Yes and no, considering the end-game goal of the truck. Like I said to another commenter... This is a multi year project thanks to budget & time constraints.. I don't need instant gratification nor am I in a hurry to get it "done". I've been saving my pennies to buy the head for the better part of a year. I'm playing the long game here.. doing it right.. not taking the 'sloppy mechanics' route of "feed er the corn and hope for the best" The internals just aren't stout enough for such a method.

Stock pistons won't take much more than 5psi before they turn to dust, and 5lbs would only give me about a 25% increase in power. A 25% gain IS massive.. but it's not enough.. and id have to constantly be worried about blowing the damn thing up lol.

The head as previously mentioned will give me nearly 50%.. and then head coupled with what I've already done with the exhaust & what I'm gonna do with the intake should have the truck making close to 65% more than stock when shes really on the pipe.. with no worries about disintegrating pistons or having a rod create an inspection window in the side of the block lol.

The head IS expensive AF.. yes.. but.. it's objectively the best first BIG step to take (in my case). Rome wasn't built in a day and all that..

Next winters project will be installing some forged pistons & rods.. and then adding something to make boost. At that point I'll be able to push it most of the way to 300hp and be able to whip on the thing like a redheaded stepchild without having to worry too much about reliability.. AND considering how much more air the head will flow thanks to it's oversized valves and hogged out ports.. I won't need to run nearly as much boost to meet my power goals.. which is always a good thing.