The real question is if the ARP studs are enough stonger to offset the addition of another stock stud. Does FROR make any claims on the additional strength, I have not looked?
Example:
Assume a stock stud will handle 10 lbs of force. Four studs would handle 40 lbs of force. If you add an additional stud you'd be able to handle 50 lbs of force.
For the ARP studs to be better they would need to be stronger than 50 lbs of force. This would require each ARP stud to hanlde 12-1/2 lbs of force.
This is an increase in strength of 25% per stud. Do you believe that the ARP studs are at least 25% stronger than the stock ones?
I don't know, but I choose to run the ARP studs because they were an easy upgrade and I don't like "backyard" mods to my rig.
Note: This is a very simple comparison and I'm sure there are more forces acting on the studs than simple shear, but as long as the ARP studs are strong by 25% in each area you should good. Distribution of the load over an additional stud could result in less rotational forces on the studs and this could be of significant benefit.
