i have a 2005 silverado 1500 w/ 5.3 it is knocking loudly i have a friend who is willing to replace the bearings for me and he suggest i keep the truck another Friend is telling me that replacing the bearings requires more than just replacing the bearings and is a very costly process i have never done it myself and any input would be appreciated

can i just have new bearings put in and still have a reliable truck ?

 

No. It most likely will not last long. When the engine is knocking it bangs the rod out of round. The only way the fix it would be to pull the rods out send them to a machine shop and have them check and repaired for out of round. The crankshaft most likely would need to be ground or at least polished. Once it is that far apart it only makes sense to rebuild the entire engine.