A few questions have come to mind while working on my new truck and figured were better to find the answers than here. Please excuse my ignorance in any of these as I know very little about newer GM powertrains.

Is the 4.8 a LT or LS based engine? And if so what is it most similiar too?

Vortec, I know when it first came out it was a different head design. Is this still true on my 02?

Is there any factory "upgrade" parts from other engines? Such as heads or intake from a 5.3 or something of the sort?

It has the 4L60E trans @ 150K shifts perfectly. Is there any high mileage maintence concerns or just the normal filter and fluid change? Also opinions on a shift kit installed at this mileage? I will be doing alot of towing with this come next race season and want to make sure it lasts.

Rear end gears?? Truck has a 10.5 open diff, can I source a LSD from another truck along with maybe slightly (numerically) higher gears?

Have seen, heard, and known a few trucks with the rear cab corner rust problem. This particular truck came from LA and was more of a family car than a truck. It will be seeing PA winters and want to see what steps I can take to prevent this from happening?

What I am looking to achieve is a reliable towing rig to pull my drag car and equipment to the local tracks next year. (About 5K-55K full weight). And still be a DD back and forth to college during the week. < See maintain a decent MPG. And of course as cheaply as possible.

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[quote=red02;70878
Vortec, I know when it first came out it was a different head design. Is this still true on my 02?

Is there any factory "upgrade" parts from other engines? Such as heads or intake from a 5.3 or something of the sort?

It has the 4L60E trans @ 150K shifts perfectly. Is there any high mileage maintence concerns or just the normal filter and fluid change? Also opinions on a shift kit installed at this mileage? I will be doing alot of towing with this come next race season and want to make sure it lasts.

Rear end gears?? Truck has a 10.5 open diff, can I source a LSD from another truck along with maybe slightly (numerically) higher gears?

Have seen, heard, and known a few trucks with the rear cab corner rust problem. This particular truck came from LA and was more of a family car than a truck. It will be seeing PA winters and want to see what steps I can take to prevent this from happening?

What I am looking to achieve is a reliable towing rig to pull my drag car and equipment to the local tracks next year. (About 5K-55K full weight). And still be a DD back and forth to college during the week. < See maintain a decent MPG. And of course as cheaply as possible.

Thanks in advance for the help[/quote]


- they call them vortecs by the way the air flows in (vortex motion) and yes its that way on your '02

- i have a 4.8 and a 5.3 and most parts from my 5.3 will fit my 4.8

-I love the 4l60e trans mine has 170,000 and work beautifully you can change fluid and filter but DO NOT FLUSH IT

-is your truck a 4WD? is so your going to have to make your front and rear differential the same ratios or you will do some damage but yes they are fairly easy to swap just make sure you mark where the shims where so your ring and pinion contact patterns aren't out of skew

- where in PA are you? and about the rust i took the bedliner in a can and sprayed my whole frame wheel wells and cab spots that like to rust and i havent had a problem since

-and for towing i towed a 24 foot boat with my 4.8 and got decent mileage when starting off turn on the tow/haul when your on your the highway turn tow/haul off so you can use your overdrive gear to save gas

 

only thing I can think of is that you'll want a good transmission cooler. The stock one wont cut it for towing that much weight for long. Maybe look at getting a bed leveling kit on it, so your truck doesn't sag. Is it a 1500/2500/3500

 

Sorry should have added more info. Truck is 1500 2wd. I thought about a trans cooler also, thinking about getting trans oil temp gauge just to be safe. Also I did hook up the car and trailer and took for a quick ride it did extremly well. I was more than surprised with the 4.8. There was some sag, not much though, maybe 1" at the most 2". But the way I built the trailer there is very little tongue weight.

Ok so the "Vortec" is just a head design then. Also good to know parts swap between the 4.8 and 5.3. Are heads and intake the same between them also? I guess what I am getting at here is cheap upgrades such as if the 5.3 came with bigger valves or larger runners. Same with intake and TB. Also would like to find a LSD that I could swap in down the road.

 

Originally from around the State College area, small town of Belleville. Currently in Kansas, getting out of the Army and will be moving back to Homer City around the middle of September.

 

I've heard a detroit locker posi/LSD diff are really good for trucks. You can always upgrade your exhaust and add in some headers. I don't know if there even are any headers for 4.8s, but I think you'll be able to upgrade the exhaust. I think dual exhaust with high flow cats would help.

 

there are headers for the 4.8s

and on my old 4.8 i had the dual exhaust coming out and i got great mileage from that add headers and high flows and it can only get better