These studs use a proprietary ARP2000® alloy that is rated far superior to “aircraft” quality alloy steels. Each stud is placed vertically into special racks and precisely heat-treated to 220,000 psi for the ARP2000® material. This procedure ensures complete heat penetration and the results are far superior to those lesser quality studs from other manufacturers who just dump pieces in a basket and hope for the best. Following heat-treat, each stud is centerless ground to make it as close to perfectly concentric as possible. This procedure involves about ten very slight cuts and results in an exceptionally straight part. It’s important to note that lesser quality studs are not even centerless ground – the material is thread rolled in bar stock form (mostly before heat-treat, when the material is easier to machine). Because ARP studs are manufactured to such exacting tolerances, you will note that gaskets and cylinder heads literally glide into position and are perfectly aligned – something that won’t happen with inferior quality head studs. ARP studs are thread rolled after heat-treat, which gives them about 2000% (that’s twenty times) better fatigue strength than those studs that are threaded prior to heat-treat (a very common industry practice). It costs a lot more to do it this way, because it’s tough on tooling, but the results are well worth the extra effort.
The Pro series kits come with 12-point nuts, and all kits come complete with hardened parallel washers for an even load distribution and accurate torque readings.