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

[Moofus02]

Find a 8.1 and 4l80 out of a van. Swap it in you'll love the power and torque and they get good milage

 

[Leeztruk]

Gonna throw my hat into this Love/Hate mix of the LS conspiracy. My last truck was a '80 C10 2wd shortbed. Put a 5.3/4L60e from a '05 Tahoe into it. The engine had a BTR stg ! cam, LS6 valve springs, and a rocker arm rebuild. No engine tear-down, stock lifters and lower end. I also used a torque convertor from a 6cyl. Trailblazer. It had a 3.08 gear to start, but later swapped to a 3.42. It was great around town (like you alluded to), and cruised effortless on the highway. It got consistent 19/20 mpg on the highway, around town I didn't care. It was dead nuts reliable. You wanna smoke the tires, NO problem. At the end of the day, it's your truck and your choice

 

[Pinger]

Personally I would buy a cheap C4 Vette if you want to have fun. Probably the most under rated buy out there for a car that is surprisingly quick even today.

Frequently crosses my mind when I see modifications being proposed that for the given objective, they're starting with the wrong vehicle.
A variation on the theme from a buddy of mine: ''You can buy them like that you know.''

 

[Sle-z_90]

Find a 8.1 and 4l80 out of a van. Swap it in you'll love the power and torque and they get good milage

There's not a lot of aftermarket support for that engine, right? I looked to see if I could find a carb intake and couldn't.

 

[Erik the Awful]

If it's a tow pig, go big block. It's going to cost money and get terrible mileage, but it'll tow the moon.

If it's a light duty tow pig/fun truck and you have the budget, go 383. It won't get great mileage, but it'll tow well and be plenty peppy.

If you don't have the budget, go 350. A stock 350 bottom end is still good for towing. You can build an awesome towing motor with stock parts under $2000.

If you're looking for serious performance, go LS.

@0xDEADBEEF
That video is garbage. He's not towing a load, he's loafing into traffic. I'd like to see a comparison of two similar weight trucks, one SBC and one LS, each towing a 5,000 lb load, accelerating to get on the highway. Having towed that kind of load with both stock SBCs and LSs, the SBCs just grunted and went. The LSs had to rev to get the same performance. They could do it, but they weren't suited to it.

 

[Sle-z_90]

Frequently crosses my mind when I see modifications being proposed that for the given objective, they're starting with the wrong vehicle.
A variation on the theme from a buddy of mine: ''You can buy them like that you know.''

I'm a fairly reasonable and rational person in most areas of my life, but this truck isnt primarily meant to be reasonable or rational. I like these trucks because that's what I like. I dont like corvettes, or really even camaros. I like gm trucks, lifted 4x4s and lowered sport trucks. I'm an ex-pat hillbilly living in the northern suburbs. I'm sure a psychologist could explain it better than me, lol.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

If it's a tow pig, go big block. It's going to cost money and get terrible mileage, but it'll tow the moon.

If it's a light duty tow pig/fun truck and you have the budget, go 383. It won't get great mileage, but it'll tow well and be plenty peppy.

If you don't have the budget, go 350. A stock 350 bottom end is still good for towing. You can build an awesome towing motor with stock parts under $2000.

If you're looking for serious performance, go LS.

@0xDEADBEEF
That video is garbage. He's not towing a load, he's loafing into traffic. I'd like to see a comparison of two similar weight trucks, one SBC and one LS, each towing a 5,000 lb load, accelerating to get on the highway. Having towed that kind of load with both stock SBCs and LSs, the SBCs just grunted and went. The LSs had to rev to get the same performance. They could do it, but they weren't suited to it.

You are not wrong about a SBC just grunting and going. 4L80E and 3.73s and it just goes despite being nearly 7,000 lbs. Passing on a 2 lane road is nearly efforless, drops to 3rd and goes. I do not even catch 2nd gear unless I am under 60. It has plenty of umph just staying in 3rd.

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[0xDEADBEEF]

@0xDEADBEEF
That video is garbage. He's not towing a load, he's loafing into traffic. I'd like to see a comparison of two similar weight trucks, one SBC and one LS, each towing a 5,000 lb load, accelerating to get on the highway. Having towed that kind of load with both stock SBCs and LSs, the SBCs just grunted and went. The LSs had to rev to get the same performance. They could do it, but they weren't suited to it.

The video is a factual rebuttal of hyperbolic statements. Obviously, I could accelerate much quicker if I wanted to, but I genuinely drive it that way.

It has no AC and it's 105F here and my kid still drives it most of the time because it's the most fuel-efficient vehicle he has access to. You can see why in the video.

I've owned 5.7 TBI and 454 Vortec, and neither was really that impressive doing anything. They were well used by the time I got them, to be fair.

I'd like to see your comparison though. Maybe we can have GMT400 Olympics, LOL.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

The video is a factual rebuttal of hyperbolic statements. Obviously, I could accelerate much quicker if I wanted to, but I genuinely drive it that way.

It has no AC and it's 105F here and my kid still drives it most of the time because it's the most fuel-efficient vehicle he has access to. You can see why in the video.

I've owned 5.7 TBI and 454 Vortec, and neither was really that impressive doing anything. They were well used by the time I got them, to be fair.

I'd like to see your comparison though. Maybe we can have GMT400 Olympics, LOL.

454 Vortecs needed the factory cork removed out of the intake and exhaust with a good tune to wake them up.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

454 Vortecs needed the factory cork removed out of the intake and exhaust with a good tune to wake them up.

Everything wakes up with time and money though.