5.3 pros and cons.

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bustedknuckles

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Quick question. My 98 is 4.3 and new 4l60e 2wd. I have found a good deal on a 01 tahoe 5.3. Good price cause no title but runs perfect. What all can I use from the tahoe to swap into mine? Can I use my transmission? I know I can do research on all of this and I will but right now I need to know if it is a fairly easy swap and what do I need to look for? Extra expense to get the job done. Thanks yall
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stutaeng

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Yep, been done thousands of times.

I can't remember on the OBS, but I think there's some motor mount adapters? Something about "dirty dingo" or something like that?

Basically the LS-based engines are a bit shorter than the SBC, so the adapters reposition the mounting holes back were the SBC were?

Just get the VATS deleted from the 5.3. Also look into drive by wire to drive by cable conversion if your has DBW.

Look into performancetruck.net for a lot of resources.
 

RawbDidIt

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Yep, been done thousands of times.

I can't remember on the OBS, but I think there's some motor mount adapters? Something about "dirty dingo" or something like that?

Basically the LS-based engines are a bit shorter than the SBC, so the adapters reposition the mounting holes back were the SBC were?

Just get the VATS deleted from the 5.3. Also look into drive by wire to drive by cable conversion if your has DBW.

Look into performancetruck.net for a lot of resources.
Good call out, forgot a lot of the 5.3l engines have an electronic throttle body vs the mechanical throttle body in our GMT400s

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stutaeng

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Good call out, forgot a lot of the 5.3l engines have an electronic throttle body vs the mechanical throttle body in our GMT400s

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I just got a 5.3 myself. It's an L59 from an Yukon XL. It's the flex fuel version of the LM7. I'll do flex fuel delete. Strangely, it does not have an EGR...I was looking for the EGR valve, and had to look online. I got the TAC module and the gas pedal with the deal, but will likely go with DBW, as that's what I have on my truck.

It's going in my '99 NBS Silverado with a 4.3 that has had low oil pressure for the last year. My tranny also needs rebuild. As a bonus, doing a 4L80!

Not looking for anything aftermarket. Budget build. Just want a reliable truck for when I have to do out of town work.


I may do a thread on the swap. Should be similar to gmt400 96-00 swap.
 

RawbDidIt

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I just got a 5.3 myself. It's an L59 from an Yukon XL. It's the flex fuel version of the LM7. I'll do flex fuel delete. Strangely, it does not have an EGR...I was looking for the EGR valve, and had to look online. I got the TAC module and the gas pedal with the deal, but will likely go with DBW, as that's what I have on my truck.

It's going in my '99 NBS Silverado with a 4.3 that has had low oil pressure for the last year. My tranny also needs rebuild. As a bonus, doing a 4L80!

Not looking for anything aftermarket. Budget build. Just want a reliable truck for when I have to do out of town work.


I may do a thread on the swap. Should be similar to gmt400 96-00 swap.
Let me know how that 4l80e swap goes, I'll be looking to do that upgrade pretty soon myself.

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stutaeng

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My brother had his 90 C1500 tranny rebuilt, and I told him if it goes out again we are doing a 4L80!

My 99 has 260,000 and has been acting up since 230,000 or so. Truck doesn't owe me a dime! I used it a lot for work traveling all over the state. But a rebuild cost of 4l60 is probably higher than what one can swap a 4l80, doing the work themselves.

I'm wrapping up a big home expansion project and been limping along with the Silverado. It's got that crank, no start when wet that has been driving me nuts for the last 2 years. Thank God I bought some newer GMT 800 with the 4l80s, and the trannys are nice!

So, rather than junking or selling the Silverado, I'm going to bring it back to life and keep it as a work truck. Paying 60k for a new truck just to look cool is pretty foolish if you ask me.
 

RawbDidIt

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Yeah, my transmission is fine for now, but with the 383 in building for it, I'm guessing my transmission won't outlive my want to show off lol. I know it can't Dominica with the ECM as is, question is do I need to flash the ECM to play nice, or do I need something else to make it work?

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Knightmare

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Should be same transmission, so you should be good there. Here's an article on somebody doing the same thing on a 1990, so the only difference would be that you have the 4L60E already instead of a 700R4.

https://azproperformance.com/pages/88-98-gm-truck-ls-swap

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Swap Motor and transmission and get it tuned and that’s it done but make it more complicated than it is they will give you the best results.
 
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