I am not saying i know it all. I just told you why everybody seems to like the 6.0. Its cheap, readily available, can take quite a bit of abuse for what it is, you can just slap some bolt ons and a cam in it, maybe a set of heads and make plenty of power. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a 5.7, the guys that run them on here, run them hard and run them well. The only disadvantage is you have to build it from the bottom up. That takes time and money. You say you don't want to spend a ton, and most of us don't want alot of down time, so i recommended the 6 liter for that fact. If you want a built motor that you are going to run alot of nitrous in, then the 5.7 would work, because you are going to want to build the bottom end in either motor. The 6 liter is by far not the greatest thing to ever hit the streets, but they run really really well without spending the money to build the bottom end and having the down time. Again i don't think i know it all, but i did go threw the exact same debate with myself when i was upping the ante from the 5.3. I just happened to get a great rebuildable core for dirt dirt cheap at the perfect time. Alot of people worry about running a stock truck motor the way alot of us do, but they are strong motors that can handle alot of abuse, don't be afraid of it. I come from the old sbc and sbf days, and it just wasn't a good idea to run them hard and run decent shots of nitrous on them without some reinforcement. I think if you could find an 05 or newer lq4, and put your heads on there with a mid 220's cam, you would be very very happy, and i wouldn't be afraid to run that 125 shot either as long as its tuned well. I am very happy with my setup, i just have a stock rebuilt 6.0 with forged pistons, and i have 25k on it and 7 bottles of nitrous, 1500 mile+ trips towing car haulers, etc... I am not trying to talk down to you like an idiot, im sure you have plenty of experience and know what you are doing, i just don't think you should write me and my experience off as some pumpkin head that doesn't know ****. I've had two of these trucks in the last 8 years and have modded both and learned quite a bit about it. So sorry for the long-winded post.

 

I Understand what ur saying and i respect that, I'm also an old school motor man, not so much sbc but was always into the big blocks, chevy & pont. and i'm just blown away at the hp these Gen 111 motors make, And i've always been one of those guys that likes to build an engine that most do not have and have it produce max hp instead of just sticking a cam and headers in it and get what i get thats why i have questions about these engines, I've done all my own work,(building & tuning) on this engine except for heads and i'm still learning more on the tuning to get max hp, I never thought this little 5.3 would ever run as good as it does, when GM changed the stroke, firing order & head design they really did there home work, But anyway thanks for the info....

 

well old school man, i'll edge a kate you a little. lol

reasons behind the 6.0.
unlike the ls1 the 6.0 crank is not drilled to reduce weight.
the LQ9 rods are thicker then the 5.7, 5.3, and 4.8.
the 6.0 comes with the 317 head, this head has the same ports and valves and flows as the LS6 heads do.
also the 317 head gives you thickness to play with if you plan to shave them down
to incress compression.
now these 6.0s have been abused to 500, 550, 600 and up to 700hp on stock
crank, rods, and pistons with the proper tuning, driven everyday, run at the track,
and a little street action when it happens.

im not trying to tell you to not buld a 405 horse iron block 5.7 LS6.
i have all my parts and peaces sitting on stand by for my iron block 5.7.
these 6.0s are just laying around and with little effort you can have some nice
horse power under the hood, the one good plus is that one day, if you feel like it.
the 6.0 can be turned in to a 408 ci monster that does not play with others very well.

 

when I said you can get a 6.0 for $1300 that was for a motor with around 20,000 miles on it. the parts list you gave me was not for forged parts was it? If you arent going forged what is wrong with stock with 20,000 miles. One thing good about going with the 5.7 that is you can take your time and put all good parts in it. the weakest part on my iron 5.7 is rated to be good up to 850 hp. but for your money a stock low milage 6.0 is the way to go.