Hi, I'm 16 and in high school. I have a 99 RCSB 4.8, and it's so slow. I feel it will be pointless to try to make this truck fast. Also, for being in high school I don't have much cash except during the summer when I work full time.

My friend has a 00 RCSB 5.3 pretty much stock with the usual bolt-ons and it hauls *** compared to my truck. My 4.8 feels like a 4.3

I figure the only way to make this truck fast is to either supercharge it, or do a 6.0 swap. The only thing is my truck has 100,000 miles on it, and I know I will have to do trans work no matter what.

So what would be the best for me with low cash flow. If I supercharge the 4.8, I don't wan't to run into motor trouble also. I think a swap to a 6.0 with lower miles & a Nelson tune would be best. But what about the trans.

What would I do about the trans? Even if I rebuild the 4.8's trans. would it handle a 6.0? I don't know if any trans would last with my driving habits!!

Could I also do a 6.0's trans swap?

Do you have to change a lot of other stuff for the 6.0

Any advice would help!!

Thanks,
Nick

 

oh man.. you just opened up a can of worms with the 4.8L crowd. I have my way with A LOT of the cars on the streets. The fastest N/A 4.8L here runs 13.8, and with traction i think I can put up those numbers... they dont HAVE to be slow.

But im not going to rant or lie to ya.. a 6.0 swap will be much cheaper. I just build up the 4.8 just to see what it can do, and than when i win i can be like ya.. its JUST the 4.8 . And no, a rebuilt 4l60e wont handle the 6.0 for long... id go ahead and do the whole thing and go 6.0 w/ 4l80e. There is the lq4 6.0 which is the reg 6.0 and than the lq9 6.0 which is like a vho version of the 6.0... i beleive the lq4s are in the reg 2500 trucks and the lq9s are in the 2500hds? correct me if im wrong there. But ya know what... go and race a hemi.. a stock 4.8 makes an "intresting" race with a stock Hemi

 

spray the hell out of the 4.8 and then build a 6.0 and jag 4l65e to go with it.

 

also were are you located

 

well like he said he said he dosen't have alot of cash so a 6.0 and a 4l80E swap is out of the question.

I tell you the thing that woke my 4.8 the most is do long tube headers and a custom tune. Depending on what gear you have go with 4.10's or 3.90's thats what im planning on next. Im doing a gear change and a cam swap. If you have 3.42's thats why your truck feels like a slug downlow because mine does 3.42's blow there good on the highway but anywhere else they suck.

 

Or you could also just go straight for a torque converter and gears. I wish i would of done those 2 things before anything.

 

The 99 4.8 was only 255 hp...the newer ones are 285. Your friend's 00 5.3 is 285 hp. So,a old 99 with 100k could be not much quicker than a good six,I guess.

You didn't say how much you had to spend. A good used 6.0 and 80e is not exactly cheap. But you've gotten some good suggestions so far. Tune,converter,gears,spray....?

 

I suggest to sell your 99 4.8 for a decent amount of money and get yourself an 01+ 5.3 rcsb.

 

the stock tranny may live awhile with a mostly stock 6.0. put a shift kit in there and a cooler and cross your fingers.

if you want to run 13's the cheapest thing you can do is a 6.0 swap or spray it. a converter and a tune would be nice too.

you could mod the 4.8 and you will see results but i think a swap or nitrous is easier and cheaper.

 

What part of Texas are you from? I'm 16, poor, and slow too. If you go with forced induction you should get either an STS turbo kit or the turbo set up form Livernois motorsports. These kits are chearper than most superchargers, (Like the Radix, no offense to anyone who has it) and better in my opinion.