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6.0l tow rig?

K10 KRAWLER

K10 KRAWLER

1/2 ton status
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
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Location
Carstairs, Alberta, Canada
Hey I have a few questions on helping my truck get more power for towing. I have a Slide in truck camper as well as a bumper pull 16' trailer for my trail rig. Whenever I go camping I either have to ask someone to pull out my truck or take 2 trips. I can tow my truck just fine and it handles the camper great, But I cant do both. Im thinking of putting some overloads/airbags in as well as a rear sway bar in. I would like to know what tips any of you guys happen to have for getting more towing power out of the 6.0l engine?

I have a 2003 GMC Sierra 2500HD reg cab long box with the Gas 6.0L and 5 speed manual tranny. It is my daily driver so I cant go insane with the engine mods to keep fuel costs down.
 
Supercharger. Keep your MPG add 100 plus HP aand torque. Lots of bolt on systems made for the 6.0
 
computer.....i got hypertech, intake and free flow muffler. I did those three and increase my gas mileage and with the computer I can set up different towing needs.
2002 2500 hd 4x4 6.0 auto with 33's and 4.10's
 
I found some super charger kits, but they are pretty expensive,
k5fd89 what hypertech did you get? was it the plug in programmer or the tuner? and is it adjustable on the fly?

also what cam and heads work well on this engine? I heard from a guy at work that you could swap in heads off of a 5.3l? whats the details on that?
 
Most people say the best bang for the buck is a ECM tuning, but staying away from most handhelds such as the Hypertec because their "custom" tune is pretty conservative and the ability to change parameters is very limited. I've this place suggested hundreds of times with never any negative feedback. http://www.blackbearperformance.com/ You talk with them and specify exactly what you want and they program an ECM and send it to you for about the same or cheaper than a handheld. The only handheld I would even consider is the Diablosport Predator because you can actually change some individual engine parameters like timing and fuel.

Suspension wise, just make sure you are not overloading the rear tires.

I've towed with a '03 2500HD 6.0L/4L80/4.10 truck since new and up to this point it's completely stock but plan on doing some tweaks to soon.
 
performancetrucks.net will be very helpful as far as the mods on the 6L go. Plenty of guys over there making allot of HP with 6.0
 
I've got a 2001 1500hd with the 6.0L/auto trans/3:73 and 265 tires and i do a bit of towing with it. Had the cats taken out and put in dummy sensor, then put in a free flow muffler. I could tell a little more power in the pedal and the gas mileage went up to. Also, a cold air intake and some headers helps. Don't know how major you want to go, but these are just to some small add-on sort of things.
 
K10 KRAWLER said:
I would like to know what tips any of you guys happen to have for getting more towing power out of the 6.0l engine?

I have a 2003 GMC Sierra 2500HD reg cab long box with the Gas 6.0L and 5 speed manual tranny. It is my daily driver so I cant go insane with the engine mods to keep fuel costs down.
Click to expand...

If you don't have them already get 4.10 gears, they seem to make these trucks much happier than 3.73 gears
 
mill5471 said:
I've got a 2001 1500hd with the 6.0L/auto trans/3:73 and 265 tires and i do a bit of towing with it. Had the cats taken out and put in dummy sensor, then put in a free flow muffler. I could tell a little more power in the pedal and the gas mileage went up to. Also, a cold air intake and some headers helps. Don't know how major you want to go, but these are just to some small add-on sort of things.
Click to expand...

Cat removal is now a federal crime. With serious consequences.

Also, a properly operating and sized cat really doesn't hamper performance.
 
So far I do have the 4.10's as well as dual 3'' exhaust with cats, im thinking of headers cold air intake and i guess get my ecm tuned by a pro. Also a cam and heads. thanks for the links those sites were helpful.
 
Headers will REALLY wake those motors up. Also you can get some AFR heads and (don't know what the smogs laws are up there) and tq cam. The afr's are about 2k but they are literally the best heads you can get... 2500 less then a sukercharger. 450 hp shouldn't be hard at all... tq should be out the roof too. I'd venture to say you could hit 480 ft lbs with some headers, a cam, and those heads. You'll need bigger injectors and some ecm tuning also. Plus your won't be jamming air down it's throat and shortening the life of your motor.


IIRC the 6.0 is basically a ls1 block but different cid and it's iron instead of aluminum. 6 bolts mains are a nice feature.
 
K10 KRAWLER said:
Its may be a newb question but what class is my engine? is it an LS1?
Click to expand...

It should be a LQ4, although just like the older engines the rpo codes can tell. Take a peek and see if it says it is.

It is a bored version of the Vortec 5300. Displacement is 6.0 L (~366 cu in) from 101.6 mm bore and 92 mm stroke.
 
Babaganoosh said:
It should be a LQ4, although just like the older engines the rpo codes can tell. Take a peek and see if it says it is.

It is a bored version of the Vortec 5300. Displacement is 6.0 L (~366 cu in) from 101.6 mm bore and 92 mm stroke.
Click to expand...


If it is rated at 325 hp then its a lq4.... if it's the vortec max 345 hp it's a lq9.
 
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