04 z71 Motor bad - rebuild 5.3? add cam or 6.0?

[Fast LT1]

My 2004 Z71 Tahoe motor finally is biting the dust, loosing a main bearing and oil pressure is erratic. So i need to either pull it out and overhaul it and add a cam or buy a 6.0l and swap them. Not sure what all my options are here, vehicle is mostly used for over landing and 4 wheeling and isn't my daily driver, but would like to retain readability.

current mods
295/65r18 (33.4") Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs
Traxda keys up front w/ 2" spacers in rear
Opened up the intake runners and exhaust ports myself when i replaced the heads
volant cold air intake
Shorty Headers from summit - cant remember brand
will do e fans and black bear tune either way i go

So what are your thoughts? Cam the 5.3l or buy a 6.0l

 

[swathdiver]

Cost wise, it may be less expensive to acquire a used LQ4/LQ9 and drop it in. But you don't always know what you're getting so rebuilding the 5.3 or the 6.0 and selling off the 5.3 to offset costs would give you the reliability you're after. You'd get some more torque and horsepower too, more with the 6.0s.

I like to work with what was there originally and rebuilding the 5.3 would be my first choice. At the very least put in a L33 camshaft, don't go too big or you'll be moving your torque band way high. You could always bore it .060" over and stroke it too!

A fun build for me would be to turn my 5.3 into a 6.6 with 4" wet sleeves and a 4" crank.

 

[Walkercraig01]

how many miles does your 5.3 have

 

[Fast LT1]

5.3 has 180k on it. 6.0l would have similar mileage but i would also go through it and re bearing it and re ring it.

 

[cmc76]

I have been toying with this too.
189k on mine. Does run well. But one day it wont

 

[MikeW]

Had 300K on my 5.3 and was leaking oil like a sieve to a quart a week. Nothing could be done to fix leak. Found a 6.0 on CL with allegedly 100K miles for $1000. Brother is the mechanic. Essentially rebuilt entire motor, new heads etc. and dropped it in. Pulled off everything from 5.3 and put on the 6.0. Its like a new engine that PURRS! I absolutely love it! Now I just need to redo the interior and a paint job!