Can I see some pictures of a 1" or 2" lift?

[bennylava]

Hi all. I am looking for pics of a 99-02 half ton 2wd - with a 1", 1.5, or 2" lift. I really like the trucks but they sit a little too low for me. I'm kind of new to lifts, so is this something that may be covered by a "leveling kit"? Anyway any pics would be greatly appreciated, although I would like to aim for street trucks if possible. As I will not be purchasing a 4wd truck. Thank you!

[hatzie]

You have to be careful modifying the front suspension.
Much over 1-2" you'll need to change control arms, shocks, or spindles.

https://www.duramaxforum.com/threads...82/#post-35565

[bennylava]

Thank you for the reply. I will take that into account when I modify the truck.

1. Can anyone tell me how to make 100% sure the engine is a 5.3L? I heard it can be somewhat difficult to tell sometimes.

2. Has anyone ever put the steering wheel from an 06 in an 02? That way you can have steering wheel controls for the radio.

[Josh]

The only way to know for sure is to measure the stroke. Does it have signs of being swapped out? 8th digit on the vin should b a T if it was equipped with a 5.3, V if its a 4.8.

[Josh]

The steering wheel.controls would require a lot to swap. They feed through the bcm, steering column clock spring, and others. I swapped my 06 to steering wheel controls and had to reace the wheel, clockspring, and get a custom program from GM for them to work. 99-02 use a different radio, bcm, dash harness etc.

[mongocanfly]

Eliminating the possibility of it being a 6.0, you can look at the piston top thru the sparkplug hole
The visible difference between a 4.8 and 5.3 are..
A 4.8 has a flat top piston, a 5.3 has a dish top piston
Or as Josh said, measure the stroke

[bennylava]

Don't they put numbers on the blocks or the heads anymore? Something you can just read and see that it's a 5.3L?

I do have a camera I can fit down into the spark plug hole.

[hatzie]

The LR4 & LM7 blocks have the same casting number.

[bennylava]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Eliminating the possibility of it being a 6.0, you can look at the piston top thru the sparkplug hole
The visible difference between a 4.8 and 5.3 are..
A 4.8 has a flat top piston, a 5.3 has a dish top piston
Or as Josh said, measure the stroke

Would there be any real reason to get a 6.0L instead of a 5.3L? I planned to modify the engine some, in order to make more power. But keeping it naturally aspirated, and not going hog wild with it so that it doesn't destroy the gas mileage. Is a 5.3L better for this task? Or can a 6.0L make more power NA with less hit to the fuel economy?

[hatzie]

The LQ4 6.0L is noticeably less fuel efficient than the LM7 5.3L
The stock LQ4 is 330hp and 370ft-lb of torque.
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2018/...ads-cam-specs/
The stock LM7 is 295hp and 335ft-lb of torque.
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2018/...ads-cam-specs/
The stock LR4 is 280hp and 295ft-lb of torque.
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2019/...ads-cam-specs/

There's no replacement for displacement but you will pay for it in fuel. The LM7 5.3L typically runs mid to high teens highway mileage. My 6.0 runs 12-12.5 highway.
The lower displacement engines will need to turn significantly more RPMs to generate the HP numbers the bigger engine will generate at low RPMs.
Comparing the LS4 5.3L in my 2009 Impala SS to the 3.6L in my 2012 Impala LTZ is a good case study. My bone stock SS will spank the LTZ off the line and continue to do so all the way to the 1/4 mile. They come in at roughly the same 300ish HP numbers but the LS4 will shove you back in your seat from a dead stop while the 3.6L needs to be wound way up before it begins to wake up. By the time my LTZ is tached up it's playing catch up for the whole stretch. The 5.3L SS has run a 13.98 and the 3.6L LTZ did 14.74 seconds. Close but no cigar.

My Front Wheel Drive Aluminum LS4 5.3L actually gets higher mileage than the tuck motors. 24 highway and 19 in town. Lighter vehicle and lighter engine. I looked into cramming an LS4 out of a wreck into a 1980s S10 in place of a 90° V6. The LS4 is a Gen IV with the 60° FWD V6 bellhousing bolt pattern and FWD motor mounts so it's really not straightforward to put one in a longitudinal engine bay. Not to mention that the ECM/TCM combo wouldn't like manual transmissions.

[bennylava]

Sounds like you'd want to get the one that came after the LM7... iirc there is a 330hp/350tq 5.3L. But it may not be an LS, it may be an LT engine.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by bennylava

Sounds like you'd want to get the one that came after the LM7... iirc there is a 330hp/350tq 5.3L. But it may not be an LS, it may be an LT engine.

That's the 2014-2018 L83 Gen V 5.3L with DFI and AFM. It's still an LS engine just newer design.

Direct Fuel Injection is excellent for power and fuel economy. However... AFM or DOD, whatever you want to call it, is bad juju. AFM engines tend to have lifter failures that do a fair amount of internal engine damage. GM didn't learn anything from the Cadillac 4-6-8 engine debacle.

Installing a Gen V in place of a Gen III is non trivial.

[bennylava]

Originally Posted by hatzie

That's the 2014-2018 L83 Gen V 5.3L with DFI and AFM. It's still an LS engine just newer design.

Direct Fuel Injection is excellent for power and fuel economy. However... AFM or DOD, whatever you want to call it, is bad juju. AFM engines tend to have lifter failures that do a fair amount of internal engine damage.

I think they killed the "LS" name and they're "LT" now though. And didn't they just kill AFM this year too? Might be able to get one out of one after they killed it and get a low mileage engine that comes with more power. Not a lot more power but hey..

[chvtrkman]

Any pics of 4WD ext cabs with a 1.5-2" lift?

[brak]

Originally Posted by bennylava

I think they killed the "LS" name and they're "LT" now though.

They revived the LT name? I clearly haven't been paying attention to GM...

That TPI intake on the 90's LT1's always made my pants a bit tighter...
with the center bolt valve covers... So sexy

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by brak

They revived the LT name? I clearly haven't been paying attention to GM...

That TPI intake on the 90's LT1's always made my pants a bit tighter...
with the center bolt valve covers... So sexy

That's Tuned Port Injection on the roller lifter smallblock they used on the Vette and 3rd gen F-bodies.
I always figured TPI was a heckuva lot sexier than the 91-97 LT1.

The reverse flow cooling Optispark 1990's LT1 looked like this.