96 cummins valve cover gaskets

[Bruce B]

my 96 6Bt valve cover gaskets were leaking a little after over 200tho mi so i replced all 6 with new felpro brand. one split almost all the way around after two days and i had no choice but to buy another felpro and then another split after two weeks. i now have bought the good gray cummins brand and dont want to have problems with the new ones.
is there a torque # for the single bolt or do you tighten it all the way till the shoulder hits? i have been tighting it all the way just like the originals were but have got conflicting answers on the dodge sites and thru google searchs. thanks BB

[Bruce B]

after sum more research I found info saying to torque the single style cummins valve covers to 18-ftlbs. as it turns out 18-ftlbs is only about a 16th of a turn past the shoulder of the bolt bottoming out so either one will work IMO. the new valve cover gaskets are the gray OEM type so hopfully they will last like the originals. BB

[MoparDave]

I was wondering the about the torque settings myself. I guess I was just lucky getting the grey gaskets first. Thanks for the info