I have been thinking of doing some work to my motor, and I am undecided whether or not to use the 5.3 I currently have in the truck, or... my dad bought a 03 1500HD quadsteer about 5 months ago (has 6000 miles) It has the 6.0/4l80e. He is very upset w/ the bad gas milage he is getting and would have loved the 4.8, but got a good deal on the truck. If I try hard enough, and wait till his warrenty is up, I could probably convince him to let me put in a 4.8/4l60e and then I could have his setup. Now, my concerns are, how much would it be for a 4.8/4l60e, and is it worth it to wait for the 6.0, or should I use my 5.3? The thing is, if I use the 5.3, I wouldn't be able to take the truck off the road as its my daily driver, so nothing to major. If I get the 6.0, I could completly build it, stroke it, and beef up the trans over time, then just drop it in my truck. Thanks for the advice.

 

You know, I have been thinking of doing just about the same thing. My idea was to buy a dirt cheap 99+ reg-cab shortbed 4.8 or 5.3 truck and swap the drivetrain with my 1500HD. After swapping drivetrains, I'd keep the '99 and sell the 1500HD and just act dumb if anybody noticed. Of course, it would be more involved than that, but that's just the general plan. I'd have to get 2 new driveshafts, swap or reprogram the PCM's, swap the radiators & cooler lines, swap or fab up new tranny crossmembers, and probably a million other little things.

In your particular situation, I think you would be better off with just leaving Dad's truck alone. A 4.8/4L60E combo in that big heavy truck isn't going to help his mileage much, if any, at all. It will probably use more gas and be totally gutless too.