Replace my heads???!!!

[ovurtyme]

I am new to this community...in fact I just stumbled across it and am happy toi hear there are others who enjoy the explorer as much as I do...
I have a 91' with 82,000 mi that has coolant leaking into the oil (blown head gasket or cracked head, not sure which yet) I am prepareing myself for the purchase of new heads and want to know if anyone can tell me what they think of "PATRIOT" heads...they seem very affordable, in fact, new they are cheaper than rebuilt heads locally. I just dont want to go through the hassle of putting on a product that has little reliability.
Thanks

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've never heard of that brand. How did you find out about it?

 

[ovurtyme]

re: replace my heads

I heard about them through chiltons.com aprox $260. ea completely new.

 

[ovurtyme]

ooopps I meant they are at JC Whitney.com

 

[ShadowdogKGB]

I haven't heard of those heads but I'll share with you my recent head purchase for comparison. I paid a total of $440 for a pair of rebuilt heads and $197 for new head bolts and a complete top-end gasket set through a local machine shop here.

I see that those Patriot heads are all new castings. My only thought on that is that your cracked heads/head gaskets were all new 81,000 miles ago as well. What I mean is, if these Patriot heads are stock Ford castings then they're probably going to be just as prone to cracking as a remanufactured head would be.

An alternative would be to look at www.alabamacylinderhead.com. If I'm not mistaken, they make an aftermarket casting that is sturdier and better made than stock.

If you went the remanufactured route you'd save roughly a hundred bucks. Keep in mind that just a single Fel-Pro head gasket alone is about $50.

Another thing I found when I pulled my heads of my '91 Explorer is that damn near all the water jacket ports were completely plugged up with rusty gunk. I ran a wire brush through them and scrubbed the crap out of them. It's no wonder my heads were cracked.

Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Spdrcer34]

Tri State and Alabama Cylinder Heads are the ones most people here go with.

You could even get the 95TM heads, and bump the compression a bit for a little more power.

Welcome to the site....There are a few of us in the area. We have all met up for lunch at Dixie's...or off-roading..

Good to see another local guy on here.

Ryan

 

[Flandry]

I don't know anything about the quality of the heads, but Patriot Performance and Alabama Cylinder Heads share the exact same address:

103 Rainbow Industrial Blvd.
Rainbow City, AL 35906

Phone numbers are different though:

Alabama Cylinder Heads
800-235-4323

Patriot Performance
888-462-8276

You could call them and ask what the difference is between them.