I have seen dozens of 5.4s at the lube rack with over 250,000 miles with no major problems and they still ran like new. Longevity of the the two engines would be about the same in my opinion.

 

If I were making the choice between these two trucks, I'd look at mileage, overall condition, history, asking price, option levels, etc. I think the reliability argument on pre-owned vehicles may come down more to how each has been used and maintained by the previous owners at this point. In my opinion, the Ford will have the better interior, the Dodge 360 is alot easier to service than the 5.4 (try changing the oil filter or spark plugs on the Ford), looks are subjective, and if the transmissions are maintained both should last. I don't know much about the 4wd capabilities, I've owned alot of trucks, but all 2wd. By the way, I bought a 2003 F150 with the 5.4, the automatic, and 3.55 limited slip rear and I'm really pleased with the acceleration. I looked at the Dodge, but I thought the interior on the Ford was much nicer (especially since mine is a King Ranch!), and the styling on the Dodge is too much for me!

 

The old 360's will NOT hang with the 5.4's. Not even before the 5.4's got the first hp bump to 260 hp. That's a fact. Comparably equipped trucks have been tested over and over and the 5.4 own the Dodge.

 

My son has a 2000 1500 4X4 dodge 360. When you drive his truck, it feels fast and powerfull. But, my Supercrew 5.4 will smoke his truck bad.
The 360's are reliable though, but so has my 5.4 so far.

Also, the gas mileage on the 360 is BAAAAAAAD!!!!

 

On my 97'Expy. with the 5.4, the oil filter is right behind the l front left side of the bumper, cant get much easier then that to change it ! The Expy now has 108 plus k on it and it runs great, sounds good, and I think the thing has some *****,, It will get up and go when ya kick it,,, and it is supposedly the 235 HP version ! It has way more power then the stock 302's I have driven (87' F-150),,very happy with the 5.4,,now changing the plugs,,that will be a challenge ! ,,,,,,,,,,,Later ,,,,,,,,,,Mark

 

M350- Check out a 2wd 2003 F150 for the oil filter location, it's above the front crossmember, with a wiring harness running underneath it, and a sharp sheet metal dribble tray below it. The filter is mounted horizontal, thus ensuring a big mess when removing it. Not one of Ford's better ideas!

 

To me, the High Torque of 350 @2500 makes the best sense. That is an RPM that most "normal" people drive at. No one drives while towing at 3250 rpm. If you are towing....go with the FORD.

 

I just sold a 99 Dodge 318 4x4 60,000 miles -great truck
8.5 mpg pulling 3500# trailer. (engine to small and 3.55 gears)
318 & 360 are great engines. It those trannys that you need to stay away from.
I just bought a new 2003 250 4x4 with the 5.4.
Pulls great and 10 mpg with only 350 miles on it.
Get the 5.4 better pulling- better mpg. better trans.
resale is also better.
My new ford is a great truck.
Also my 98 expi has 60,000 miles and that modular engine is running fine....

 

The mileage on the 360 is terrible. The old 230 HP 360 got better mileage and had more down-low torque. They took the Chevy trick and increased power, but higher up in the RPM band. If you want to see what I mean, drive a 95 Ram and then compare it to a 99-2002 Ram with the 360. My 95 regular cab 4x4 had so much low end torque that I could smoke the tires all the way down the street. It also got 18MPG. My 2000 quad cab 4x4 had 15 more horsepower, but seemed to have much less low end grunt, and it got 11 MPG. I now own a Ford.

My advice: go with the FORD.

 

lawnservice, the 318 can't hold a candle when towing compared to the 360. I worked at a marina and the manager owned an extended cab 99 dodge ram with the 318, we tried towing a 21 foot boat but the thing had no power whatsoever going up even the smallest of hills. When we went to pick the boat up we used my dads extended cab, 97 ram with the 360 and it towed it no problem and never required the full throttle to get up the hills that the 318 did.

As for the 5.4, I've only driven one in an expedition and it had some great power, never towed, but I'd say mileage wise and power wise, the 5.4 is the choice by the numbers. Drive them both, bring something to toss in the back if you must and then drive them again. Why is it that a family looking at minivans can bring 6 children, 2 cousins, teh family dog, and themselves to test drive a new car or minivan, but we can't bring a small trailer or some type of load to toss in the bed of a truck to test out the capabilities of it?

 

while the numbers say no, In my "seat of the pants" evaluations, the 360 feels stronger the the 5.4 at all rpm's.

 

I have one of each in my drive way for a few more days anyway. I am returning a 2000 Durango w/5.9 (lease over) and we just bought a 2000 EB Expy. The Durango is 2wd and the Expy 4wd but I have to agree with the last guy, the 5.9 does seem stronger by the seat of the pants. Unfortunately Dodge does not make a very good auto tranny to go with it, because we had a new valve body in it at 10K miles and it still shifts like crap compared to the Expy. The Expy has 60K and the Durango has 42K, the Expy gets the same mileage so far and it is much bigger inside, as well as being 800 to 1000 lbs. heavier so you do the math. Like was said several times in this thread, if you are towing I would go with the 5.4, it may not feel as strong but the tranny is much better.

 

the 5.4 is a good engine but if it were up to me i would go powerstroke

 

hey i was in the ford 3vtriton vs hemi forum, and i typed this article from a magazine where they tested the dodge 5.9, ford 5.4, chevy 5.3 and toyota 4.7.... so i figured u could use some of these numbers.... these numbres are takan from a paxton dyno At the wheels.. ford has higher power than the rest... even low rpm's... maybe u can use these numbers in choosing ur truck...

----- Maximum Horsepower/Torque @ wheels -----
ford 5.4 2v - 186.0@4250/249.6@3500
dodge 5.9 - 160.4@4250/219.0@3500

----- @1000rpm @ wheels HP/TQ-----
ford 5.4 2v - 21.9/85.7
dodge 5.9 - 5.9/20.7
----- @ 2000rpm HP/TQ ------
ford 5.4 2v - 101.8/234.6
dodge 5.9 - 54.0/147.0
----- @ 3000rpm HP/TQ ------
ford 5.4 2v - 137.6/248.7
dodge 5.9 - 115.2/201.9
----- @ 4000rpm HP/TQ ------
ford 5.4 2v - 178.2/237.8
dodge 5.9 - 155.3/206.2
----- @ 5000rpm HP/TQ ------
ford 5.4 2v - 183.5/206.9
dodge 5.9 - 142.5/152.3

its pretty crazy all the loses thru the drivetrain in this test.. it was done in October 1999 by Truck Trend magazine.. the manufacturers claimed Ford - 260hp/345ft-lb, and dodge - 245hp/335ft-lb. but theres huge differances between the chevy and toyota drivetrains.. the chevy 5.3 rated 270hp only made 173.1hp @ the wheels.. thats like a 97hp loss through drivetrain.. ford lost roughly only 11hp.. ford made more power at the wheels than any of the other manufacturers at all rpm's... then toyota was 2nd with its dohc 4.7... so it seems to prove the theory that ohv makes better low end power wrong... oh and the towing.. im sure u can use this too.. i know ull never race while towing.. but these numbers show how ford does towing.. ford wasnt the fastest unloaded, toyota was.. but loaded ford was the fastest, not by alot.. but it was fastest, so it'll do better towing than the other 3 trucks..

0-60mph unloaded/loaded
ford 5.4 2v - 8.1/9.4
dodge 5.9 - 8.5/10.1
chevy 5.3 - 8.4/9.9
toyota 4.7 - 7.9/9.8

1/4mile unloaded/loaded
ford 5.4 2v - 16.2@84.8/17.0@80.1
dodge 5.9 - 16.5@83.4/17.5@79.0
chevy 5.3 - 16.4@79.7/17.3@79.7
toyota 4.7 - 16.1@85.2/17.3@79.9

well i hope you can use all that info.. i hope you pick the right truck... good luck.. c ya

 

FordF10054,

Where can I find the whole article? Can you point me in the right direction.

Thanks

99 Expy XLT 5.4