LS Motor

[jeepmanjeff]

Looking at doing a LS2 (6.0 truck ou of a 2007 Silverado). motor install in the Jeegy

I found one on eBay with 177k on it and it is a drop out complete with the system turn key for 3 wire hook. It comes with a 30 day warranty after the install date.

It was $2030 to my door with no core charge

Any concerns here? What about VSS. Anyone using a GPS module?

Also I would like block hugger manifolds with a center drop. Don’t know where to spice these at

Not a LS guy so any help would be appreciated.


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[WrenchMonkey]

Do you know the weight difference off the top of your head, iron block vs aluminum. I'm not sure how much I'd pay per kind of weight savings, but it would be something...

[93 Krawler]

Originally Posted by WrenchMonkey

Do you know the weight difference off the top of your head, iron block vs aluminum. I'm not sure how much I'd pay per kind of weight savings, but it would be something...

Bout 70lbs

Scoggins-****ey catalog ppg181

LS Block reference Block only-

LS1/LS6 - Aluminum - 110#

LQ9/6.0L - Cast Iron - 170#

LS2 - Aluminum - 110#

LS3/L92 - Aluminum - 110#

LS7 - Aluminum - 110#

C5R - Aluminum - 120#

LSX - Cast Iron - 225#

LSX Tall Deck Cast Iron - 250#

[JeffK5]

Around 70 lbs and 70hp difference between a LS2 and a LQ4.

[jeepmanjeff]

All great information!

Will do some more research tomorrow


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[93 Krawler]

FYI, anything out of an Envoy or Trail Blazer will have a front sump.

[98tjls]

I really have nothing to add over what has been said. Great advise for sure.

However I would like to add my 2 cents. I will start with i am cheap and I try to do everything with a budget in mind. So this might not be everyone's rout.

I would suggest going super cheap on the motor 5.3 or 6.0. I will say I am a fan of the 6.0 iron bock.

5.3 - Iron block cheap and available every where and can hold a ton of HP.

6.0 - A little more Displacement, Iron block (No need for aluminium) Fairly cheap if going with the LQ4.

BOTH - Buy the motor cheap and rebuild it with new everything other than crank (if its good) You now will have a brand new motor with more HP than stock LQ9 and some others motors mentioned for around 4k or less. It may not sound cheap now but after you buy a 2k motor and have in your mind that something may go wrong at any time is worth the upfront cost. Plus it will prob be the last time you think about the motor....

Lastly: Put a filter on the motor that is better than the normal K&N.


ALSO GO AUTO!!!!!!!!

lol This is just my thoughts... Right or wrong???

[jeepmanjeff]

hmmm...all good thoughts. I think at this point I am going to try the Current Gen1 I have in it at Windrock and see how hot it runs there. The heat is my main issue right now and since I have moved the radiator I need to see what that does for cooling. If it is fixed then the LS route will not be the way for me at this pint in time. I still have 2 other Gen1's sitting in the garage that are good and spares.

What got me thinking was if I am going to have to swap motors anyways why not get an LS and be over and done with it.


BTW i am NOT going Auto..Old school is for me and I have always drove my Jeegy/jeeps with one. I feel you have more control, instantaneous power and less to worry about. IT may not be the fastest at spinning tires and less ability to finesse at times but these are 2 areas I am willing to give up.

[93 Krawler]

Not trying to change your mind, but I've wheeled both auto and manual trucks, and I would never go to a stick again. Especially after watching manual guys "cough Jimmy cough" almost rolling or flipping over because of the roll back with a clutch. True I have to worry about overheating, but I don't have a clutch to smoke or a slave cylinder to fail. To me the biggest thing is being able to gas it the instant my foot leaves the brake. I can throw mine in reverse almost as quick as you can push in the clutch, all while keeping my foot on the brake. Way more control and less to worry about when you're in a an oh s**t situation as well. If you've never wheeled an auto, then you should try it and see for yourself. My .02...

[Runoveru2]

Originally Posted by 93 Krawler

Not trying to change your mind, but I've wheeled both auto and manual trucks, and I would never go to a stick again. Especially after watching manual guys "cough Jimmy cough" almost rolling or flipping over because of the roll back with a clutch...

It must be scary and fun watching me.

[93 Krawler]

Originally Posted by Runoveru2

It must be scary and fun watching me.

It's always entertaining.
No more balloon tires, so hopefully you won't be bouncing all over.

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[jeepmanjeff]

Originally Posted by 93 Krawler

Not trying to change your mind, but I've wheeled both auto and manual trucks, and I would never go to a stick again. Especially after watching manual guys "cough Jimmy cough" almost rolling or flipping over because of the roll back with a clutch. True I have to worry about overheating, but I don't have a clutch to smoke or a slave cylinder to fail. To me the biggest thing is being able to gas it the instant my foot leaves the brake. I can throw mine in reverse almost as quick as you can push in the clutch, all while keeping my foot on the brake. Way more control and less to worry about when you're in a an oh s**t situation as well. If you've never wheeled an auto, then you should try it and see for yourself. My .02...

you offering to let me drive your buggy when you get it done?

[93 Krawler]

Sure

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[93 Krawler]

We were talking about transmissions at Windrock. The gearing drop on your 2nd to 3rd is crazy. You need a gear between them. 2nd is too high and 3rd is too low. That's why launching is hard to do. Food for thought...

SM465 - Case length - 12"
First - 6.55:1
Second - 3.58:1
Third - 1.70:1
Fourth - 1.00:1
Reverse - 6.09:1

TH350 - Case length - 21 3/4"
1st - 2.52 : 1
2nd - 1.52 : 1
3rd - 1.00 : 1
Reverse - 2.07 : 1

TH400 - Case length - 24 3/8"
1st - 2.48 : 1
2nd - 1.48 : 1
3rd - 1.00 : 1
R - 2.07 : 1

[blazerbrad]

Originally Posted by 93 Krawler

We were talking about transmissions at Windrock. The gearing drop on your 2nd to 3rd is crazy. You need a gear between them. 2nd is too high and 3rd is too low. That's why launching is hard to do. Food for thought...

SM465 - Case length - 12"
First - 6.55:1
Second - 3.58:1
Third - 1.70:1
Fourth - 1.00:1
Reverse - 6.09:1

TH350 - Case length - 21 3/4"
1st - 2.52 : 1
2nd - 1.52 : 1
3rd - 1.00 : 1
Reverse - 2.07 : 1

TH400 - Case length - 24 3/8"
1st - 2.48 : 1
2nd - 1.48 : 1
3rd - 1.00 : 1
R - 2.07 : 1

Keep in mind that it's not really apples to apples when looking at the ratios between an auto and manual transmission. You need to factor in the torque converter ratio. In general you typically at least double the ratio, meaning that the TH350 or TH400 is closer to a 5:1 ratio. The way I always explain it is you get a much broader range of ratios (i.e. wheel speed) from just one gear in the transmission because of how the torque converter varies.....from a start/launch you get the 5:1 crawling ability but can then seamlessly get a the wheel speed of the 2.5:1 gearing with no shifting at all. Of course on top of that the auto can even upshift into a higher gear in a middle of an obstacle without losing all of your momentum and engine rpm.

[93 Krawler]

Originally Posted by Waffle

What xcase are we talking about? What ratio? It's ratio and the diff ratio will be a huge factor for making a 350/400 work.

The rest of the drivetrain has nothing to do with comparing Transmissions ratios. They are what they are.

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[blazerbrad]

In regards to the transfer case and differential gearing to make a TH350 or TH400 work it's like anything else in that you need to make sure you have the right gearing in the other components. With a SM465, or other granny geared manual, the first gear is typically low enough to get away with most off-road driving without doing anything else. The NP205 transfer case that is commonly found with the SM465 has crappy low range gearing, and then add a common factory 4.10 axle ratio and you are heavily relying on the low 1st gear on the transmission. You don't have that luxury with a TH350 or TH400 unless you go with a lower geared t-case or axles. For example an SM465, NP205, and 4.10 axles gives you a crawl ratio of almost 54:1. For comparison a TH400, NP205, and 4.10 axles only gives you around 40:1 even factoring in the 2:1 ratio of the converter. 54:1 versus 40:1 is a big difference. Most people I have talked to that dislike an auto for off-roading only have experience with auto equipped rigs that have crappy crawl ratios.......I've talked to several people that have TH400/NP205/stock 4.10 geared axles with 40" tires and talk about how crappy the automatic is....well, yes it will be. Kinda' like taking a Jeep TJ with 3.07 axle gears and putting 37's on it, you just shouldn't expect it to work good.

On my rig the crawl ratio is 34:1 times 2:1 torque converter, so overall around 68:1. That was plenty of gear for 35"-37" tires and works okay for 40" tires but could be lower. Basically I lost the use of 2nd gear in most situations with the larger tires. I do have a set of 5.13 gears that will drop it down to around 85:1 if I ever get around to installing them.

In any case the auto vs. manual debate is personal preference. I prefer auto and will explain why I do, but if somebody likes the manual it's no big deal. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The biggest thing is that a manual allows you to pull start the rig. Many people will say a manual is more durable but I'm not sure about that....the manual transmissions themselves usually don't fail but I've seen more clutch issues than auto transmission issues on the trail over the years.

[Smiddy24]

I think he's going to settle for the 350 now until it decides to blow up on him (even though it almost did out at Windrock)? We did find a guy that had a LS motor out of a 97-98 Camaro I believe which was the store manager at AutoZone. He was willing to sell it for $800 bucks and it came with the complete wiring harness and all the goodies with the motor.

[Smiddy24]

But it would be a ton of work and redesigning motor mounts and other things on the chassis.

[93 Krawler]

He has an atlas 2 - 3.0 gear ratio. Not sure of his axle gearing

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[Smiddy24]

Originally Posted by 93 krawler

he has an atlas 2 - 3.0 gear ratio. Not sure of his axle gearing

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