Looking at a very nice 2008 Silverado with 35,000 miles but it has the 4.8 V8...

How are these engines? I haven't heard much about them?

Are they LS based? Interchangable parts between 4.8-5.3-6.0-LS1 etc?

I plan on keeping it stock until it's paid for, then swapping in something more aggressive and was curious as to how easy a swap would be.

But basically curious as to how these little 4.8s are performing, reliability, fuel mileage, etc... I hate to pass on this truck, but I'm afraid i'll be disappointed in the 4.8.

Thanks

-Rick

 

Yeah the 4.8 is a good engine. Search and youll find countless post that will answer every question you have

 

I did a search, honestly, said I had 0 results.

Maybe the search is down?

 

In a nutshell,
Yes the 4.8 is good, probably one of the most common truck engines.
They are LS based, so parts are interchangeable
What kind of swap will you be doing?
The 4.8 is kinda torqueless. But with a retune getting rid of all the torque management will help performance and mileage.
Reliability, its tough, I know a guy trying to blow his up giving the thing major hell(gonna swap a bigger motor in) and the thing wont give up.

 

Good deal. I figured in about 4-5 years I would do maybe an LS1 swap or perhaps a 6.0... just wondering if motor mounts, accessories, etc, would be the same...

 

I dont know how compatable the older pcm's are to the new gmt900's so a motor swap like that may be an issue. But in 4 to 5 yrs you should be able to snag a 6.2l to throw in it fairly cheap.

 

If you can get the 5.3 it would be worth it.

 

4.8 are good. my last one was an 07 classic. and with the tune it ran hard for what it was.

 

The 4.8 isnt as bad as people make them out to be. Go for it.

 

I've got one in my RCSB, I think its fine for what it is. I don't know that I would necessarilly want one in an ext. cab or crew cab. Bad thing is that in these new truck I think the standard gear is 3.23. 3.23's and the torqueless 4.8 in a heavy configuration is not a good combo IMO. I've got 3.73's in mine and I think thats about bare minimum I'd want.

Performance is good. From a stop it sucks, but any kind of roll from 20 mph-up it runs pretty damn good. Mileage-mine with 265-70-17's, 3.73's, 4.8 liter, I usually average about 16.5-17 mpg city/highway. I've gotten up to 22 mpg on a road trip.