When you reach a fork in the road, take it.

[Supercharged111]

I was actually thinking of swapping the rear axle/brakes and front brakes from a gmt400 2500LD. Will the GMT800 rear axle's bolt up or are the spring perches in different spots? I would prefer to go with GMT800 for the reasons you mentioned but didnt think it was an option w/o serious fabrication, which I'm not comfortable doing at this point.

800 axle swap would require fab. I forget if the 90 already had the bigger half ton front brakes, what's the glove box say? JD5/JB5? LD2500 only ever got the big half ton front brakes.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Skip this...its a downgrade. If you want better brakes, go hydroboost.

edit: For reference, I tried it on a '95 RCSB and it was garbage.

Agreed, was garbage on my van too, until I paired it with the NBS van hydroboost and 1-ton calipers.

 

[Sle-z_90]

I found the write up by Draggin95 and saved it in my bookmarks. Thanks for the tip yall.

 

[Sle-z_90]

I'm still in the process of pulling the tbi 350. Had difficulty reaching the bellhousing bolts, then went on vacation to visit family in TN. I have everything but the bellhousing and motor mounts unbolted and disconnected. Found a real good deal on a ls carb intake, 600 cfm carb, and MSD 6014 on marketplace. I snatched that up so getting the LS up and running should be a quicker process. I would like to go with EFI in the future though, at which point I figure I can sell the carb setup to the next guy. Having the carb set up, I tend to think I could get a 6.0 from LKQ for $600 w/ the 90 day warranty. That way I can return it if it doesnt run and I haven't sunk time and money into the ecm and wiring harness.

 

[mwilliams55555]

Just read through another 3-4 pages of this...

None of you are going to agree on this debate.

It's all personal bias and soap boxes. I own two LS powered vehicles and enjoy driving them. Love my Vortec 7.4l 'burb too. My 4.7l Tundra is a joy to DD, I liked the 3.4l Tacoma I daily drove before that too.

In my last job I travelled around 125-135k miles per year. I have taken three 1/2t 5.3l powered pickups over 250k miles, two 1/2t 5.3l Suburbans as many miles, and one 6.0l 2500HD to about 200k. The 2500HD was always hooked to a 7000lb+ 5th wheel trailer. I knew its limitations and understood it required more RPM than I was used to towing with. I've towed 1200gal/90' boom sprayers (empty obviously) with the 1/2t rigs. The LS is durable, just makes its power higher in the rev range. If you don't want to listen to it sing, choose a different power plant, but rest assured, it's not going to hurt it. Nothing gets good mileage towing...read that again. Even the Duramax 2500HDs with the 6 speed Allison I towed with were **** in regards to mileage when you put a load behind them. Better than a gasser but nothing impressive.

I've owned/driven 454s, 8.1l, and 502bbc motivated pickups. Always awesome, horrible on gas, and the 8.1 liked to drink oil.

I've owned and built more SBCs than I can count. Carb'd, TBI, TPI, Vortec, some were anemic, some were okay, some were great. The stock ones drove as expected, just like the BBC and LS counterparts.

OP build what you want with what your budget allows and enjoy it!

Brother has a 01 GMC rclb2500 with the 8.1. and the Allison , I've driven it with nothing in the bed and with asphalt shingles up to the top of the cab, under his ladder racks, and really couldn't notice it was loaded except looking at the rearview, plenty of pep for anything. Gas mileage is 12-14 city or so ?

 

[Sle-z_90]

350 is gone. Unfortunately, the trans fell out too and puked fluid all over my driveway. Luckily, I have an understanding wife, lol. I bought an LQ4 yesterday and have it stored in my back patio. Need to get it in quickly before the HOA letters come. I couldn't find a good thread on doing a carbureted ls swap on a tbi/700r4 truck so I may need to post a new thread.

 

[Moparmat2000]

Sorry I am late to the party. That's a real tough one. On one hand swapping out 350 for 350 is easy, the 454 is just plain cool, but the LS is the bucks down favorite. Look for a 6.2L LS out of a wrecked Escalade, add a turbo and run the snot out of it. You will find that this combo will present traction problems. Nothing that wider cheater slicks and Cal Trac bars cant fix. I got a buddy that's working on putting a 6.2L in his Nissan hardbody pickup. That's going to be a riot!!.