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Swap TBI big block for 6.0?

Like others said, why bother if a Cummins in the ultimate goal in a couple years. For what a 6.0 would cost to swap, you could buy hundreds of gallons of gas and still have money left over to go towards a Cummins swap. I highly doubt a 6.0 would deliver any noticeable gains over your 454 anyway. If you want better mileage, take off the 39" military tires, obviously they are your biggest mileage killer.
 
the lq4 out of the escalade is a great engine. with just a cam swap (and tuning) your at at about 450hp on cheap gas with decent milage too. will it get more mpg in your setup than a bigblock? probably not enough to justify the cost of the swap. your tires and sitting up in the air are whats killing your milage. if you had say 35's or smaller and a mild lift then it would be worth it for sure. if cummings is the goal, id just spend the money towards that and be done with it.

i am planning on using the lq4 in my 79 k5 i have. i robbed the engine out of it for another project and i want fuel injection anyways and i cant build another small block that'll make 400+ for what it would cost me to swap in a lq4. now on my 73 crewcab that i just converted to 4x4 i would love to swap in a duramax and alisson combo, but thats a ton of money just for the engine. a cummins might be possible for me though as id love to get rid of the 454 i have in that for a deisel and better milage since my crew is sitting on 38's with 9 inches of lift.
 
79rustyk10 said:
I can understand wanting the improvements the 6.0 will give you, but why do it if you plan on a 12v swap in 2 years?
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rjfguitar said:
Like others said, why bother if a Cummins in the ultimate goal in a couple years. For what a 6.0 would cost to swap, you could buy hundreds of gallons of gas and still have money left over to go towards a Cummins swap. I highly doubt a 6.0 would deliver any noticeable gains over your 454 anyway. If you want better mileage, take off the 39" military tires, obviously they are your biggest mileage killer.
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:doah:

Refer to this-

I'm also not worried about money so much...

I pretty much just want to hear everyones opinions on the TBI 454 vs. 6.0. What I want to use my truck for and cost issues I can figure out myself.
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My opinion is the 6.0 will outperform a TBI 454 is all aspects. Stock vs. stock.

The TBI 454 in stock form is pretty choked and anemic for it's size (and untapped potential).

Rene
 
Even though the 6.0 will be better than a 454tbi it still is only 364 cu in and will not move a crew cab longbed with 39's well and mileage will be atrocious still.

Diesel or at the minimum a 8.1
 
tRustyK5 said:
My opinion is the 6.0 will outperform a TBI 454 is all aspects. Stock vs. stock.

The TBI 454 in stock form is pretty choked and anemic for it's size (and untapped potential).

Rene[/quot

I'm agreeing with him on this one.
A cam and valve springs change with a dyno tune will walk circles around any TBI.
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Interesting mix of thoughts and opinions. I appreciate those that have had something relevant to say.

Does anyone have any first hand experience? 6.0 swap into one of these trucks? K5/K10/K20/K30 etc?
 
tRustyK5 said:
My opinion is the 6.0 will outperform a TBI 454 is all aspects. Stock vs. stock.

The TBI 454 in stock form is pretty choked and anemic for it's size (and untapped potential).

Rene
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x2. emphasis on ALL ASPECTS. I dont imagine you will pick up much MPG. but going from 7-9 up to 10-14 is pretty decent.

Say for example you are going for a drive and its a 600 mile round trip. Its al open highway, and your not hauling anything. and gas costs $3.80 a gallon average.


@9mpg= $253

@14mpg= $162

You just saved $91 in only 600 miles. Now say you drove 6000 miles a year in it. All your driving averaged with the 454tbi you would get about 8mpg. With the 6.0 lets just say it averages 12mpg. Lets also say gas averaged $3.80 all year.

@8mpg= $2850

@12mpg=$1900

Now thats a savings of $950! But economy is just one aspect. On a stock lq9 im guessing you will gain probably about 80hp and 20ft.lb of torque over the 454. Not a whole lot. But if you get better mpg and gain performance. That sure dont hurt! Most important to me would be the driveabilty. How pleasnt the 6.0 would just always be to drive! Ultra smooth, good "feel", reliable. You name it, the 6.0 wins it.
 
From wikipedia

The 454 EFI produced 230 hp (172 kW) and 385 lb·ft (522 N·m)
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LQ9 (VIN N)
The Vortec HO 6000 or VortecMAX is a special high-output version of the Vortec 6000 V8 truck engine originally designed for Cadillac. This engine was introduced in other truck lines as VortecMAX for 2006. It features high-compression (10:1) flat-top pistons for an extra 10 hp (7.5 kW) and 10 ft·lbf (14 N·m), bringing output to 345 hp (257 kW) and 380 ft·lbf (515 N·m). LQ9s are built only in Romulus, Michigan. GM also listed it as based on LS architecture.[24]
LQ9 Applications:

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So take of that what you will. Keep in mind that the lq9 numbers are stock. During the swap you will most likely have a tune put into your computer that would bump the hp/tq up a bit.
 
I have come to love my litttle 4.8 in my z71...I imagine with a cam & decent tune it would really be fun...that little 292 is nearly 300 horse stock, would have loved to drop it in my old 79 z-28.


now, a 6.0, that would really be something...it might be smaller inch wise, but the Vortec design is, IMO, way above the gen 1 TBI. That's why the LSx is definitely the future!

I can imagine much better performance and economy. If it were me, I'd consider the 8.1, but it's not me...


I think with what you have done with your rig so far, a 6.0 is logical.


But hey, what do I know, I'm just a fat man in NC...:D
 
y5mgisi said:
x2. emphasis on ALL ASPECTS. I dont imagine you will pick up much MPG. but going from 7-9 up to 10-14 is pretty decent.

Say for example you are going for a drive and its a 600 mile round trip. Its al open highway, and your not hauling anything. and gas costs $3.80 a gallon average.


@9mpg= $253

@14mpg= $162

You just saved $91 in only 600 miles. Now say you drove 6000 miles a year in it. All your driving averaged with the 454tbi you would get about 8mpg. With the 6.0 lets just say it averages 12mpg. Lets also say gas averaged $3.80 all year.

@8mpg= $2850

@12mpg=$1900

Now thats a savings of $950! But economy is just one aspect. On a stock lq9 im guessing you will gain probably about 80hp and 20ft.lb of torque over the 454. Not a whole lot. But if you get better mpg and gain performance. That sure dont hurt! Most important to me would be the driveabilty. How pleasnt the 6.0 would just always be to drive! Ultra smooth, good "feel", reliable. You name it, the 6.0 wins it.
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I think this is a bit far fetched. With this "454 vs. 6.0" comparison, I would assume that we are still using a crew cab dually lifted with 39" rubber as our hypothetical test vehicle, right?

In a real world comparison, if the TBI 454 is averaging 8mpg, I would be surprised if the 6.0 could do better than 9mpg. Seriously....

Again, taking into account of our vehicle of choice, it would tip the scales at basically 8K, is as aero dynamic as a mobile home, and huge rubber. Pretty much any engine would have to be flogged pretty good to get this rig moving and keep it there at 65mph.

Now, if the test vehicle was a C10 short bed, I could see the mpg spread pretty far apart, since the 6.0 wouldn't have to work much for that vehicle and could really shine on the efficiency of it's design.
 
From personal experience with my swap the ls into a k5,k10 or what ever is really a pretty easy swap. I used to have tbi 454ss truck and I like the ls motors much better. If you go with the lq9 6.0 and swap in a good cam and get it tuned properly it will easly make over 400hp/400tq.
 
14mpg highway may be pushing it. But an average 12mpg has got to be pretty close i would think. An 06 escalde had an EPA estimated 13 city and 17 highway. I think you add in all the factors a bigger truck has working against mpg and 12 average seems pretty accurate? But maybe its not. Thats just what my thoughts on an estimation are.
 
Id put a 6.0 in there and find out, tbi 454's are old tech. Imo value of the truck goes up too.
 
i'm gonna add the rest of my opinion. The TBI 454's biggest choke point is heads and FI related. A decent set of 781's or 049's and a cam upgrade and you'd bring the stock numbers up dramatically. Dead stock it has more tq than the 6.0, with better heads and a better cam and (flame suit on) a decent Q-jet the 454 will drop down 450-480 tq without breaking a sweat.

There are two ways to get where you want to be short term, and I think the 454 warmed over a bit with a Q-jet is still gonna get better mileage than the choked TBI version. I also think a slightly warmed over 454 is going to outperform the 6.0 in stockish form.

i'm not against the LS platform, I just really prefer the old BBC.

Rene
 
y5mgisi said:
14mpg highway may be pushing it. But an average 12mpg has got to be pretty close i would think. An 06 escalde had an EPA estimated 13 city and 17 highway. I think you add in all the factors a bigger truck has working against mpg and 12 average seems pretty accurate? But maybe its not. Thats just what my thoughts on an estimation are.
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I still disagree. I think it would barely average 12mpg with a Cummins. I would pretty much figure any gas engine would struggle to move that vehicle around and get out of single digits.

My '06 Dodge Mega cab 3500 with a 6" lift and 33x15.50 tires only averages about 13mpg, best on the freeway was 16.7. That is a late model aero dynamic body with a late model ISBE Cummins too.:doah:

I'm with Rene, in a huge, heavy vehicle, I'd take a warmed over 454. A big block is a big block. In a vehicle that is smaller, like a K5, I'd probably take a 6.0.
 
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