- Why would you even want an LS swap anyway,
it's not even that cool.
When it comes to engine swaps, there are definitely a few
different options out there, right?
Well, some of them are a little bit easier than others,
you know, to drop between the frame rails there.
There there's one solid plug that always seems
to have your back.
It's like the Bob Ross of engine swaps that just paints
little happy pictures of horsepower and torque and overall
performance, right?
And breathes fresh air, a fuel injection,
into your otherwise dated truck build.
But what exactly makes this engine swap so great?
And more importantly, why on earth would you
want one in 2022?
I'm Dustin with custom offsets, DUSTI.CO on Instagram,
if you fancy, and today's video is all about the wave of
engine swaps that's been taking the market by storm
over the last few decades.
We're talking about you wanting to LS swap your truck.
Move over, car guys, there's a new cowboy in town,
and by new cowboy, I mean old cowboy, actually.
That's right, if you're not familiar with it,
swamping engines into pickups is not a new trend
by any means.
Since the 1970s, car and truck guys all over have been
yanking engines out of one truck and then dropping them
into another, all in an effort to get more horsepower
and overall just have more rowdy fun.
More burnouts, more racing, more awesome.
While I never lived it, I recall a story from
an older gentleman that I used to work with
who would tell tales of him and his buddies tearing up
the town on a Friday night in their C10,
inevitably grenading the engine and likely
windowing the block, dragging the truck home with
one of their other buddies trucks,
and then having the engine out of the truck
before the coolant was at room temperature.
It really was that simple.
It was like four wires, 12 bolts, drain the coolant,
out she goes.
Sext morning, they'd run to the junk yard and grab
a new engine out of whatever was crashed that week,
and then bam, you're off to the races,
both literally and figuratively, actually.
While swapping engines has been a somewhat common occurrence
for a number of years, it wasn't until the late 90s
that this really took off,
especially in trucks that maybe necessarily
didn't come with a GM engine in them from the factory.
Introduced in 1997, in a time where lava lamps were still
the coolest fricking thing you could get your hands on,
just, you know, don't actually touch them because they were
definitely incredibly warm and...
(sizzling)
General motors would forever change what it means to do
an engine swap.
Debuting with the all-new new C5 Corvette,
Chevy would announce their new engine platform,
the LS1.
Now this iron block, push rodded, V8 beauty would make
345 horsepower, 350 pound feet of torque and remain
relatively untouched through 2002 when it would be replaced
by another LS engine.
Fun fact for you here, in a time when dual overhead cams
dominated the market, GM opted to go with an old push rod
style engine, which caused a ton of controversy.
However, they did it for one specific reason,
and that's that it's simply reliable.
It's easy, swapping a cam in an LS, easy, push rods, easy,
and that's why they did it.
While there were several changes to the LS engine,
the important thing to know here is that as soon as the LS
engine started popping up at salvage yards
and on Craigslist ads, because back then people still used
Craigslist and not Facebook marketplace,
people began to scoop them up.
The main advantage to an LS swap is that it's pretty
easily accessible.
After all, these engines were made over two decades
in a ton of different models.
Seriously, every GM truck or car produced in the 90s,
the early 2000s, even the 2010s had an LS
of some sort in them.
Plus, they're all interchangeable, so you can take
a flywheel off an LS1, bolt it to this transmission
that came off an LS6, they're just all plug and play.
Now on top of that, one of the coolest things about
these engines is that, you know, if you need parts for them,
like an intake gasket, or a head gasket or something,
even a water pump, right?
Not only is it like four bolts and they come right out,
but you can go down to your local O'Reilly's and find
the parts for like 16.95, and they're on the shelf.
There's not another engine out there that can do
what this engine does.
Because of all of this, and like we said,
that they were produced over a few decades
in different vehicles, the choices are plentiful
if you're looking to pick up a little horsepower
in your build.
This, coupled with the fact that there are several
companies out there that make bolt-on kits for swapping
an LS engine into literally anything you can think of,
any project truck, there's kits for all of that,
which makes it super easy when it comes to engine swaps.
We're talking cheap, we're talking dependable,
we're talking easy power and it's an easy swap to boot.
Count me in.
Jared actually did this LS swap on his Bronco.
After driving it back from California and, you know,
learning that it had a blown engine, 'cause,
well, it's just the way it goes,
he did what any sensible man would do and swapped
a big old Cam LS into it, so now it sounds like
it's chopping wood at every intersection.
- [Commentator] Just flying out of those blocks.
- So let's say an LS swap is in your future
for your truck, right?
On top of all the swap parts like brackets and wire
harnesses and the likes, what other parts are you going
to need when it comes to building your truck?
You're gonna wanna put that power to the ground somehow,
which means that you're likely going to want
a new set of wheels and tires, and I'm not sure if you guys
knew this or not, but we kinda know that market.
Well, the choices here are pretty vehicle specific, right?
Depending on what you're LS swapping into.
What I can say for sure is that if you're building
a street machine, there's nothing like a nice,
modest leveling kit with a set of street tires.
And we couldn't talk about street tires without mentioning
the one and only, Nitto 420V.
This is like the holy grail of street tires.
The 420V builds off the success of its predecessor,
the 420S, and really kicks it up a notch when it comes to
what you can expect from a street tire.
These bad boys are gonna feature an asymmetrical or,
you know, not perfectly balanced tread design
from the left side to the right side,
and while this helps in a few areas,
the biggest is that it allows the tire to have
the largest shoulder lugs possible,
giving you the grip when you need it.
You know, just in case you're like doing four wheel drive,
boosted launches or something,
not that we did any of those recently.
Additionally, these tires have a massive center tread
siping, which is gonna help push water away,
keeping you planted in the rain.
If that's not enough, this tire's gonna come in larger,
light truck sizes for those of you who are looking to
put them on, you know, your diesel trucks, for example,
like my Duramax.
But don't just take my word for it.
My man DurtyMaxJack literally swears by the 420V
and he puts them on almost every build he does.
It seems every other week he's calling me up and be like,
"Hey, need some more four 420Vs" "Gotcha"
When I asked him about how he liked them,
he simply told me the that for a street tire,
they cannot be beat.
Now the best part is the 420V is also in stock
at customoffsets.com.
We have them, they're ready to ship to you.
Just check the link down below, if you know what I'm saying.
Just do a little tap, just take you there,
you can pick up a set, it looks super good.
And of course, what's a new set of tires without
a new set of wheels to put them on?
Well, again, this really does depend on the build.
You really can't go wrong with a good old set of TIS 544's.
Now, not only is the 544 gonna look good
on pretty much every single build,
from regular cab, first gen Cummins, to brand new F150s,
to super duties, to cat eyes to everything, right?
They just look good on everything.
It's also gonna come in pretty much every size
you could want.
We're talking 16, 17, 18, 20, 22's, 24's,
and even 26 by 14's, so regardless of what you're slapping
an LS engine into, TIS has a wheel that has you covered.
And better yet, if you want to save some time, and you know,
don't want to run the risk of the local tire shop scratching
your brand new TIS wheels, then no sweat, we got you.
If you pick up a set of wheels and tires
from customoffsets.com, we'll mount them,
we'll balance them up and then we'll ship them to your door
in as little as seven to 10 days with quick delivery,
as long as you pick something in stock.
It's that quick.
Regardless if you're building a street truck,
a drift truck, restoring a classic or even building
a wicked one of one Bronco like Jared did,
you cannot deny that when it comes to reliable engine swaps
with ton of aftermarket support,
there's none that stand toe to toe with the general motors
LS platform.
These engines have proven over and over and over
and over and over again to be a solid option for pretty much
every project you can think of, and will continue to do so
for some time.
Have you guys ever swapped in LS into a truck build?
Sound off in the comments down below, and as always,
be sure to like the video and check us out
at customoffsets.com if you need to set a wheels and tires
for your build.
I'm Dustin with custom offsets,
we'll see you guys on the next one.
(relaxing hip hop beat)