The torque delivery of the LS engine in general could be more "friendly" to the transmission since it's a bit smoother and not as big off-idle. Ultimately it's how you drive it though.
To LS or not to LS, that is the question
- Thread starter kenh
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Queso Del Rio
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No ****!
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L31MaxExpress
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I think that is why the newer 4L60Es last better. My L31 5.7L Express van ate the OEM 4L60E in 38K and a built 4L65E in 40K. 350 would pull that big heavy van along at 100+ mph in Overdrive effortlessly even stock.
To each their own.
I am a delivery driver and have my pic of 2010-2021 chevy 3/4 ton vans each day. My favorite is the 4.8/6 speed auto vans from around 2018.
Each day, when I get off of work, I look forward to driving my '99 with a 350 home...
I am a delivery driver and have my pic of 2010-2021 chevy 3/4 ton vans each day. My favorite is the 4.8/6 speed auto vans from around 2018.
Each day, when I get off of work, I look forward to driving my '99 with a 350 home...
L31MaxExpress
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I have a friend that hates his 6.0L/6spd van. Says it is a dog. Longs to have his factory detuned 6.6L Durmax/4L85E van back. Think those were factory around 250 hp and 440 tq.
The only 4.8 I have driven was a rental van years ago that had a 4L80E behind it and 4.10 gears. With the cruise set at 70 mph, it would double downshift to 2nd gear to hold 70 mph on relatively short inclines running empty. I cannot even imagine how terrible one of those uhaul box vans with the 4.8L would be fully loaded towing a car behind it. The Ford 5.4 was bad enough. I drove a lightly loaded E350 Uhaul towing an Eclipse when I helped an ex of mine move back home after we split a few years ago and it made me long for my 350 powered Express. 5.4 made noise, drank gas and went no where about like a 4.8. I towed a friends Jeep Cherokee with a blown head gasket back from San Marcus a few years ago behind my cammed L31 with headers. 4L85E in overdrive at 70 mph the whole way, a/c blasting and I had 7 people in the van and all our camping gear inside the Jeep. I got 14 mpg pulling the Jeep on a tandem axle trailer.
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stutaeng
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6.0/6L90e is what I'm currently looking at buying for my wife. We outgrew our minivan. The base engine is the 4.8, but trying to avoid that engine. No 5.3 options for vans. On the current generation of vans, the base engine is the 4.3! I think only cutaway Express gets the 4.10, but regular ones all get the 3.42.
The older '03-'09 are all kinda rough by now. Every now and then I see a nice one with low mileage, but really rare.
Not sure how the 6L90e would compare to the 4L80e in durability. At least it's not the sorry 8 speed!
Actually the wife was trying to persuade me into the Ford Transit. A family from church drives one. V6 NA or V6 Econoboosted! All on a Unibody! No thanks!
Supercharged111
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I found this BTW.
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L31MaxExpress
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stutaeng
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Would you really? The 6.6 is a new engine, and it's paired to the 6 speed. The 4.3 is paired to the 10 speed. I don't know the logic behind that but you know the vans are weird, LOL. And that's only on the 2021 models. Everything GM is now direct injected. I wish GM would have come come up with something similar to the Ford 7.3 gas engine.
I was looking at the '13-'19 range. Frankly, not finding a lot of standard wheelbase passenger vans. Most are cargo and the passenger vans seem to be extended wheelbase mostly. Think CCLB wheelbase, LOL.
L31MaxExpress
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Just not a big fan of the 6.0L here, especially with those torque robbing rectangle ports on it. If I had a heavy truck or van with the rectangle port 6.0L in it like a LY6, my first swap would be a set of 862 heads ported by Lloyd Elliot with 2.00 intake valves and a Trailblazer SS or NBS 5.3 cathederal port manifold. Give it a nice shot in the arm in the low-midrange where you actually run 95% of the time. Why GM never put the 6.2L in the vans always baffled me. I always liked the 96-02 vans best, atleast in 96-2000 you could get the 454 and 01-02 you could get the 8.1. With those big blocks you could get 3.42 gears behind the 4L80E. GM had a higher tow rating on the 3.42 geared big block than the 4.10 geared small block. In the real world fuel economy was about the same but the big block had alot more get up and go.
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