Reliability of LS conversions

[FL71C10]

I am considering doing an LS conversion on my truck. Will it be more reliable once I do that? I have talked to a couple of people who use our trucks ad daily drivers, and the say they are constantly having to work on them.

I know the motor will be more reliable, and as long as the rest of the truck is decent, should it be better?

[Lattimer]

Any truck is only as reliable as you make it. If you replace the powertrain, and do nothing else, you will still have issues with steering, suspension, brakes, lights, etc. Its an old truck. Things break, its just a fact of life. If you replace/restore everything, then maintain it properly, you can have a perfectly reliable truck, with out without an LS powertrain.

[mmiddle]

The LS conversion is only as good as you make it. Take your time, research, research, research. Then do it professionally. Make it right and it will be right.
I have yet to do a LS, but I have done LT-1 conversions. The LT-1 is a direct fit, but the electronics are very similar to and LS.

[67ChevyRedneck]

45 year old trucks need maintenance. A lot of people will focus on how their truck looks, etc and neglect all the stuff that needs to be done. I've seen trucks with brand new lowering spindles connected to blown out original ball joints.

Completely rebuild the suspension and brakes. Get the drive train reliable (which will likely take some $). Drive it. A lot. So all the bugs will surface. Fix those, and in 6 months to a year you should have a good truck. That is assuming you didn't buy one someone else already restored or did all that stuff to

LS conversions are great! I would love to do one myself, however, they are not cheap. It can nickel and dime you to death with all the little crap you forgot you needed to make the conversion work. If you already have a crap engine, that may be a reasonable route, but if you have something that just needs new plugs and wires... ain't nothin' wrong with a good old 4 barrel.

[Hubscrub]

Any engine is reliable if you let it be. I drive old stuff daily without issue i don't think i need modern fuel inj. to get around that's just more to mess up When i work on or build my truck/cars my #1 is reliability. And yes they are 40 years old too just think what this modern junk cars will be like in forty years most probably won't make it plastic don't last like steel. My newest truck is a 97 and it has more repair money in it than any other i own rest are 80s back. I have and 86 monte carlo ss 305 that i haven't spent over i bet $600 in repairs since i've owned it i've never took the valve covers off it, i was 17 when i bought it and now 31.

[cdowns]

you cut corners and you cut your throat in the long run

a good reason why things go bad is the "new school" "SET IT AN FERGET IT"" attitude

[rob32472]

The reliablity is as good as the installation. Do the research, and buy good parts. I have done two, and both are over 1 year old, zero issues todate. It is nice to put the key in and have it run right no matter the temp or geographic area.

[bbadfred]

I did the LS conversion because of the reliability of Gm trucks ls motors. I personally have had two higher mileage 1/2 ton trucks 2001 extended cab w/t 4.8/4L60 190,000 miles with no engine trans problems, 2004 silverado ls extended cab 5.3/4l60 170,00 miles. I have three friends who have 200k plus miles and a friends son with an 03 extended cab 5.3/4l60 1/2 ton who scraps out cars, motor homes and farm equipment with the bed loaded and a loaded 20' tag trailer that has 290,000 miles. He has broken two transmissions and one rear end but the engine has never needed any repairs. The only negative I have heard about the LS motors is the 2010 up VVT trucks breaking lifters and scoring pistons?

[chev3600]

Fl71c10- you pretty much said it yourself. The LS engine family is more reliable than the older stuff. It eliminates most of the tinkering. And certainly the rest of the trucks condition becomes the next weakest link for wear.
Some people seem to think "set it and forget it" means you don't have to maintain it. Keep up with maintenance and most anything will last a LONG time. I prefer not to mess with timing and carb adjustments and worn distributor problems.
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[Stu Pidd]

My '01 Chevy has gone 230,000 miles with no more than routine maintenance on its 6.0 LS engine. Still runs as new.

The 1968 C20 will be getting an LS engine before long.
When the '68 is up to daily driver reliability, I will sell the '01.

[68fixeruper]

I have done the Ls swap to mine. I daily drive it and I can say its worth looking into.

[FL71C10]

So I guess I just need to find a good donor truck

[67ChevyRedneck]

That would likely be your most cost effective route... depending on what you pay for it, and what you can salvage/sell off of it to get your money back

You can also hear it run, possibly drive it, and have the whole wire harness/computer, etc.

[brad_man_72]

My ls swap performed dd duties for a few years, I had quite a few transmission problems, but ill blame the person who was building them.

Recently had to put in a new fuel pressure regulator and aftermerket fuel pump.
Not too bad for how I beat on it. (Raced a riced out civic with it the other nite, it probably hurt the guys feelings when the old truck came around him, I bet his mind was blown when the boat came around him too).
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[mmiddle]

I bought a 99 Z71 that had been hit hard in the rear. I needed body parts for my sons truck. Anyway, the 5.3 was good, about 150,000. I paid $500 for it. We stripped the truck, I took every piece of electrical components out including the engine for my 70. We made our money back just in the few parts we sold. Plus have spare Xfer case and front axle assm. for his.

[FL71C10]

That's what I need to do is find a complete truck. I know someone who is involved with insurance auctions, maybe I can get one there.

What years should I look for? I think I will go for a 4.8 or a 5.3 with an automatic trans. What year did the drive by wire start?

[mmiddle]

Spend some time driving in the country and on Craigs List. Many of these trucks are not insurance claims as they might be "Libility" only. Often mom and dad buy junior a 2000 truck then 6 month later he totals it and it sits in the yard for 2 years.

The drive by wire started in 03-ish depending on body style.

I got lucky with $500. You might have to pay a little more, but selling parts you can easily make 1500-2000 bucks especially if it is a 4wd. Then trade the tranny for a 2wd tranny. The drive shaft in these trucks go for 100-200 bucks, the rear-end 250-500 and the front axle will go for 4-600 easy and so on. The Xfer case is 100-300. It takes a little time but if you do it right you can get your engine/harness/ECM for free.

[joesgreen67]

Originally Posted by FL71C10

So I guess I just need to find a good donor truck

I highly recommend a donor truck. I bought my LS setup as a complete lift-out of a 2009 Silverado. While I read alot about guys getting LS engines on the cheap, they seem to spend more in the end to get everything to work together.

I paid $2800 for the engine,trans,starter, harness, DBW pedal, etc, etc. It only had 59K miles on the donor truck. I sent my harness & comp to Speartech. I have to say it is honestly the BEST upgrade I have done to my 67 in the 17 years I've owned it.

I think the $2800 up front was chump-change for the fresh breath of life it breathed into my truck. I wish I would have done this YEARS ago!

[FL71C10]

I definitely don't want to piece it together. I want everything out of the same truck, and I want to see it run and preferably drive.

[Custom 68]

one other thing is the reliability of starting everytime and all the time. Cold or hot. I drive mine quite a bit and it has been great. Like most things you may decide you want a little more and more so that will cut in the reliability.
Mine started stock in my truck after a couple years I got bored so I put a larger cam in and taht really woke it up. then NOS and that woke it up even more. Now a couple years later it is turbo charged. Same cam.
I went to a salvage yard about 8 years ago way before everybody was doing them and bought a 5.3 and tranny (harness and all) it has not been apart and I drive it pretty hard. They are good motors.

[mmiddle]

Yes you do, and that brings up other stuff!
If you get a drive-by-wire engine make sure you get the gas pedal and related wiring. Also you will need to send the ECM off for "Pass-Lock" and rear O2 delete reguardless of what year model it is or own or know of someone who owns EFI-Live to edit the ECM.

Keep in mind that you will have to change the gas tank and fuel pump system as well.

With a good solid donner truck your upfront costs are a little high but selling unneed parts could make this a free upgrade. And this will undoubtedly be the best upgrade you could ever make to your truck (sans: power disc brakes{safety}).

[AMERICAN PICK-UP]

Originally Posted by joesgreen67

I highly recommend a donor truck. I bought my LS setup as a complete lift-out of a 2009 Silverado. While I read alot about guys getting LS engines on the cheap, they seem to spend more in the end to get everything to work together.

I paid $2800 for the engine,trans,starter, harness, DBW pedal, etc, etc. It only had 59K miles on the donor truck. I sent my harness & comp to Speartech. I have to say it is honestly the BEST upgrade I have done to my 67 in the 17 years I've owned it.

I think the $2800 up front was chump-change for the fresh breath of life it breathed into my truck. I wish I would have done this YEARS ago!

I sell over 100 4.8,5.3,6.0,6.2 engine combos every year. you get what you pay for. a 500 dollar craigslist engine is a $500.00 dollar craigslist engine. i sell high mileages for cheap and low milage on for huge money. i just sold a 2000 mile 2013 5.3 with 6l80e tranny for $6500.00. i just sold a 269k 5.3 complete liftout for $600.00.

[DjS71]

Reliability in my opinion on these motors is a step above the Gen I SBC/BBC, changes in general efficiency, block and sealing design are where that comes from. 30 years of engineering they ought to have improved something, no? They can still break down and have failures but I'd wager the interval between on stock motors is longer by a good bit.

That being said, I'm planning on an LS Swap for "Drive-ability" Good power, starts every time in almost any weather, no distributor to tinker with, no carb to adjust. Just drive.

Of course, that's just me

[MARKDTN]

Can't speak for an LS swap yet, but I own 2 TPI swap vehicles and have done several others. None have had any issues with the swap save for where I was too cheap to replace the Multec injectors and over time both have needed replacing. Should have listened when I was told to get rid of them. Both of my swap engines had under 50K on them, so I rolled the dice-and lost. Not aware of this being an issue on LS, but my point is do the research and listen to, and at least investigate, what you find. My '01 Tahoe has 255K on it and has had zero issues. Original water pump, starter, transmission. The alternator went 199K. I changed the oil last weekend and was noticing how dry the back and sides of the engine was. You won't find that on a 250K Gen 1 small block. Next swap I do will be LS power.

[special-K]

I've always found these trucks to be reliable as built. They are old now and if you rebuilt everything to factory spec you'd have the same reliable truck...again. They're actually very reliable still. I'd rather take a long trip in my 41 year old '72 than an '02. One thing for sure,anything breaks down,but when these trucks do you can fix them yourself. I'm not a modern technician with all the modern equipment,so when an LS breaks down it's another story. I've always been able to get my truck home on my own and that says it all. I'd only consider going modern if I could drive my truck daily rather than something now. For any occasional driver I see no benefit. You can't buy simple new anymore