6.0 Swap from 4.8

Tristen1972 · July 16, 2019

I have a 2002 Gmc Sierra 1500 with a 4.8 in it. I have been wanting to swap a 6.0 in it for a while and need some info. I use the truck as a daily, I tow with it every once in a while (17 foot open car trailer hauling anything from scrap to full size trucks). I wanna know what mods would be best with the 6.0 swap. I would like to do a good upgraded cam that I can tow with and bumps up power and torque. I DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE THE CONVERTER. Other mods I’m thinking are tune, headers, exhaust, and cold air intake. What is the best place to get a tune from?

Jglew82 · July 16, 2019

Crane and Summit make good truck cams with mild duration and lift to keep the torque down low, which is what you want for towing and doing truck things. My 6.0 has the Texas Speed 216/220 112 .550/.550 cam. Idle is good, power is decent, stock converter 60e. That said, take care of that 60e... it's gonna freak out with a 6.0 in front of it coming off a 4.8 that has towed on occasion. You might need to swap to an 80e at some point, but I won't go down the 80e/60e rabbit hole, that's pretty well documented.

Basic things like mild cam, headers, and intake (let her breathe) and a good tune will really wake up a 6.0. For a tune, your best bet is to find a reputable tuner to dial it in on a dyno using open source software such as HPTuners, EFI Live, etc.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Jglew82
words

Tristen1972 · July 16, 2019

1 hour ago, Jglew82 said:

Crane and Summit make good truck cams with mild duration and lift to keep the torque down low, which is what you want for towing and doing truck things. My 6.0 has the Texas Speed 216/220 112 .550/.550 cam. Idle is good, power is decent, stock converter 60e. That said, take care of that 60e... it's gonna freak out with a 6.0 in front of it coming off a 4.8 that has towed on occasion. You might need to swap to an 80e at some point, but I won't go down the 80e/60e rabbit hole, that's pretty well documented.

Basic things like mild cam, headers, and intake (let her breathe) and a good tune will really wake up a 6.0. For a tune, your best bet is to find a reputable tuner to dial it in on a dyno using open source software such as HPTuners, EFI Live, etc.

Do you tow with yours? If so how well is it for towing with that cam? And also if you changed your pushrods and lifters what did you use?

Jglew82 · July 16, 2019

1 minute ago, Tristen1972 said:

Do you tow with yours? If so how well is it for towing with that cam? And also if you changed your pushrods and lifters what did you use?

I don't yet; I'm still working out some kinks on this one as it is a swap into a 90 C1500 (quite an upgrade to the wheezy old tbi I pulled!) I can tell you that it has some serious down-low grunt, even with the stock 3.08 rear. Tons of top end.

The cam kit I bought from TSP came with the LS6 blue style valve springs, but I did order a new set of GM LS7 style lifters, rocker trunnion upgrade, and a set of hardened pushrods from Brian Tooley. My heads were surfaced in addition to the cam and lifter swap, so I had to put some shorter pushrods in. Pushrod length checker is a must!

Tristen1972 · July 16, 2019

10 minutes ago, Jglew82 said:

I don't yet; I'm still working out some kinks on this one as it is a swap into a 90 C1500 (quite an upgrade to the wheezy old tbi I pulled!) I can tell you that it has some serious down-low grunt, even with the stock 3.08 rear. Tons of top end.

The cam kit I bought from TSP came with the LS6 blue style valve springs, but I did order a new set of GM LS7 style lifters, rocker trunnion upgrade, and a set of hardened pushrods from Brian Tooley. My heads were surfaced in addition to the cam and lifter swap, so I had to put some shorter pushrods in. Pushrod length checker is a must!

Okay thanks for the info man. I’m thinking about doing 243 heads along with the cam and other mods. But definitely gonna do the cam swap.

Jglew82 · July 16, 2019

16 minutes ago, Tristen1972 said:

Okay thanks for the info man. I’m thinking about doing 243 heads along with the cam and other mods. But definitely gonna do the cam swap.

No problem,

This may go against the grain if you are dead set on that 6.0 (and I can't fault you, they are awesome) if you did these same mods to your 4.8, especially cam and 243's (or the 799's which are mostly identical), that little bastard may surprise you... plus it'll save you tons of money and be easier to tune.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Jglew82
added words

Tristen1972 · July 16, 2019

8 minutes ago, Jglew82 said:

No problem,

This may go against the grain if you are dead set on that 6.0 (and I can't fault you, they are awesome) if you did these same mods to your 4.8, especially cam and 243's, that little bastard may surprise you... plus it'll save you tons of money and be easier to tune.

I’m not ruling that out. I just want something with more umph than the 4.8. My dad has an ‘18 with the L83 5.3 in a crew cab 6.5 bed and it scoots. It makes me realize how much a dog my 4.8 is. If I could get it to the same power as it or slightly over without a lot of mods I’d be happy.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Tristen1972