Like the title says, what are the differences between the 01-02 and 03-06 DBW setups for the Gen III truck motors? Haven't had any luck with the forum search or good ol' Google so I'm hoping someone here can help me out...

I have a DBC 5.3 that I’m going to be swapping in to a K5 Blazer and was thinking about converting it to DBW since I’ll be doing a cam swap along with a set of milled 243 heads and a TBSS intake. The intake I picked up came with the DBW throttle body and I can get a new harness made for either setup for a little more than buying a NW TB by itself. The only issue I’m seeing is adapting the newer Gen IV 6 pin TB to the older Gen III 8 pin TB. I know Speartech sells an adapter harness for only $60 but they only list the 01-02 trucks as being compatible and I’ve also seen the X-Link that goes for $235 but they only list the 03-06 trucks as being compatible. I’ve also talked to BP Automotive who will most likely be making my harness and they said they can build in an adapter but only for the 01-02 setups with the all plastic TAC module which leads to my question, what are the differences between the two? Is one better for some reason or just easier to wire and program? I’ve tried looking up the pinouts and wiring diagrams and it looks like they’re the same for all the 01-06 trucks so I’m guessing there’s something different in the TAC module itself?

I already picked up a pedal, harness, and TAC module from each version since the pull-a-part yard didn’t know what they had and sold them to me for $10/setup. One is from an 01 Suburban with the all plastic TAC module and the other is from an 03 Tahoe with the metal and plastic TAC module. Just wondering which would be the better choice so I can sell the other and put that money back in the build budget. What do you guys think?

 

I've got both setups, an 02 in my vette, 05 in my olds.
Not sure why they changed them. And I don't see any issues with either.
I'm not sure which will work with the TBSS TB. What year is that?. You're ALWAYS better off using a pedal, TAC, TB, harness and ecu from the same vehicle.
One consideration is that the 01-02 work with the 411 ECU which is widely supported.

 

Are you running the original TB with your setups? I know they both work great when using the original throttle body and computer that came with the engine like you said so I'm kinda throwing a curve ball by adding the different TB.

My TBSS intake is from an 06-08 which is a Gen IV with a different connector but lots of guys have done the same intake swap on their trucks over at performancetrucks.com since they flow like an LS6 but have longer runners to keep bottom end torque and mine came with the bigger TB and better flowing injectors as well. Usually all it takes is one of the adapter harnesses I mentored above I just haven't been able to figure out why the different harnesses only work with certain years especially when one costs 4x the other lol.

Good call mentioning the 01-02 version working with the 0411 PCM since I have one from an 02 truck that I plan on using. I though the PCM could control either once tuned for it but if not that'd make a difference when choosing one.

 

You can try the Gen IV TB. But keep in mind, unless you're upgrading the smaller 5.3, the TBSS 6.0 manifold may not make much difference.
If you can get the TBSS TB to work, you could always use a 3 to 4 bolt TB adapter and a Gen III DBW TB.

 

If your using an ls2 or ls3 throttle body you need to use the plastic tac module.

 

Believe that is the manifold all the 4.8-6.0l trucks got 2008+ and a GM engineer told me it alone was worth 6hp on a stock 5.3l, though there have been some reports of minor low speed torque loss.

 

The 5.3 will be getting a new custom spec'd cam shaft and some milled 243's to go along with the intake and throttle body. Those details were also in the OP lol. I don't really want to put the smaller TB on the newer intake but thanks for the suggestion.

I actually have one of each since I got them both with pedals and harnesses for only $20. I was really just trying to figure out if one was better and which one will work with the 87mm truck TB that came with my intake. I've heard the car TB's (or at least the silver blade style) will work with the plastic TAC with the cheaper Casper's Electronic adapter harness or even by just wiring the newer style plug in place of the older style. The only way to get the gold blade car and truck TB's to work that I've been able to find is with an x-link. I asked this same question over at performancetrucks.net and got a lot of good info from the guys over there. Here's a link to that thread in case anyone is curious: http://www.performancetrucks.net/for...rences-537063/

I had seen a couple of people claim they lost some low end when swapping to the newer style intake but it looks like all of those guys were running the stock 706/862 heads with the smaller valves and/or the stock cam. Neither of which will compliment the added flow of the newer intake and could explain the loss. On the other hand, everyone who had swapped to the better 799/243 heads or had a 6.0 with 317's all had really good improvements. I'm still a long ways out from being able to try it out for myself (long slow build) but I'm pretty confident it'll be a worthwhile mod.

 

96caprice is correct on all counts the intake is the same . While the TBSS got it first in 2006 , then NNBS trucks 2007 . Its confusing for some , 2007 had the classic style and new style , only the new received it. If you have a 2007 NNBS when you go to a parts store its easier to just tell them its a 2008 , because invariably they will give you old classic parts every time.

 

That is why I said 2008 easier than specifying half year.
Far as the potential torque loss it was just mentioned FYI, when modding it pays to have a lot of info to sort through. With 243s a compression bump, cam stall gears etc it might not apply or even if it did stall and gears could mask it and let the HP gain shine......

 

Yes I have read a report of the torque loss too. But just though it was a isolated incident . Did the GM engineer say anything about this when you spoke with him ?

 

No we didn't get into it that much.

 

Yes and no. The TBSS was the first to get the newer intake design but there were some changes made with the later versions and the ones put on the NNBS trucks got. Pretty sure they both flow the same but they have some minor differences like the location of some of the ports like the PCV.

I've only seen one or two people say they lost power switching to the newer intake but again from what I remember they had the smaller 5.3's and were running the older heads. Remember the Gen IV 5.3's make around 30-40+ hp/tq than the older 5.3's because of the newer intake design, better flowing 799/243 heads, and a half tick of compression. If you put the same intake, 799/243 heads (milled to make up compression), and a newer camshaft that's spec'd to work with them then I really don't see how you would lose any power.

 

Well that's interesting , can you tell us when this later version change happened and the part # . I would also like to know what size the TBSS tb is , the trucks were 87 mm.

 

I want to say it was just the first couple of years 06-07? That was one of the things that came up when I was researching the intake swap but basically there weren't any big differences to make one better than the other so there wasn't a lot of info comparing the two. If you're curious I would check out performancetrucks.net (one of ls1tech's sister sites) since there are a ton of guys using them over there.

As far as the TB size goes, the TBSS uses the same 87mm TB as the trucks. A few guys on one of the TBSS forums had tried swapping to the 90mm car TB and actually lost some on the dyno and in the ET's.

 

I know of only one part # that covers all the below , and the interchange is the same . If you have a different part # for the early version let me know like to . I have to correct myself , these first appeared in 2005 . just forgot this list says 2004 but don't believe that is correct. 2004 should have been LM4 Gen III.

Yes they are. So to be clear, the manifold that is on the TBSS is also on the following vehicles:

4.8L
2007–present Chevrolet Silverado 1500
2007–present Chevrolet Tahoe
2007–present GMC Sierra 1500
2007–present GMC Yukon

5.3L
2004–2009 Chevrolet TrailBlazer including EXT (through 2006)
2005–2009 GMC Envoy Denali
2005–2006 GMC Envoy XL
2005 GMC Envoy XUV
2005–2007 Buick Rainier
2005–2009 Saab 9-7X
2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
2007 GMC Sierra 1500
2007–present Chevrolet Avalanche
2007–present Chevrolet Silverado 1500
2007–present Chevrolet Suburban 1/2 ton
2007–present Chevrolet Tahoe
2007–present GMC Sierra 1500
2007–present GMC Yukon
2007–present GMC Yukon XL 1/2 ton
2008–present Hummer H3 Alpha
2009–present Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon

and of course 2006- 2009 TBSS