I recently bought a 5.3 Chevy Silverado 4x4 for a steal. I’d like to put a bigger motor in it. I was wondering should I just do the 6.0 or should I up the ante like an LS3 Swap. If I put in an LS3 how hard would that be to do the swap? Any other bigger motor suggestions to put in? I plan on doing headers, cam, exhaust, intake, but mainly bolt one, no charger or boost. So any other cool ideas to have a real quick loud truck?

 

What year truck is it though?

 

1999 Chevy Silverado. 3:73 gears. Plan on swapping the gears later.

 

Using a GEN 3 6.0 would be easier because your harness will plug right into it. A later LS3 is a different generation of engine which would require more parts.

Find a LQ4 or LQ9 and mod it as you see fit. Plan on a transmission upgrade as well, a stock 4L60e will die behind a modded 6.0 pretty easy.

 

After more research i agree 6.0 is the way to go. If I do the LQ9 will I only need to upgrade to 4l80e or will I need additional parts such as throttlebody and things like that or will the parts I have on it work for that? Not trying to go cheap I want to do this all correctly however I need to know what I need to get first lol.

 

Everything on the outside of the engine will swap between the 5.3L and the 6.0L.

 

Just finished swapping my 05 z71 from a 4.8/4L60e to a 6L/4L80e. truck drives a lot better now, and more power obviously. Fuel mileage hasn't changed much either. In fact, its a smidge better now with the big engine.