8.1 / 4L85 highway setup

[ZooMad75]

You got to think of the market for the 8.1.

A solid 75% of the 8.1's went to us at workhorse for rv production, then gm light duty and medium duty trucks. The the rest went to boats through companies like Volvo-penta. Some went for AG use for pumps.

Key point here is that the gm truck usage of the 8.1 was a smaller slice of the pie. It's why 8.1's are rare to find in trucks at all. It's also why Raylar's website has a ton of marine content on it. They are the only ones that have invested in basically orphaned engine design. Until some competition shows up they are going to charge what they want for what they make. It no different than any other non-mainstream engine out there.

It's the one major trade-off of you use an 8.1 is the lack of aftermarket upgrades over stock. Despite the shared tech from the LS engine design, the hard parts still don't cross over to the conventional big blocks. So Raylar's the one of the only places to go.

 

[sweetk30]

local airport has a nat gag feed 8.1 gen set .

like said the 8.1 market is SMALL compared to all the others . 2001 - 2009 was it for there run basically . and for the few years i was in towing stuff most of the rollback trucks i seen were d-max powered . altho the 8.1 units just run and run with little to no problems. the 1 truck my old boss has is prob ready to turn 300k mile by the end of this year or early next and its all original engine minus a few sensors and radiator . she is a 2009 c5500 .

 

[ZooMad75]

Ld truck stopped using the 8.1 by 2006. Medium duty went the end of the run in 09 when they stopped the entire medume duty line.

A good medium duty to steal an 8.1 from we're Schwann's trucks. Every stinking one of them were converted to run on propane. They are so dang clean inside it's not funny. Plus medium duty used the same accessory drive setup as workhorse so you don't have to hunt for them.

It is becoming more popular to swap in an 8.1 now, but the lack of donar vehicles is going to be the limiting factor. Don't bet on the RV folks giving them up easy either. The average workhorse rv owner loves the combo and would rather put up with an againg coach than buy new and end up with a v-10 Ford based unit. Unless it's a wreck, they will be on the road.

 

[Kay86K5]

It's not to late, you have to figure they are now really getting used for alot of swaps. Some company could recognize that and step up to the plate

Here's to hoping

 

[Kay86K5]

All in all with this...this is a topic that has been talked about a bunch. Most everyone agrees the 8.1 is a great motor that puts out somewhat respectable numbers in stock form (and a few tricks to bump it up here and there with a tune and such) and is VERY dependable, but the motor gets knocked by a lot of people for the lack of aftermarket support (rightfully so).

What I always tell people is the 8.1 may be one of the best BBC's in stock form. And if you are just looking for good, dependable BBC power in a swap, then 8.1 all the way. However, if you are looking to truly build a BBC to produce some real big numbers, it's probably worth just picking up an older BBC and start building as the aftermarket is huge and pretty cheap to make good numbers.

My brother and I knew this and originally we were not going to build this 8.1 we have for our buggy because of the above named problems (we were either going 6.0 or old 454 to build). But in the end we said screw it and will just pay a little more to build up the 8.1 we have because we had it sitting around, and it's a bit unique to have an 8.1 in a buggy, so why the heck not (the thing is already going to have steering Rockwell's front and rear with 50" Ag tires...so what's a few extra pounds with an 8.1, haha)

 

[wheels87k5]

I have an opportunity to pick up an 8.1L with 56,000 miles for $1700. Comes with wire harness, computer and transmission controller. There is no proof that it actually has 56,000 miles. Is there a way to tell or check?

 

[sweetk30]

if you can power up the computer and scan it with a scanner some scanners show stored mileage info . . . or carfax it ( i hate saying this ) and see last history .

but as larry said in his thread of 8.1 info if they make it to 50k they will make it way past that .

 

[ZooMad75]

All in all with this...this is a topic that has been talked about a bunch. Most everyone agrees the 8.1 is a great motor that puts out somewhat respectable numbers in stock form (and a few tricks to bump it up here and there with a tune and such) and is VERY dependable, but the motor gets knocked by a lot of people for the lack of aftermarket support (rightfully so).

What I always tell people is the 8.1 may be one of the best BBC's in stock form. And if you are just looking for good, dependable BBC power in a swap, then 8.1 all the way. However, if you are looking to truly build a BBC to produce some real big numbers, it's probably worth just picking up an older BBC and start building as the aftermarket is huge and pretty cheap to make good numbers.

My brother and I knew this and originally we were not going to build this 8.1 we have for our buggy because of the above named problems (we were either going 6.0 or old 454 to build). But in the end we said screw it and will just pay a little more to build up the 8.1 we have because we had it sitting around, and it's a bit unique to have an 8.1 in a buggy, so why the heck not (the thing is already going to have steering Rockwell's front and rear with 50" Ag tires...so what's a few extra pounds with an 8.1, haha)

Truth.

if you can power up the computer and scan it with a scanner some scanners show stored mileage info . . . or carfax it ( i hate saying this ) and see last history .

but as larry said in his thread of 8.1 info if they make it to 50k they will make it way past that .

GM rated these engines for 200,000 mile lifespan. 56k is just broken in.