TwiZtedZ71

After about a year of tinkering with it, I'm finally starting to wrap up on my engine build for my 05 1500 CrewCab. I'm building up an iron block LS1, 5.3 block I had punched out to a 5.7 with forged bottom end. I had the stock heads sent down to Texas Speed PRC and had them CNC ported with the bigger valves and upgraded springs/retainers. I told them my setup, and got a bigger cam that they recommended for my setup (224/228 .600/.600 112 LSA, 110 ICL). I'm getting down to the nitty gritty with getting everything finished up and put together, but still have a couple outstanding questions.
My main question is what torque converter I should to go with? When it comes to torque converters, I don't claim to know too much about them other than the basics. I'm running a TB stall in my current 5.3 (the motor that's coming out and getting swapped with my new one), and I can tell it's higher than the stock, but still drives pretty normal.
I guess you need to know what I'm doing with said truck? Basically it's just something I drive on the weekends around town to haul the family around. I have a 19' boat and a pop-up camper I haul around occasionally. Originally this build was just meant to be a mild rebuild of a 5.3 because my current 5.3 has had a drinking problem since I got it about a year ago (burns a descent amount of oil and coolant). It's wasn't meant to be anything more than mild, but, I have a problem and can't seem to do anything just 'mild', so it turned into what it is now. I know that cam is a little big for what I'm doing with it, but it's already in the motor, and the choppy idle/sound of it will be fun to cruise around town in. Beau from Texas Speed also said with the LSA and higher displacement, it won't notice as much bottom end loss as with a 5.3. I know they recommend a higher stall, but with it not being used as a 'race truck', I need to keep it more of a weekend cruiser/family hauler/every once in a while tower. Here's where I need help, because I know torque converters come in a wide variety of flavors, soft, tight, etc. I'm looking for a little help in figuring out which one would be the best for me? Would the TB stall I have in the truck now be sufficient? Being it was originally for a V6, and already smaller than the stock 5.3 converter, I didn't want to put more power to it and end up having issues. I'd rather swap it out for the right one while I have the engine out and can access it.
I think that's the info you guys are looking for to spec out a converter, but if you need to know anything else, I'd be more than happy to fill you in. The tranny is a 4L60E that I had built up a couple years ago with good clutches, extra wide bands, "The Beast" sun shell, Corvette servo, shift kit, and drilled out journals (the guy who did it has been building trannys for 25+ years and has done a bunch of these, and that's what he recommended). it has a nice solid shifts and with about 20k miles, I haven't noticed any issues with it yet. I know the 4L60's don't have the best wrap, but at least I have a little something better than stock going on to take the jump in power.

TwiZtedZ71

I guess I forgot to mention, I have 3.42 gears. I know that's not ideal, and it would benefit to change to a 3.73. If it were just 2WD, that wouldn't really be an issue. But I'm not really trying to change both front and rear gear sets right now...

TwiZtedZ71

It's been a little over a month with no biters. I've been trying to do some research on my own, but wanted to throw this out there and see what you guys thought before I ordered something. Was looking at the Yank - Truck Thruster Series 2600? It should be a little higher than what I've got in there now (TrailBlazer stall), yet claims to not be soo high that I should still be able to pull my boat and pop-up camper. What do you guys think about that one? Or is there another one that you guys know of that would be a little better?

mikealicious2k5

Why not call Yank or Circle D? I made the call after I got my 216/220 cam from Texas Speed. Forgot the guy's name, but he was incredible helpful/informative. I told him all of my truck specs, the gears and tires I'm planning on swapping to, and he answered all of my questions, helping me understand the differences between stalls and stall speeds.

He ended up recommending the 278mm High Performance stall for my application with either the 2800 or 3000 stall speed (I too wanted to be able to tow a fishing boat or trailer when the time came).

With as little as I know about these things, just from the research I've done on my own, I would be willing to bet you'd be looking at the similar stall, with the 3200 stall speed. But I'd give them a call. This is what they do for a living, and would be best qualified to make the recommendation. It'd also be worth calling both places, and picking two different people's brains, and make your selection once you have all of the info.