Replacement Engines?

@BenK.

Lots of respect for you here and you have given me some great advice in the past.

My experience with the 6.2 is nothing but positive across multiple swaps and applications. Where are you seeing negative results with this engine?

Also the federal rules on swaps are very clear. If you are swapping a motor that is same year or newer and all emmissions are in place, you are in full compliance. That can be easier said than done, but again the LS swaps. And I include smog legal swaps, are very common.


As an aside our BadBurb has the 6.0. Shows every sign of running forever, which is great, but could use a little more.....

Some good info on here and some people who have absolutely zero clue.

The LS swap is one of the most basic and proven in the auto aftermarket. There is a huge knowledge base about tossing a 6.0 or a 6.2 into everything from Jeeps to muscle cars.

The whole BCM, ECM, everything has been done before and figured out.

As for tuning the 5.3, intake, gears, etc. that’s all cute. But it is truly p!ssing in the wind if you want a real power upgrade.

The only question being, is it cost efficient for YOU.

Generally speaking, these swaps make sense in a couple scenarios. Either when the desired motor was not available stock. For example, my JK is pending a 6.2 swap. Or if you have access to an affordable complete donor motor and the skill to do a substantial amount of the work.

Otherwise, you will generally be better off just tossing the truck and getting one with a bigger motor.

Good luck and have fun.

It is a system that works in harmony with each component and subsystem. A tune is the biggest bag per buck, but it will still be a low rated TV vs moving up to a higher rated class TV

Gotta make sure your mods work together in Harmony. Changing only one...might mess up another. Diff ratio is a good starting thing, but down side will be MPG when not towing

A 6.2 is a car engine and as Turtle says, it's duty cycle not good enough for towing heavy

I've designed and mad made my own ram, cold air system. Scoop is under bumper and uses stock air box and filter. OEM air filter. Left the OEM intake, so there are two intakes. Key here is that all ECU's go into various levels of limp modes depending on engine temp. This keeps intake air just a hair lower. Plus anm running a modified 180*f thermostat

Went to duals and now back to a single 2.5" dia. As WOT was better w the dual, but lost a bit off idle. Even gained a slight stumble off idle...weird that.

At very hard +169K miles...going to rebuild both 7.4L and automatic. Just a tune now would shorten the 4L80's life even more without a rebuild (going w a 1,000 HP rated rebuild)

Am limited in what can do...as an in a state/city that tests bi-anually

The OP would be better served with a higher class truck for towing heavy....but if boy racer driving...sure, these hot rod mods will make a difference....but...might reduce duty cycle that will cause problems when towing heavy

Of course SMOG issues if in a state that tests...and... resale problems on test states

For those of us that are running gas engines with a custom tune will disagree with it not doing anything. Ask me, I will let you know that there really is a difference with a custom efi live tune verse stock without squeezing the skinny pedal harder. I was skeptical because of those so called chips back in the day. Efi live changes the computer and gets rid of a lot of TQ management. U do keep some but now you get the power that you paid for. I don't have to drive stupid to notice a difference on the truck. No it's not a diesel, won't pull like one and never will say that it will. I will say that I have 3 differnt tunes and the towing tune has improved my experience all around. I leave it normally in the 87 tune then change it to 89 or 91 tune when pulling. Gas miles has gone up. I have gained 1-1.5 hand calculated. A custom Blackbear tune will set u back 600.00. That's for a life time tunes and can be changed for any mods that you do. It was worth it to me, even my wife who is not performance oriented notices a difference just in her driving the truck. So in today's world yes a custom tune works. It's all depending what you want and how much to spend. I didn't purchase the tune to race or get diesel power. If that was such the case I would have bought what truck applies to either. I choose gas power, simple, easy to keep up and doesn't kill me when it breaks. Plus I kinda know LS based engines.... I plan to build a custom 6.0 for another application next year. Well that's after I rebuild the 350 out of the 1969 truck. That I will keep all stock.... The 6.0 won't be for sure.

mkirsch wrote:
ALL intakes are "fresh / cold air." Where do you think the air comes from?

So-called aftermarket fresh/cold air intakes don't do anything but shorten the life of your engine by allowing larger particles in through their less-effective cotton gauze filters. All that extra power you feel after installing one is because you're stomping on the skinny pedal harder. After you start driving normal again you'll realize that it didn't make a bit of difference. Save your money.

Same with the tune. Diesels can benefit from tuning the computer because they run lean and adding more fuel ads more power. Your stock computer already keeps the air/fuel ratio in your gasoline engine at as close to stoichiometric as is possible. The tuner might tweak it slightly here and there but just like the air intake it won't make a noticeable difference once you stop stomping on the skinny pedal and start driving like a normal human being again.

Your money will be best spent on the 3.73 axle ratio. No need to go to 4.10 with the 6-speed transmission. With the 6-speed and 3.73, the truck will perform like an older 4-speed with a ratio between 4.10 and 4.30.

A good custom tune on a gas engine does indeed make a difference! You need to know how a newer computer controlled engine operates to understand how it works. And it also changes how the transmission shifts which makes towing better.

ALL intakes are "fresh / cold air." Where do you think the air comes from?

So-called aftermarket fresh/cold air intakes don't do anything but shorten the life of your engine by allowing larger particles in through their less-effective cotton gauze filters. All that extra power you feel after installing one is because you're stomping on the skinny pedal harder. After you start driving normal again you'll realize that it didn't make a bit of difference. Save your money.

Same with the tune. Diesels can benefit from tuning the computer because they run lean and adding more fuel ads more power. Your stock computer already keeps the air/fuel ratio in your gasoline engine at as close to stoichiometric as is possible. The tuner might tweak it slightly here and there but just like the air intake it won't make a noticeable difference once you stop stomping on the skinny pedal and start driving like a normal human being again.

Your money will be best spent on the 3.73 axle ratio. No need to go to 4.10 with the 6-speed transmission. With the 6-speed and 3.73, the truck will perform like an older 4-speed with a ratio between 4.10 and 4.30.

I would do some research before doing mods on your TV.

Your current setup may be fresh/cold air intake.

Also initially I followed exhaust mods on my 6.2 Ford (i know apples and oranges) but in some cases horse power went down with adding duals, but the noise and droning went up. :h

And a custom tune from black bear will wake up that 5.3. I run one on my 09 6.0 HD, world of difference on this truck now.

With all that being said going from 3.42 to 3.73 will be the best bang for the buck!

Thanks to all who have responded, and sorry to have been slow to acknowledge all the great advice and opinions! For whatever reason my option to be notified of responses did not take, or I would have been more actively engaged. I will try to catch up, then share where I have decided to go :)

Vehicle is 2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab WT with a 5.3L, 6 speed auto 3.42 rear axle 4x4. Locking rear axle, HD trailering eqp. package. HD Cooling. GVW 7000. Towing guide for the 2012 says 9500 lbs. for 5th wheel as equipped, and 1712 maximum payload. I did add airbags w/ an onboard compressor, so leveling is easy for tow.

Trailer is 2108 Rockwood 2650WS. Pin weight is 1263. UVW is 7631 with CCC of 1632 making the total theoretical weight 9263. We tow with Grey and black tanks empty, generally Fresh water empty or close (I drain it after each trip) We also pack pretty light as generally we are only out for 4-5 days at a time max, and generally travel time is w/in a 2-3 hours (lots of Corps parks in that range for us)

I think that covers all the "whaddayagot" questions.

Like I said lots of great input, and even though there are some opinions/suggestions that appear to conflict, my call is you are all right. ( I should be in politics)

Swap to 6L would likely include computer, wiring harness, maybe transaxles (etc.) in addition to way more skills than I will ever have. Not to mention the costs and unanticipated costs. Do-able, but not reasonable to do.

Close enough to vehicle limits that plan B is pretty great idea, but not in immediate cards. Not really prepared to drop $50-60K this week.

Plan C looks like the way to go. Do some short term bolt on upgrades (cold air intake, tuned chip, dual exhaust) and squeeze some extra HP out of what I got, then move up to a 3/4 ton, maybe a 1 ton eventually when I find the right deal or my travel plans stretch out in retirement. 1 ton as I may go larger on the trailer (although this seems perfect for the bride and I for now) and I don't want to do this twice.

Thanks again for all the feedback, great community and very happy I stumbled on the group!