lq4/lq9 selection
 

Looking for opinions from maybe others who have gone this route..

If I was looking for an iron 6L for a swap that I didnt want to tear apart or do anything internal other than a cam swap, but wanted to make a decent amount of power (400+) what would you say would be more important. Miles or price or the rod/piston size

I can get a high miles (130k+ miles) lq4 for pretty cheap

or an lq9 with 80k miles for twice as much...it does have beefier rods and higher comp pistons (i guess that pistons dont matter since I could mill heads)

or, I also found an lq4 with like only 20k miles for the same price as the 80k mile lq9

Oh, and the one last twist in all of this is, the 80k mile lq9 is local, so I would probably save a few hundred dollars in gas and/or shipping by going that route.

I was leaning towards the lq9 simply because it has an alright amount of miles, beefier rods, pistons that wouldnt require much head milling, and if you factor in the fact its local, is similar in price to even the high miles lq4.

However the 20k miles lq4 is super tempting cause its only just broken in, lots of life left in it.

Input is appreciated!!

I would go lower milage personally but I would probably crack into it and do a bit. :D I just recently picked up a 16k LQ9 for my truck for $1500, there's good deals out there, keep an eye out for the "right" one.

" was leaning towards the lq9 simply because it has an alright amount of miles, beefier rods, pistons that wouldnt require much head milling, and if you factor in the fact its local, is similar in price to even the high miles lq4"

This is not correct. They use the same parts except the pistons. The LQ4 is 9.4:1 and the LQ9 is 10:1. The LQ4 has a 6.7cc dish and the LQ9 uses flattops. The rods, crank, heads, cam etc are all the same. Get the LQ4. You could just put some thinner headgaskets on if you don't want to mill the heads. The LQ4 is more common since is was in a lotof 3/4 ton trucks.

Is there any way of telling without seeing the truck it came from, if it was an SS or not..

I see a pretty good deal right now that I wanna jump on 2004 Silverado 3500 with 13k miles.

How would I know if that was an SS or not?

Hmmm, Ive always read that the lq9's have bigger rods...

The SS model is only in a 1/2 ton (1500 series) truck. The 3500 series is a one ton.

All LS based engines from 2002-2009, except the new LS9, use the same connecting rod.
PN 12617570

Good to know, guess Ill jump on that low miles lq4 then!

You also forgot the LS7. :chug: