2006 Silverado body swap/frame(chassis) swap 4.3 2wd to 4.8 4wd

[NastyBuzzard]

So a couple of weeks ago I bought this 2006 ext cab short bed work truck w/ 4.3/auto with 246k miles. Engine is probably locked down.

So I figured I had three options.
1) Fix/Replace 4.3 and drive or more likely sell.
2) V8 swap and drive or most likely sell.
3) Swap it over to 4wd w/ V8 and more likely to keep than sell.

Luckily enough I came across a 2006 ext cab short bed 4x4 4.8/Auto with about 180k. Owner said it was parted out for a LS swap in his jeep and that it all ran fine. So I went and checked it out. Had him deliver it for me last night.

Total cost in both trucks so far is <$2k.

Here is the 06 2wd 4.3



Here is the 06 4x4 4.8. Also guy swore up and down it had 5.3 and I had to show him the vin and rpo codes said different. LR4. Oh well. Plenty for what I need it for. I can drive it around and seems to run perfectly fine. I cant check codes even though it has check engine light on, my obdii scanner wont work, I put a fuse in cig fuse place b/c it was missing and still wont work. Missing exhaust from muffler back.



Front end cranked up I imagine to clear these 35"s.

Parked next to the body donor.



Engine pics:





So anyways. Plan is to swap the body from the 06 2wd onto the 06 4wd chassis.

I don't have a lift so I am just trying to carefully plan how I am going to do it. Any thoughts? I really want to keep front clip and cab together.

Anything I will need to change?

Ill try to do a how to as I go along.

[NastyBuzzard]

No thoughts or advice? I cant be the first.

[clinebarger]

The MAF is on backwards. I don't see much trouble in what your doing, You may have to change the dash harness, Check for the 4wd switch connectors behind the "cubby hole" in the 2wd dash. Do both have manual A/C?

The lower steering shaft is different between the 2. (Rack vs Gear box).

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by clinebarger

The MAF is on backwards. I don't see much trouble in what your doing, You may have to change the dash harness, Check for the 4wd switch connectors behind the "cubby hole" in the 2wd dash. Do both have manual A/C?

The lower steering shaft is different between the 2. (Rack vs Gear box).

Yeah I fixed the MAF lol. I noticed that when the guy sent me pics, I also added the complete V8 air intake back on it.

Cubby hole? I will definitely have to check that out. Do I need the switch even if the 4x4 is manual instead of electric?

Both have manual AC and am/fm radio only. Both were work truck editions with manual windows and such.

Ahh!! I didn't think about steering shaft/gear box. Luckily my 4x4 donor has all that. Although the steering column is real loose up near the steering wheel like someone has jerked on it rather hard, do I need to use it from the 4x4 donor or will the one from the 2wd work with the 4x4 shaft? It would be easier to keep the key for the 2wd b/c it matches doors and such, I am just unsure if it will upset VATS.

[clinebarger]

I didn't think of it being manual 4wd, Check the floorboard for being different (besides the hole)

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by clinebarger

I didn't think of it being manual 4wd, Check the floorboard for being different (besides the hole)

Yeah I wasn't sure if the cabs were different between 4x4 and 4x2 minus hole in the floor for manual shifter. I know both have the hump. I will have to double check to be sure. I hope it isn't like a squarebody.

[NastyBuzzard]

So I bought some lift straps from harbor freight today. 20' long and supposedly can hold 4k lbs. Going to try and use them and a front end loader to lift cab later this week when rain is gone. Wish me luck!! Also cabs seem the same.

[1FastBrick]

Cabs are the same.

The main Difference is in the frame and 4x4 specific components.

Your ECU will not be set up for the 4x4 stuff so that will pose 1 small issue. Either use all the matching electronics from the donor chassis or have yours flashed to activate the 4x4 stuff.

You can use a floor jack and block up the cab and front sheet metal, then roll out the old chassis and swap in the new.

What ever you do Be very careful not to damage the cab/sheet metal.

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by 1FastBrick

Cabs are the same.

The main Difference is in the frame and 4x4 specific components.

Your ECU will not be set up for the 4x4 stuff so that will pose 1 small issue. Either use all the matching electronics from the donor chassis or have yours flashed to activate the 4x4 stuff.

You can use a floor jack and block up the cab and front sheet metal, then roll out the old chassis and swap in the new.

What ever you do Be very careful not to damage the cab/sheet metal.

My plan is to swap over everything specific from the 06 v8 4x4 that has to deal with VATs, such as pcm/ecu and body control module, I am wondering about ignition switch though. The steering column in the 06 4x4 is really loose or broken and the 06 2wd one is perfect.

I have tried to think of a way to block it up and roll out chassis but I can't, every way I look at it, it looks like I would have to remove rear wheels or the rearend completely.

I have noticed cabs are the same but I will have to cut a hole in floor pan for the manual 4x4 shifter I think.

[NastyBuzzard]

This was a lot of fun!





Cut hole for manual tcase shifter.









TADA!! 2006 4.3 2wd to 2006 4.8 4wd chassis/body swap





Trying to figure out what lift is on it or if torsion bars are cranked to ridiculous max.

Front fender height. Minus about 1/2" because not set all the way down. The rear measure 39 1/2" on 32" bald tires and the front is sitting on 35" bald tires.



Still gotta hook everything back up. See what wiring combo it will take to start it

[old yelr]

Great job! I'm jealous of the rust free trucks you have down there; the rockers and cab corners on my 2001 are basically non existent.

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by old yelr

Great job! I'm jealous of the rust free trucks you have down there; the rockers and cab corners on my 2001 are basically non existent.

Thanks!!

That sucks! I have an entire 01 ecsb cab minus doors I robbed for my ls swap but all metal is there. That plus the 06 cab that was already cut up. Idk what to do with them, I want to pull glass from both and cut firewall and floor pan out of at least one before I send them off for scrap.

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by NastyBuzzard

So recently I did a body/chassis swap on a 2006 4.3 ecsb 2wd silverado bare bones work truck, I put the body onto another 2006 4.8 4x4 ecsb chassis which was a work truck but did have cruise and a couple other little options.

For security/VATS. I took the body control module from the 2006 4.8 dash harness and plugged it into the 4.3 dash harness as well as took the key switch from the 2006 4.8 steering column and put it into the 2006 4.3 steering column.

Cranks over but will not start, security light keeps flashing. Is there such a thing as a VATS module? What does it look like? What am I missing?

Also What is this?



Also I have one plug from the chassis harness that I cant find the other end coming from cab harness. Even the 2006 4.3 chassis had the plug end but can't find it anywhere. Look familiar?

Can anyone help with this? I posted a new thread but no help thus far.

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by NastyBuzzard

So recently I did a body/chassis swap on a 2006 4.3 ecsb 2wd silverado bare bones work truck, I put the body onto another 2006 4.8 4x4 ecsb chassis which was a work truck but did have cruise and a couple other little options.

For security/VATS. I took the body control module from the 2006 4.8 dash harness and plugged it into the 4.3 dash harness as well as took the key switch from the 2006 4.8 steering column and put it into the 2006 4.3 steering column.

Cranks over but will not start, security light keeps flashing. Is there such a thing as a VATS module? What does it look like? What am I missing?

Also What is this?



Also I have one plug from the chassis harness that I cant find the other end coming from cab harness. Even the 2006 4.3 chassis had the plug end but can't find it anywhere. Look familiar?

I have a thread in the 99-06 board but havn't gotten any help yet.

[ls1nova71]

You have to have the BCM from the same truck the PCM and ignition switch came from. They are programmed to work together. I dont think they can be reprogrammed.

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

You have to have the BCM from the same truck the PCM and ignition switch came from. They are programmed to work together. I dont think they can be reprogrammed.

Yeah that is what I did. I took the body control module and the ignition/key switch (the part that just slides out when you press the pin in) from the 06 4.8 4x4 cab harness and put that in the 06 4.3 2wd cab harness.

I tried the reset procedure thing for passlock but it didn't work.

[truckdude239]

your threads have been merged


XIV. Multiple Posting - It is simply not acceptable to post your question more than once, or to post it in more than one forum. Choose the forum that your question or post best fits in, and place it there and only there. If, after posting, you feel it should be in another forum, private message the forum Moderator and ask if they would move it for you.

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by truckdude239

your threads have been merged


XIV. Multiple Posting - It is simply not acceptable to post your question more than once, or to post it in more than one forum. Choose the forum that your question or post best fits in, and place it there and only there. If, after posting, you feel it should be in another forum, private message the forum Moderator and ask if they would move it for you.

I just wasn't sure it was best asked. I just figured the LSX swappers knew more about VATS/Passlock. Just trying to find help, I apologize.

[NastyBuzzard]

I did the key relearn correctly and it worked! Fired up! Only had one code at first. P0030 then a minute later it got P0053 then it started misfiring and got a P0300 code. No clue, it was running smooth as silk before I swapped body.

[ls1nova71]

Did you forget to plug in an o2 sensor?

[NastyBuzzard]

I actually didn't unplug anything except the cab harness from the fuse panel. The only thing I could find that wasn't pluged up was that one thing in the pic posted above. The blue wire with the round end. Still trying to figure that out.

I will have to investigate further to see if I accidently knocked anything loose when I lowered the body onto the frame or if I pinched anything.

It really is running kinda crappy now. I did find that the evap vent solenoid got broke right at the top of it, but it hasn't even thrown a code for that.

[truckdude239]

V6 vs v8 sensors are different part numbers i beleive. Have you repalced the broke evap part? Vacumm leak will cause miss fires

[NastyBuzzard]

Originally Posted by truckdude239

V6 vs v8 sensors are different part numbers i beleive. Have you repalced the broke evap part? Vacumm leak will cause miss fires

Really? I searched replacement 02s for both 06 V6 and 06 V8 and came up same #.

I did replace it with a spare I had and misfire is gone.

[NastyBuzzard]

Hey guys. I have a 2001 Z71 donor that I used for my ls swap. It has 3.73 front end and (3.73 posi) rear end under it. (Rear disc.) I want to take that out and swap it in to get rid of my current 3.42 setup. Thoughts? Any links to threads of swapping them out? I have swapped quite a few rearends but for this I will need to go from disc to drum conversion and I have never swapped a IFS front end by myself. Thoughts? 3.42s are killing this truck even with stock size 265/70/17 tires, and I want to go up to more of a 33" tall tire, maybe an all terrain.

This truck will be used to tow and work out of. It won't see any mud playing unless it happens accidently.

Also considering doing vette servo, having trans flushed and filter changed and maybe putting in a transgo HD2 shift kit.

How it sits now.. I need a air deflector for it bad and fender flares.



My 3 LS trucks.









They all need baths and more work.

I also plan, if I get to do the swap, to take the rearend (3.42 posi) from the 06 now 4x4 and swap it into my crew cab with just has 3.42 peg leg now and rear drum conversion, those rear disc are useless.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Great job on the swap!

I can't help with the axle swaps, but just want to add something to think about/research.

You may have to replace the MC/Prop valve (do they even have one?) and/or ABS control module for the brakes to work correctly when swapping from rear drum to disc and vice versa. I've owned a 00 Z71 for the past 10 years and I've never paid attention to how the brakes work so I'm not even 100% sure on all the modern components. Maybe you don't have to do anything? Also, in my opinion the rear disc brakes are nothing to rave about. I do like the 3.73 rear gear I have though, so I think it would be worth the swap for the gearing.