Promaxx Heads - Thoughts?

[Delta.Speed]

Hello all, its the newest diesel newbie in the forum back for more advise..... learning the hard way that diesels get stupid expensive quick lol

So I'm in the middle of a pretty extensive top end rebuild on my LB7 that included my heads coming off and going to my local machine shop for full inspections and a valve job.

Well as it turns out, my heads are gonna need $2,167 worth of work. New exhaust valves, guides, seats, and stem seals, along with a resurface, and the valve job.

I got to looking and found these:

ProMaxx Performance CHE872N: Cylinder Head GM 6.6L Duramax Diesel LB7 Assembled - JEGS High Performance

Buy ProMaxx Performance CHE872N at JEGS: ProMaxx Performance Cylinder Head GM 6.6L Duramax Diesel LB7 Assembled. Guaranteed lowest price!

www.jegs.com

Promaxx heads that claim to be brand new castings with all new parts, and they even claim they have improved the castings with added meat in frequent DMAX head cracking spots.

Any thought on these? They'd actually be cheaper than fixing my own heads, but I wanted to check and see if there were any better options out there for the price.

Im obviously not interested in $4,000 a pop race heads.....I've seen those too....

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Lparrill]

For that price I would just do Socal Stage 1 heads. $2300 for the pair if you send in core. $3300 without cores. Socal is an extremely reputable company and cornerstone of Duramax performance.

LB7 Stage 1 CNC Ported Cylinder Heads

Duramax Diesel Performance

shop.socaldiesel.com

 

[Yngdmax92]

I used a promaxx head for a Cummins before.. and it will be my last one. They are junk. Casting's weren't worth a dam, grid heater didn't fit correctly down in the intake port, had cross threaded whole for the valve train, and coolant ports were not correct for a truck application, had about 4-5 hrs of wasted unpaid time trying to get everything to work properly on that. Talked with the owner of the company and he said he'd give me a good deal on the next one after I justified my issues with pictures of proof, lol but uhh I don't ever want another one.

 

[DAVe3283]

I went through 3 sets of SoCal stage 1 heads, every one leaked coolant. The stock castings are thin enough you are rolling the dice pretty hard when you port them. I wouldn't recommend it.

I ended up with the Wagler aluminum heads (they don't seem to make them anymore) which have been flawless. If you need new heads now, I'd look at the Edelbrock.

Sent from my FlashScan V2 using Tapatalk

 

[OleBlackyLBZ]

I don't keep up nearly as well as some of you guys, but I've seen the dyno videos of the Edelbrock vs Stock heads. For a street driven truck I would stay stock, seems to me you could put that money else where and get a lot more for it. Unless there is a set of heads that I don't know about.

 

[TheBac]

Just get your existing heads redone. You dont need anything fancy for a stock truck.

 

[08lmm72mm]

I don't keep up nearly as well as some of you guys, but I've seen the dyno videos of the Edelbrock vs Stock heads. For a street driven truck I would stay stock, seems to me you could put that money else where and get a lot more for it. Unless there is a set of heads that I don't know about.

If the heads need to be replaced how much more are the edelbrock?

 

[OleBlackyLBZ]

If the heads need to be replaced how much more are the edelbrock?

Way more than a set of stock used! I looked em up, looks like about $1,900

 

[Delta.Speed]

Damn looks like this head thing isn't going to be an easy one to make a choice on....

So my main concerns are paying close to $2k for my used heads that need to be cut to be machined and rebuilt when there are several options out there around that price point for heads from reputable manufacturers....

So far I've looked at the Fleece reman heads which are basically heads that have gone through the machine process or so I hear.

Then I looked at Promaxx and liked what I read about the thicker castings in crack prone areas, but someone here says they had fitment issues with them.

Then I looked at the SoCal heads which also seem good, but I definitely dont want to be tearing this thing down 3 times like one of you said above.

Im concerned about spending $2k to basically have tired rebuilt heads. If there is a better option out there, I'd like to go that route since I'm there but I definitely dont want to take a route that'll have me back in the engine soon.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

 

[juddski88]

Kill Devil Diesel is also in the head manufacturing business now and have some outstanding options. But for what you are doing with the truck, stick with a set of stock heads that have had had a good valve job done, good guides put in (bronze), and have been checked for cracks and pressure tested. I pay a shop locally to do all my heads like this and it is 1,700 per set, roughly.

 

[ikeG]

Linco diesel may have reman stock heads ready to go.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Bdsankey]

I've been using reman heads from Fleece and SoCal for years without a single issue, I personally wouldn't worry about a ported head on your truck for what your goals are.

 

[Chevy1925]

Im concerned about spending $2k to basically have tired rebuilt heads. If there is a better option out there, I'd like to go that route since I'm there but I definitely dont want to take a route that'll have me back in the engine soon.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

dont be concerned. they are fixing them properly and they will be like new. ask if they pressure test in a heated tank and at what psi. ive had 2 heads that did not show leaks/cracks till 100psi. one of which i lost my ass on (first one i found this issue on). beyond that, if they know how to recess the valves correctly, head isnt overly warped, and will also set spring pressures for you, everything else they stated to you is what should be done (other than exhaust valves, my guess is you have some burnt up ones?)

 

[TheBac]

I used a set of $900 remanned stock heads from Eric back in 2009. They helped run low 12's in 2010 and are still on the truck, doing their job.
Cripes, quit overthinking this.

 

[KyleC4]

That’s funny ProMaxx…… didn’t know there was an epidemic of Duramax cylinder heads cracking.