I didn't know where to post this but thought some of you guys might be able to help me out with my crazy idea lol.

I have a 2004 chevy silverado crew cab 2500 HD 6.0l, which I bought for towing my racecar. This is my daily driver and uses way to much gas. I'm not going to be racing my car any time soon and would love to get better gas mileage. I have been reading and hearing that the 5.3l engine makes the same power and is a better all around engine compared to the 6.0l and gets way better gas mileage. I looked around found articles of swaping a 5.3l out for a 6.0l but not the other way around. My goal is to still be able to tow a civic on a open car trailer and get around 20 miles to the gallon on the highway. I dont want to sell or trade in my truck for another truck and pay sales tax and etc. Any info would help.

Thanks Bryan.

 

Your not really going to see much gain, your going to be working the 5.3 harder to tow that trailer. I think both motors are considered LS engines? Maybe theres a programmer you can get for your truck, or maybe you would be better off doing little things like exhaust to see if you can net any small gains?

 

read the articles on swapping to the 6.0, then just reverse the order.

 

take your 5.3 motor

long block

swap over the harness, intake manifold etcc and drop it in


LS motors are simple, everythign is basically built the same between the LS1, LS6, LS3 and LS based motors such as the LQ4 LQ9, 5.3 liter etcc


swappin to a 5.3 liter wont get you better gas mileage,

youll be on the gas more just to get the trailer going which will in turn cause a loss in gas economy plus shitty towing power

 

I'm really not planning on towing that much if all in the near future. I bought a Go-kart and I'm going to be racing that this year and who knows how much longer. I will be doing tons of long distance highway traveling this year and with prices of gas the way they are. I dont want to have to get rid of my truck for just better mileage. Because when I need I have it you guys have to understand where I'm coing from? Thats the only reason why I thought about swapping the 5.3l in. Would changing the rear gear help more?

 

If your goal is just higher freeway mileage, a ring + pinion swap is much cheaper and much easier than an engine swap.

 

Why not just buy a wagon or small suv for daily use and still be able to get the kart in the back?

 

The amount of money you're gonna have in that swap could buy a LOT of gas.

 

Isnt the HD trucks heavier than than the regular 1500's. If thats the case then the 5.3 would get worse gas milage. but i have heard that the 6.0 does get really bad MPG's something like 8. my tahoe gets between 13-16 around town. my trips to houston i was able to use a less than a full tank from dallas.

The swap is fairly simple everything swaps over only issue would be the ECU which i think those are cheap anyway.

 

I did a intake and exhaust for a guys 6.0 and hes getting about 4mpg better now.

 

We get 14.8 mpg with our 5.3 not towing anything

 

Although when your doing a gear swap, im assuming since you've got a 2500 its 4wd? Your going to have to invest in 2 sets of gears unless you never plan on using 4wd. I think you should start with stuff that has been previously mentioned like intake and exhaust, a programmer if they are made for those trucks..because even if your set on gears, your still going to see a big improvement from what you do before hand. just my opinion

 

I really want to thank everyone for there ideas. I do not want to buy another vehicle. I live in New Jersey and insurance for another vehicle doesn't save me me money like getting better fuel economy. Plus sales tax, and trasfer of documents at Motor Vehicle is out of control. I'm really going to look into intake exhaust and possible programer. I didn't even think since it was 4 wheel drive I would have to buy another gear for that. So cheapiest investments for better fuel economy is Intake exhaust maybe a set of good spark plugs like NGK lol.

Any other ideas for better fuel econmy shoot them my way!

Thanks Bryan

 

Or... you can not spend anything on your vehicle and save more money than you ever would with the whopping 1-2mpg increase you're going to see.

 

winner winner chicken dinner.