for that price i would get a custom tune from blackbear , then a circle d 3200 stall and corvette servo . the tune will gain a little mpg but the stall will loose a little so it should balence out . and the stall will help a lot to keep those rpms up in the smaller 4.8 the servo will make it shift quicker and firmer . and the tune will make more power then any handheld tuner and make your truck drive a lot better . and you get free retunes as you make more add ons . hope that helps

 

for 2500 you could swap in a 6.0, built trans, converter, tune....

 

Mpg is more dependant on your driving style. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there are more than a few guys on here that get better mpg out of their 6.0L than others do out of their 4.8L because of how heavy a foot they have.

Question: Do you do your own work or will you have a shop do the work on your truck? Cuz $2500 could be either a little or alot and would help with what we can recommend you do with it.

 

my dad used to build a lot of motors up ( like 70's and 80's so a lot of **** has changed i know this) i am going to try and do it with his help. im sure their is a lot of guys who can get better mpg in their 6.0 than i do in my 4.8 and im pretty sure doing anything to my truck can cut down on mpg but i just want to still get ok mpg going down the road at 65.... i spent most of the night on here just reading about cams and intakes (i have a lot more reading but i am just starting to get into this) and what i have got out of it is, it is really hard to bring down the peak torque to usable levels. what would you suggest. i do not want to build a motor to do 8 grand i want it to hold together for awhile. would the ls6 intake just make it want to rev if i put a low rpm cam in it? and would ls6 heads even be worth putting on a 4.8 since i would be loosing compression or could i put some domed pistons in and get it back?

 

To replace the pistons your gonna have to pull the motor. If you pull the motor it's cheaper to just throw a 6L in it than it would to get new pistons, rings heads, intake and cam. On top of which a 6.0L at highway cruise will most likely get better mpg than a 4.8L with heads, cam and intake.

I hate to say it but I've solved both your problems, you'll get better mpg and power if you just drop a 6L in yourself. But if your dead set on working on your 4.8L than the items your thinking about will work fine.

 

i am starting to think that way to i was just looking into it and i found a 6.0 on ebay for under $1500 and most people on here say just stick a 6.0 in it. would it bolt right up to my tranny? what would be some add ons to a 6.0 since i am totally changing my thought process now

 

Most people are suggesting this because we have all been where you are and have all been excited to make our trucks fast but the first mention of ripping the motor freaks us out. I was that way 5 years ago. I just wanted to go faster and the first time someone mentioned doing a swap I was like F$%& that. Eventually I saw that everyone was right and did in fact do the swap.
Every LS based motor that GM makes will bolt directly to your transmission, even all the accessories will swap over. GM engines and transmissions are like lego's with just a few exceptions.
If your patient and do some more searching you'll be able to find them for around $1000 or less if your lucky. Check the classifieds on here as well.
As far as add-ons, stick with the stock motor swap for now. It'll give you enough to think about and enjoy for a 6 months while keeping good mpg before your gonna want more at which point you'll have done 2 things.

1) Given yourself time to read on here and become more familiar with what mods work on these engines and what don't.
2) Save money on mods you didn't want or really need to do, nor understand what kinda improvements they made on the engine itself.

 

thanks a lot for being patient with me, it seems like a lot of people on here dont care to talk to the new comers into this "hobby" and the search bar can really send you all of the place. it is going to be a couple months maybe longer before i do start my project but i want to know what is the right way to do it first... it really does mean a lot.

 

one more thing could i just buy a programmer to make the 6.0 work or would i have to bring it in to get it programed?

 

You'll have to get your PCM tuned for the 6.0L, but it will run with the 4.8 PCM how it sits. You just won't get all the power out of it!