LQ4 Build ideas

**Nitz45** · December 8th, 2011, 07:00

i am going to be swaping out my tired old 4.3l v6 for the 6.0L LQ4

anyone have any suggestions on cam sizes, turbo sizes and any other comments anyone may have
thank you

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**dirtdudeaz** · December 8th, 2011, 11:07

www.performancetrucks.net

They have a great GM forum in there and plenty of threads to search. You will need to upgrade your transmission as well in this swap. A lot of guys use FLT transmissions. There are plenty of knowledgeable guys in that forum that have tried all the combinations.

Is the truck lifted/lowered? What gears are in it? Why turbo, and not supercharger? Are you looking to acheive a certain HP/TQ number? How much are you willing to spend? 2wd/4wd? What are you doing with the truck DD/trail/dragstrip?

**Nitz45** · December 9th, 2011, 03:03

truck is a project that i plan to start once i return home from deployment. my plan is to do the LQ4 backed by a T56 trans out of a GTO front suspension is camburg long travel kit and Deavers in the Rear i have a thread in suspension as well with questions concerning that as well

**dirtdudeaz** · December 13th, 2011, 11:13

DISCLAIMER - I AM NOT AN ENGINE BUILDING EXPERT (Long research to one day build my DD truck)

Obviously with these things the sky is the limit. Normally what I see people posting on that forum is to let the engine breathe better (Intake/full exhaust) and do a custom tune. From there, if you need more power, go with a cam, heads, injectors, stall converter and re-tune. If you still need more power, or want to start off with monster power, add on a supercharger to the previous items. Magnacharger is a popular brand followed by vortech. At this point you will need to (if you haven't already) make sure the T56 or other trans can handle that power. I believe the magnachargers come with everything you need from the injectors to the tune you will need.

Stock LQ9 (345hp )-$1000-2000
" "+ headers/exhaust/tune (400's) -$1500
" "+ converter, heads, cam, tune, injectors, intake (500 range)-$2000

" " +supercharger (600 range) - $6000

Or go straight to exhaust, supercharger ?

Keep in mind, these are averages from what I have seen other guys spend on this stuff. It may be cheaper or more if you can/can't find a deal somewhere or have connections. Anyone else can feel free to jump in and let me know if my numbers are wrong. I remember I was pricing everything out and it was going to be around 12K to do everything I wanted.

I would pick a HP goal and budget and then go from there.

**07FJRog** · December 13th, 2011, 11:50

how much is a mefi ECU and harness for a LS/LQ motor??

**hayseed** · December 14th, 2011, 22:07

As I understand it Dephi quit making the MEFI system some months ago. If you want to run that system parts will be getting hard to find.
I have the MEFI in my Rock Crawler and have been happy with it up to now. I am swapping the engine in a sandrail to a 5.3 right now and called Painless Wireing to order the MEFI for it and was told that the MEFI is not going to be supported for much longer so I didn't order the system. I decided to use the original computer and modify the original wireing harness to suit my needs. The original ECM will need to be reprogramed but at least I should be able to get parts as needed.

Quite a few Tuning "experts" don't want to work with the MEFI since it uses a different platform for the tuning, they need to know how to program it and also have the specific cables and software to be able to properly tune the system. A truely proficient tunner shop SHOULD be able to work with it. My rock crawler has been sitting in the tuning shop for 3 weeks, the guy didn't have the cables or software, I had to give him my laptop and cables to tune it but he had to educate himself on how to program it. I'm really hoping he gets it right. At least I haven't been committed to any races in the last few weeks!

**07FJRog** · December 16th, 2011, 10:08

good to know about MEFI going away (gone already). thx

**Alper-Motorsports** · December 24th, 2011, 22:24

If you want to swap out all the brackets I have billet brackets that can be spaced out for a iron block I run the 6.0 also, I also Like the KRC pump, it should last twice as long as a Howe pump made by sweet, and the rebuild is only $20.00,