07 Silverado classic 4.8 v8 to 6.0 conversion?

[FF-Emt Diver]

I have a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4x4 with a 4.8 v8, it has 298,000 miles on it right now and continues to go up.

I am considering replacing the engine and would like to have more power for towing.

Has anyone ever done this? it is doable? Does it make sense? What all needs to be replaced?

 

[transfixer]

I've not done it, but have a good friend that does LS powertrain swaps all the time, it should be a direct swap, some of the accessory brackets "might" be different , not sure, but if you got an engine from a wrecked vehicle at a salvage yard you should be able to get the brackets if needed, transmission bellhousing will be the same, you will likely need to have your ecm re-programmed for the larger engine, if you're going to tow much the 6.0 is definitely the way to go, just be aware your fuel mileage won't be what it is now .

 

[FF-Emt Diver]

Thank you for the input. Does your friend have a business that I could call?

 

[transfixer]

Thank you for the input. Does your friend have a business that I could call?

Not really, he does this out of his shop at his home, he has designed a bunch of brackets that will allow you to relocate the various accessories on a LS engine so you can put it in different vehicles, He does have a website where he sells the various brackets and pulleys, lssimple dot net

He really only does LS conversions into vehicles that did not have an LS motor originally, yours should be a fairly direct swap out, most any good mechanic would have no problem doing it, especially if they are familiar with LS engines,

 

[bilgerat]

Ive got a 04 silverado 4x4 with a 4.3 and would like to do the same. not sure how much trouble there would be swapping the v6 to a 6.0

 

[transfixer]

Ive got a 04 silverado 4x4 with a 4.3 and would like to do the same. not sure how much trouble there would be swapping the v6 to a 6.0

It would be more involved, the accessories and brackets will be different, (ac compressor/alternator/power steering, etc ) you will likely need a complete cutout from a salvage yard with all brackets and accessories, and the accompanying ECM and harness, also your transmission even though the same, will have a different torque converter and bellshousing than the LS motors use,

Not sure it would be worth the hassle, unless you're sentimentally attached to the truck,

 

[Redbow]

Yes sir I would do the engine swap in a minute. It might cost you a bit but think of the money you will save by not buying a new truck. Good luck.

I had a 4.8 in a GMC Sierra 2008 model, good engine but the steering and whole front end was worn out at 80,000 miles. I got rid of the GM junk and bought a Nissan.

 

[Pig Predator]

It would be more involved, the accessories and brackets will be different, (ac compressor/alternator/power steering, etc ) you will likely need a complete cutout from a salvage yard with all brackets and accessories, and the accompanying ECM and harness, also your transmission even though the same, will have a different torque converter and bellshousing than the LS motors use,

Not sure it would be worth the hassle, unless you're sentimentally attached to the truck,

The bell is the same pattern. 4.3 is just a 350 with 2 back cylinders knocked off. I have a 5.3 LS bolted to an old th350 transmission with a 6cyl torque converter for a cheap stall. But yeah, he would need a pull out with all the goods.

 

[bilgerat]

I do engine swaps in boats all the time but haven’t done one in a truck in many many years . And yes im real attached to my old truck .

 

[transfixer]

The bell is the same pattern. 4.3 is just a 350 with 2 back cylinders knocked off. I have a 5.3 LS bolted to an old th350 transmission with a 6cyl torque converter for a cheap stall. But yeah, he would need a pull out with all the goods.

The pattern is the same, but the LS bellhousings are deeper, and the pilot on the LS converters is different, the converter bolt pattern is different between the LS style torque converters and the older 4.3 converters, some 5.3 flexplates may have both bolt patterns, I know many don't, I've heard of people using the old flywheel as a template and drilling new holes in the 5.3 flexplate, not what I would want to do, but it will work, and there is a depth difference between 5.3 flywheels and 6.0 flywheels, one is flat, and the other is slightly dished, it throws off the starter engagement if you get them mixed up.

 

[Pig Predator]

The pattern is the same, but the LS bellhousings are deeper, and the pilot on the LS converters is different, the converter bolt pattern is different between the LS style torque converters and the older 4.3 converters, some 5.3 flexplates may have both bolt patterns, I know many don't, I've heard of people using the old flywheel as a template and drilling new holes in the 5.3 flexplate, not what I would want to do, but it will work, and there is a depth difference between 5.3 flywheels and 6.0 flywheels, one is flat, and the other is slightly dished, it throws off the starter engagement if you get them mixed up.

Yep, I used a spacer between the torque converter and crankand shim flexplate and torque converter. I think the crank on all the gen3+ engines are all .4 shorter than the gen1 and 2. I know your a transmission guy but I coulda sworn the bells where the same its the shorter crank and torque converter/flexplate differences but all that is no issue these days as several vendors already sell the kits to mount such and such engine to such and such trans. All they need to know is flat or dished flexplate.

 

[transfixer]

Yep, I used a spacer between the torque converter and crankand shim flexplate and torque converter. I think the crank on all the gen3+ engines are all .4 shorter than the gen1 and 2. I know your a transmission guy but I coulda sworn the bells where the same its the shorter crank and torque converter/flexplate differences but all that is no issue these days as several vendors already sell the kits to mount such and such engine to such and such trans. All they need to know is flat or dished flexplate.

the torque converters behind the LS engines are thicker, made differently, and if you measure the depth of the removable bellhousing on the 4.3 4L60e' and compare it to the depth of the bellhousing on the 4.8/5.3/6.0 bellhousing you'll see the difference, the 4.3 4L60e's use a different input shaft than those behind the LS engines, that is the reason for the different torque converter and bellhousing,

 

[95g atl]

If I recall, there's a guy on the outdoor trader that did a 5.3 to 6.0 swap on a tahoe.

 

[transfixer]

We had a 2006 truck dropped off at the shop last week, customer had his trans done at another shop, they couldn't keep it fixed, so it looks like we'll do it. truck originally had a 4.8 in it,, someone swapped it to a 6.0, and some place that is "supposed" to know how to tune these powertrains tuned it for them. If I'm going to build the trans, I need to know what parameters were changed if any in the transmission programming, ,, when I downloaded the file, low and behold it still had 4.8 programming in the ecm ! I wondered why it ran like a dog? they didn't bother to install 6.0 programming,,, haven't figured out what they did change ,,, if anything,,, but its entirely possible whoever "supposedly programmed" it,, contributed to the transmission failing 3 times ..

If you find someone to do a swap for you,, make sure they know what they need to do as far as the programming, or find someone that does !

 

[Doboy Dawg]

Make sure you stick with the same Generation LS. As Transfixer has noted there are significant differences in the ECM’s, especially the tunes.

The Gen 3 and Gen 4 LS engines use different reluctors on the crankshaft. The crankshaft sensors, camshaft sensors, and knock sensors are different.

The wiring harness and ECM will reflect this. You will also need to be aware if the motor has AFM active fuel management or the DOD.

We delete the AFM and DOD cylinder deactivation. The camshaft and lifters have to be replaced on these motors and there are some oil galley plugs that need to be installed.

Check out YouTube for videos on the process. The most frustrating thing on these LS swaps are the tunes, they have to be right.

The best advice I could offer is to get a LS with the matching harness and ECU.

I could write a book and not cover everything we’ve run into swapping these LS motors. Especially getting into the tunes and wether or not the application has a BCM and TCM linked in.

Some have BCM (body control modules) and TCM (transmission control modules) linked with ECM (engine control modules). The newer models the more linked they are and requires more hardware/ software to work on.

A Gen3 5.3 rebuild going back to its home.