6.0L to 8.1L swap advice

I have a 6.0L and 8.1L suburban 2500 both completely intact.

Here are the specs: 2001 Chevy Suburban 2500HD 4x4 174,000 miles (6.0L)
2003 Chevy Suburban 2500HD 2WD 164,000 miles (8.1L)

To be honest I don't need both, and want to sell one. However, I like the 4WD capability and the body style of the 6.0L as opposed to the 8.1L and want to swap motors and sell the 2003 Suburban w/ the 6.0L.


Is it just plug and play? I'd be willing to do a walkthrough and document my progress if I could get some pointers beforehand. I'd guess that everything Motor, ECU, and Trans can be pulled out and swapped as-is. I'm confused about the 4x4 components..will that bolt up with no problem?

I'd appreciate any advice or moral support as I'd be willing to be the case study for any of you guys thinking about doing this in the future.

The ECM's are different. The 6.0 and 8.1 need to be swapped but the BCM 's are coded for difenet VIN's. This is not my expertise.... BTW

You should ask mODS to move this to proper forum.... better info there.

Miami-Dade is a moderator.....all around good person too....

OP I would keep the engines in resprective vehicles. If you want more power with the 6.0 its easier to mod that engine.

avalonandl said:

OP I would keep the engines in resprective vehicles. If you want more power with the 6.0 its easier to mod that engine.

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Tbh I don't want to spend a lot of money on mods. I'd rather have a turnkey engine...plus I'm not looking for tons of power. The only thing I would need at this point is an engine hoist and some time to swap.

However if I were to mod, what would you recommend that would match 496 performance?

MartyMcFLy said:

Tbh I don't want to spend a lot of money on mods. I'd rather have a turnkey engine...plus I'm not looking for tons of power. The only thing I would need at this point is an engine hoist and some time to swap.

However if I were to mod, what would you recommend that would match 496 performance?

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Texas Speed cam and/or a Magneson supercharger is my two cents. If you're only doing one of those, I'd personally do the cam. I'm very very pleased with mine but I'm on a gen 4 engine

R3cord303 said:

Texas Speed cam and/or a Magneson supercharger is my two cents. If you're only doing one of those, I'd personally do the cam. I'm very very pleased with mine but I'm on a gen 4 engine

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Gotcha. How much power are you making with the cam upgrade?

MartyMcFLy said:

Gotcha. How much power are you making with the cam upgrade?

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I went with the stage two low lift cam, which is about as big as you want to go without a higher stall converter, which is about 50 hp more at the crank on an otherwise stock motor. I don’t know off the top of my head if they make those cams for a gen 3 motor. I will look later today if you’d like.