Hey guys, been doing a bunch of reading lately on 5.3 upgrades and 6.0 swaps and looking for some advice before I make a decision. First time poster, here's my situation; I have an '02 5.3 Silverado that I've owned since close to new. It's been very well maintained and runs great despite having about 175 000 miles now. It has a Wheatley tune, air intake, exhaust... The problem is that I went way overboard building my Jeep and now the truck is struggling to pull the 5,000 pound plus pig.
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Living in Windsor, ON. we normally haul our jeeps 6 to 10 hours to go wheeling, and it's usually not too flat. The truck struggles to hold O.D. and the T.C. is always coming in and out. So you can see my dilemma.
I really do not want a new truck payment at this point so it's either build the 5.3 or swap in a 6.0. Either way the truck will be treated to a semi-float 14 bolt rear, rebuilt trans (4L60E), beefed up leafs, new rims & tires, 2 inch lift... Personally I'm leaning towards just swapping in the 6.0 as it would most likely be the simplest and cheapest route. Also, I have an Lt1 Camaro that just blew a motor in and I think the 5.3 would be a good replacement candidate.
I'm just looking for some opinions, tips, experience doing the swap, and also what I should look for in a 6.0L. Is an LQ4 sufficient or pony up for an LQ9? Either way I'm not looking to do many major mods to it, just a good tune, maybe headers and/or a cam. Or should I stick with the 5.3?
Thx, Jay.

 

Probably better off with either LQ motor and a 4L80E, that 60 won't last hauling that much weight for that amount of time. Also consider airlift airbags to help stabilize while towing.


5.3 with a turbo might not bad either, just need to learn to control turbo while towing with feel

 

I'm not that worried about the trans, the reason I say this is because I have probably been on about 20 or so long hauls towing my jeep, it is completely stock with 175,000 miles and still shifts like new (knock on wood). I'm pretty sure with a mild build, a good tune and maybe a bigger cooler it will hold up.
Also, I normally tow with load stabilizing bars which really picks that back end of the truck up. They were not hooked up in that picture. Although I do like the idea of the airbags.
I have a line on an '03 cable-drive LQ4 with 100,000 miles on it for $1,000 including the wiring harness and computer and a K&N cold air intake. Does this sound fair?
Thanks for the input, any others?

 

That's not a bad deal. The 60e will hold up for a while if your racing and have trans tune conservative. My truck still has the stock high mile 60e and I did the swap over a year ago.

 

6.0 n call it a day.

 

Baby turbo, non-intercooled, 5psi, good to go

 

I'm in a similar boat (minus the towing) so I'm subbing to see what you decide to do.

 

Thx for the inout guys, keep it coming.
If I do decide to pick up the 6.0L, would it be best to use the 6.0L computer and have it tuned, or should I stick with the current 5.3 computer and have it tuned? Or doesn't matter?
Also any recommendations on tuners? As mentioned my current one was done by Wheatley.
Lastly, if I stick with the 4L60E, what should I have done to it to make it last?

 

I don't know anything about Wheatley so that would be up to you, but I have had experience with Justin at BlackBearPerformance. I would go back to him without question, and I *will* have my truck tuned by him after I do this swap. He has a lot of positive reviews, knows his stuff and he's a nice guy.

Like I said, I was in the same boat...I found this website which discusses how this company builds their performance transmissions and why. I don't think I'll buy one from these guys, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the 5 pinion planetary gear and the 3-4 drum thingy. No ebay cheapy crap is the lesson I've learned here... 4L60E Performance Transmissions from PATC