Im looking at a 03 s/crew with the 5.4 with 80k miles and find myself debating wether or not to spend more money and go with an 04-08 body style. Ive had an 01 before with no troubles and have heard good and bad about 04-08 trucks (5.4)
can anyone give me a bit of guidance here? the truck isnt going to be used as a daily driver so MPG isnt the biggest of concerns, just reliability and lack of constant repairs or known problems.

thanks

 

honestly, neither one will be a bad choice as long as it's been maintained

 

Assuming comparable condition/maintenance/mileage, I would go with the 2003 over a 2004-2007 5.4 3V truck.

If you want a newer body style 5.4, I'd shoot for a 2008-2010, or better yet, go with a 2011-2012 5.0.

 

I actually sold an '05 which I bought new and got a nice low mileage '03 Lariat FX4. Interiors IMHO went downhill after '03 and I found the '05 cloth upholstery to be a nightmare to keep clean, the seats were like sitting on a brick, the armrests on the doors were ridiculously low, and most importantly the 3v 5.4 was a dog compared the "older" 5.4. I know I'm going to catch some flak for this but if I were you, buying the 2003 is a no-brainer.

In addition the styling of the earlier trucks is more flowing and less boxey.

 

I don't know why you'd catch flak over that, because it's true.

In fact, my 2001 4.6 Supercrew 2WD repeatedly embarrassed my buddy's 2006 5.4 Supercrew 2WD (3.55s with 20s) from a dig by about 2-3 truck lengths and he could never regain an inch from 60 - 100 mph governor. The 5.4 2V also has excellent low-rpm torque.

The early 5.4 3Vs are dogs, it's mainly in the DBW/torque table calibration, but off the lot the PI 2Vs actually run quite a bit better. Lighter chassis + old school throttle cable FTW.

Things changed a bit when the 5.4 3Vs went to the 6R transmissions in 2009, the steep first gear, better gear spacing and less intrusive torque management made them much, much better.

The XLT interiors went downhill in 2004, designed incentive to buy a Lariat. The loaded 2004+ trucks do have nice interior though, probably the best truck interior the market had seen up to that point.

The 97-03 trucks had the better mid-range interiors.

You can sort of tell the 97-03 Lariats were gussied up XLTs, but the 2004+ XLT were decontented/stripped Lariats, if that makes sense.

 

I'm lurking around here for a friend I helped get into a 4.6 F150 ('97)... But my point in posting is that this thread is refreshing as I stopped wasting my time with the know-it-all Expy folks that just were sure their 3V 5.4s were better tow rigs. It would be different if I hadn't hooked up to the same trailer that I just pulled with my 2V 5.4, with an '04 3V and said WTF?? What a dog (to quote y'all).

Thanks and g'night...

 

wait till you deal with the ecoboost leg humpers

 

EcoBoost is a bit different, as is the 5.0 4V. Both are far superior to 5.4 2V/3V. The 5.4 4V had the potential but Ford never realized it in the trucks from the factory with low compression, crappy intakes, and cams that were far too small.