Good to hear. Not ready for a diesel but would like more from a gas motor.

 

Dave, what year 5.4L did you have that was so crappy?

My 2010 pulls my 7500 lb TT like a champ. Maybe you got a lemon.

I notice only a handful of people bashing the 5.4 on this site, but there are actually more posts positive than negative. Same people bashing and many different people happy. That should tell you something, but you are speaking from experience (with your lemon).

Glad you are happy with the 6.2 and thanks for supporting Ford with your purchase to keep our jobs right here where they belong.

 

i must agree my 5.4 tows very well. and i tow my 6500# tractor with a 1800# trailer quite a bit and i couldnt be happier. I know with a 6.8 or what not it could be better but i am very suprized with what the 5.4 can do if driven right. MPG could be alot better though

 

Just from my experience, my F250 tows great. I see your previous TV was an 07 F150 with the 3.73's. Other factors such as the brakes, gearing, frame, and transmission play a role. I've actually towed the above mentioned travel trailer with an older Expedition which also has the 5.4L Triton V8 and that was a completely different story. I had trouble getting it to 50MPH without redlining it on the highway. I think our expedition and your F150 would be pretty similar in tow vehicle comparison's (both 1/2 ton, same engine, same gearing etc..) The 5.4L is similar in both trucks but it is not identical so I don't think its fair to completely bash the engine in the super duty's based on your experience with your F150. The difference towing my trailer loaded (using exact same WDH hitch) is night and day between the F250 and the Expedition.

Also it should be noted I have never towed with the 3.73 gearing on the F250. When I bought my truck the dealer said If I do any towing get the 4.10's so thats what I did and I don't regret it. Every post I've come across concerning tow performance with the V8 has had the OP with 3.73 gearing. Apparently it makes quite the difference!

BTW I like your truck. I wish they had that bronze color when I bought mine


Sounds like your tow trailer weighs in about like mine. I agree, it tows great (for a gas engine).

Sounds good!

Here's a few pics of my truck and trailer stopping somewhere in the mountains between Girdwood and Kenai on the AK-1.

 

I had the same deal going on with my 05. I got a SCT from Mike at 5Star and he set me up with a performance/tow program I run all the time, also did an intake mod that helps alot in my mid range. Then took my cats off and put pipe in place the were getting clogged and killing power. Now its running like a champ and pulling better than any othewr 5.4 I have ever had. I can also stay with my dads 05 6.0 up till 70 mph and he has a superchip with turbo back MBRP. I love my truck now and can pull away from most other car and trucks on the rode. But the down side now is I dont think I am gonna keep the tires on it very long lol

 

Kind of curious about this SCT programmer and tuning. Any approximate costs? and do you really feel better gains? Is this stuff bad for the truck long term? Basically the who, what, where, when, why, & how

 

Tell me more. I have an 05 350 5.4 and i want to pull the cats off as well. Its throwing the clogged cat code and dealer wants some serious cash to replace them. How do i get rid of the CEL? Also, where did you get the cat delete pipe? How much did the programmer and such cost?

 

I can't really remember the cost of my SCT programmer, and I bought it in Canadian dollars, so the price wouldn't help much anyway

On 87octane gas, I believe they claim around 30hp and 40ftlbs? I could be wrong, as my memory isn't too good with numbers

The biggest difference is in the drive by wire system. The truck resonds better to input and the shift points are better.

I got an 87economy, 87 HP/Towing, and a 93 HP/Towing. I experimented with the economy tune, but I found that the mileage increase was only around 1mpg and the truck drove pretty much like stock. The 87HP/Tow tune gives me similar mileage to stock, but the truck drives and pulls considerbly better, I use this tune pretty steady. The 93 tune made a notable difference in power and had similar mileage to the 87HP tune, I experimented with it alot, but now I can not get 93octane gas in Northern BC.

I do put the truck back to stock durring the winter months because it makes it alot easier to get tires to hook up when accelerating At some point, I will probably talk to Mike at 5Star about a 91 octane tune and maybe something specifically for winter driving

 

An '07 F150. Fair comparison to a 5.4 in a 250? Not sure. All I can say is I was told with a towing capacity of 9700# it would handle my trailer with ease. It didn't.

You are not the first person to say that, and for all I know maybe it's true. I guess I'd have to drive another F150 set up the same way to tell.

Agreed. I seem to be in the minority, and am glad most people are happy with their 5.4's.

I wouldn't have it any other way. As bad as my experience with the 5.4 was, it was still better than driving a Chevy, Dodge or GMC.

Interesting. I wouldn't think it would make that much difference unless it's tuned differently for the 3/4 tons.

That seems to be the consensus.

Thanks.

 

HP and TQ numbers don't lie, but the expectations and perceptions of people are all over the map. The fact is, with 300 HP and 365 TQ, you have more power available to you than any stock big block from a decade ago. The fact also is, that you have less power than the motors available in half ton segment trucks from the competition, and your truck weighs a lot more.

Those who say the 5.4 is adequate are telling you the truth.

Those who say it tows heavy with ease are embellishing the truth, or have modest expectations, or maybe just inexperienced.

There is nothing wrong with your truck. It is performing as designed, but a bit less than you would like. Only you can decide whether you can live with it.

Regearing first, and tuning second, may improve your performance a little.

 

I have heard alot about the SCT X3 Tuner and Mike@ 5Star

Can anyone forward me the URL or web address for Mike@5Star

Starwarrior

 

As requested:
Got a 5.4L V8 Ford F150-F250-F350-E Series Van?

 

I have towed similarly equipped trailers as my TT (~6500# and 7500# trailers) on an 08 PSD and an 07 Cummins 2500 so I am well aware of the difference in pulling power (especially on steep inclines) a diesel offers over a gasoline engine. I've also tried pulling a ~9200 lb trailer with a Ram 1500 (gasoline V8) and know exactly what an underpowered tow vehicle is. My trailer load is only about 7500-8000 lbs when fully loaded. This is several thousand pounds below the rated spec of my particular configuration so I would be worried if it wouldn't tow it with ease. I'm sure if I hooked up a big fifth wheel in the 10-11k lb range, it wouldn't pull nearly as easy, but with a medium sized load, the 5.4L is MORE than adequate.


5Startuning.com They will give you a specific custom tune for your truck taking into consideration your exact engine, transmission, gear ratio, tire size, etc... Cost will depend on the number of tunes and the type of programmer you get. I bought an SCT X3 with 3 custom tunes last year, IIRC the cost was around 325 with a group buy (through this forum). The thing that can be bad on your truck is running a high-octane program while still filling your truck with low-octane gas. I did this on my Ram 1500 and let's just say, the results were not good. If you don't want to go the custom route, you can get a generic Superchips type tuner but it will be completely generic for your vehicle with no custom parameters defined.

I don't know how accurate those estimated HP/TQ gain numbers are but you should see a difference. Just don't expect super-charger type performance from this simple add-on alone tho.

 

Thank you kindly

 

The sct from Mike was right at 400 shipped. Tell him to put the rear cat delete on the tuner. Program the truck, cut the cats off ran me 100, then clear the codes. Ford wanted 1800 to fix mine back to stock but I did it for 500 and its a whole different truck now.