs (23lbs diff/incld Hughes rocker girdles)

 

I replaced my stock heads with cast iron aftermarket with thicker walls for the valves. I have over 50K miles on them with no issues.

 

Wow! I didn't expect this many responses! I'm thinking iron heads too, cause 50lbs doesn't matter too much on my truck; plus, I've already had a bad encounter with a stubborn spark plug stripping the threads... Any more thoughts?