2.7 EcoBoost for towing? Anybody have one and can comment?

[SouthPaw]

Excellent questions and I will do my best to answer them. I have researched this for a few years now so a I fairly versed on this topic. The LS series engine is known to hot-rodders all around as they are one tough engine and can hold gobs of power just as they are. You know that saying "well my friend has one?" Well a child hood friend of my builds these things all day. His personal truck held 800hp on a stock engine (stock from intake to oil pan with only supporting fuel mods and trans) that he beat daily before it let go over a previous condition (160K on the clock when he busted it). They also built a early 90's Ford Ranger they swapped with an LS that runs 10 seconds that really didn't cost them that much money. Just a swap, boost and fuel.

OK, so assuming arguendo (<---- fancy word that means "for the sake of argument" and I like to use fancy words like that because it makes me feel better about still having student loan payments at the age of 57) that I wanted to go this route, some follow up questions:

1. Where would I find a shop that would/could put a turbo or blower on a 15 year old truck with 186 grand on the clock?
There is plenty of kits online or you can have a shop custom build your own. I prefer to have the shop put one together for you or you can source the parts yourself. You will definitely get more bang for your buck by building your own vs a boxed kit. On3 is a company that makes a 'bolt on' twin turbo kit that. Their test vehicle was their shop truck (2000-ish GMC 2500HD 6.0L) that had over 200K on the clock before it saw any boost. It is still being used for parts deliveries etc and make over 600hp, closer to 700hp. Any performance shop knows these engines through and through. If you are serious, I can point you a few different directions for you to get quotes on.

2. What kind of warranty can I expect it to have?
Warranty is whatever you decide to do. If you have a shop put it on, I am sure there is some warranty on parts/labor but considering it is a performance mod, I wouldn't expect too much. Magnuson superchargers I believe offer some pretty decent warranty stuff but their kits run about $6500-$7000. They are the original "Magnuson Warranty Act."

3. How much "out the door" are we looking at, cost wise?
I have a 2003 Tahoe 5.3L that I bought with the intentions of putting a turbo on it (may happen one day if I ever get the extra coin). When I had my buddy quote a 'out the door, pick it up and drive away price' it was $5300+/- for a system that would support up to 800hp. If you wanted to shave some of that cost off, you could go with a smaller turbo, cheaper BOV/wastegate and knock off about $1000. That system would be good for around 500hp. These two prices included tuning and all supporting fuel mods needed but no transmission upgrade. 4L80's are a dime a dozen ($500-$1000), couple hundred for a shift kit, $600 for a circle D converter.

Oh, and one more thing: Given that I've blown up 2 transmissions already, what are the chances that the new 4L60 in my 'Burb is going to last attached to a turbo or supercharged engine?
Probably last a lifetime without being abused and driven under regular conditions if you don't have some crazy setup. If your Suburban is a 1500 series, you will want to remove the original 4L60 and replace with a 4L80 (out of the 2500+ series vehicles). With a good shift kit and torque convertor, the 4L80 has been known to hold 600hp with no issues. If/when I do mine, I will be driving with the 4L60 till it let's go. They generally only hold about 400hp before they are start losing gears and what not.

I thought about buying an older truck and swapping in a LS but then thought to myself; why give up all the updated features like AC, power steering, power windows, locks, etc when you could buy a tahoe, suburban, 1500 truck etc for about the same price and it has an LS already in it.