I was about to put together a 6.0 out of some spare parts i had lying around,
I have a bare 6.0 Lq4 block and a set of the full floating pistons and rods
from a 2005 6.0 i once had that spun a main...I was planning on just using
LS1, 5.3or just another 6.0 crank, but a local GM tech told me if i wanted to
the pistons and rods from the 2005 i would have to have a 2005 and up
crank....any ideas????

 

i heard the crank rods and pistons in the ls2 are the same ones as the lq4 and lq9. startin in 05 hwich would make a change i guess. i dont know exactly how.

 

they will work but i would get it all balanced that is really the only difference i think of

 

Isnt there a difference in the reluctor as well from 24 to 58?

 

I think there is a difference in relucter rings, but since my truck is an 03 i need the 24 i believe? So i think im just gonna bring the rods, pistons, and just a 5.3 crank i have and just have it all cleaned up and balanced..that should eliminate any problems i hope...

 

It was my understanding that the rods were the same. I thought the crank was changed to a little and certain years were a little longer and you need a spacer or something. I am trying to find out the same now. I am building an iron 6.0 and putting in LS2 pistons and rods, but using the stock LQ4 crank. I have an 03 truck so I hope what I have will work.

 

The longer cranks are on 1999-2000 6.0L only, the reluctor on the crank changed after 2006 from 24x to 58x. There are no other changes to the crank.

Oh, and I never listen to GM techs, I always use my GM sources.

 

The only foreseeable problem with using a 5.3L crank in a 6.0L with the LQ9/LS2 rods/pistons and to a degree even the lighter older model LQ4 rods/pistons, is even though throughout any given year model the 5.3L and 6.0L shared the same part number for cranks, due to the lighter rod/piston combo in the 5.3L more metal was removed from the crank during machining. If the rotating assembly doesn't want to balance out with the heavier rods/pistons from the 6.0L, mallory metal will have to be added to the crank.

 

Newer cranks = newer rods = different balance if using stock components to rebuild.

It wont really matter if you take your rotating assembly to a machine shop and have it balanced.