Upgrade engine for 2000 Silverado

I have a 2000 Silverado 5.3 ltr that I use for towing a 30 ft Jayco Feather that weights around 6500 lbs. I do ok when pulling on flat highways and small hills but I would like to be able to pull through the mountains and fear that I would stress the engine or transmission too much. I only have 50,000 miles on the truck and it runs great and within the limits previously stated pulls great. I do not want to go the expense of a new truck but am thinking that I may be able to exchange out or modify the engine and or transmission to give me the torque/power that I need. I do not know the largest engine that I could exchange or what modifications to the engine/transmission that would be feasible. I would appreciate any suggestions anyone may have.

get close to the mountains then get a rental. probably cost less in the long run. I would imagine you have a transmission cooler on your truck

wait another year or two, run the motor out.. Replace it with the 4.5L Duramax/Tranny combo... thats the way to go

It sounds like you are definitely at the limit of what the truck is able to handle. I guess there are always the options of changing the 5.3 for a 6.0, and changing the transmission out. Then the rearend would be something to look at also. But, I believe what you really need is torque and not horsepower. I think that to do what you really want to do requires upgrading to a diesel 3/4 ton (or a big V8, like the 8.1), this way you have some wiggle room with the GVWR (especially the brakes) and the torque to pull those mountain passes.

I have a pop-up camper that I have taken thousands of miles and have really enjoyed. My wife wants to upgrade to a trailer similar to yours. I have told her that realistically we would need to get a stronger truck if we wanted to go anywhere that had mountains. We would be fine with our current setup of camper, but something that large loaded with all of the stuff we take along would put it well past what the truck is designed to do.

I think, all in all, you need a beefier truck to do what you want to do. There are probably some reputable engine guys that could squeeze more HP out of your engine, but again, it's the whole picture we are looking at.

I hope that helped a little.

Sincerely,

Matt

You might go to all of the trouble to replace the engine and then find out that these 1500 series trucks don't really have the brake capacity to stop something like you are pulling. A 1500HD with the 6.0 engine is better and would be about the minimum you should look for.

Reference you comment about adequate brakes to stop my TT with 1500 Silverado. Since I have electric brakes with controller, shouldn't solve the problem? Does anyone know largest engine I could put in the 2000 1500Silverado? I know a person who has a 1500 who bought his truck with an engine that normally goes in a 2500. It is probably clear by now that I am pretty committed not to get a different vehicle unless absolutely necessary. Thanks for your responses

I had a 2000 5.3 LS ext cab with K&N FIPK, SuperChips programmer, Borla Turbo muffler and replaced the front rotors with cross-drilled Brembos and used Hawk Performance pads. The truck ran great but the weak part even with the Brembos was still the brakes...they just aren't large enough. We pull a 3500lb horse trailer and with horses and tack it's up to +/-5600lb. We use the best controller we could find for the trailer brakes and that's a digital Prodigy P3. Pulling the trailer is never a problem but stopping is. Trailer brakes only do so much. I don't know what they did differently but I bought the same truck but made in 2005 and the brakes are much much better.

You could easily swap in a 6.0L but then your still stuck with the week links of a half-ton ie: brakes, rear end, tranny, frame, suspension, etc. Most guys that drop in 6.0L engines usually do it for the strip and not for towing.