An example:
'94 5.7 Chevy - 200HP/310 lb. ft.
'94 5.8 Ford - 210HP/325 lb. ft.

 

I'M not going to say that the 5.4L is quicker, because it isnt. Buy, I noticed with my friends 5.3, that the 5.3 is way easier to bog when presented with a heavy load then the 5.4 in my superduty. Unless his 5.3 is revving fast, its a turd. My 5.4 is far stronger in the low rev range, but falls flat as speed increases.

 

The 5.8 has better numbers but not by much and that doesn't mean it's quicker. I had a 5.8 in a Bronco and it was a turd all day long, buddies K5 would run all over it. I'm not hating on Fords, I actually like them but every stock 5.8 I've come across sucked. GM has their fair share of dogs as well if it makes you feel better, but the 350 ain't one of em.

 

My brother had a 90 F250 with a 5.8 and 35 inch tires, it had more in it then my 5.0 when it had stock 31 inchers.

In my experience I've seen 5.8's beat Chevy 5.7's, like I said earlier my 5.0 F150 can pull a trailer up the canyon along side 1500 5.7's, and a 5.8 has more in it then my truck.

I've also had friends with F150's with 5.8's and their trucks were faster and pulled better then my truck, then I have known a couple of people with 1500's and 5.7's and they had about the same performance as my truck.

 

Well either you have some engine mods or your friends have some old tired 5.7's with crappy gearing. I remember driving a brand new 94 F150 short bed 4x4 with a 5.0 and it certainly wasn't going to run over any 5.7.

There is no doubt a Ford 5.0 is 10x the engine of a Chevrolet 5.0 but thats as far as I'll go. I know this is a Ford forum and Ford guys have a thing for the 350 but come on.

I think we've derailed this thread.

 

At that time everything was stock on all the trucks except for maybe tires. That was back in the day when these trucks were still newer and in their prime.

I've driven 1500's and they feel like they have more in them then my 5.0, but hook up a trailer and they offer about the same towing performance.

I'm not calling you out as a liar, you've had your experience and I've had mine. I never said the 5.0 would run over the 5.7, I meant that in trucks they offer the same performance. But look at the 5.0 Stang vs the 5.7 Camaro in the day, it at least held its own, it was faster in the 80's and up to 92.

 

My experience with a 93' 150 with the 5.8l was that the auto trans was a big problem. The engine made decent power for the era but the trans short shifted for gas mileage and bogged the engine. Of course with those trucks the array or good tuners was not available to remedy the issue like there is today.

 

I'm all for Ford. I don't care about who is faster. I like reliability. I like something that can work all day one day, play all day the next, and never have a problem.

BUT, I don't see a 94 5.0 1/2 ton staying close to a 97 5.7 Vortec. Those trucks are fast for what they are.

 

Well I hate to look like I'm trying to BS, but its happened. I've pulled trailers with my truck and been going somewhere with someone that has a mid-late 90's 5.7 a few times. The results were always the same, don't get me wrong we were not racing up the canyon. Just driving like normal guys getting up the canyon.

 

'94 5.9 Dodge - 230HP/330 lb. ft.

Just thought I should add that for historical perspective, even if this is a typical Ford vs Chevy comparison thread. I leased a '94 Ram 3500 Wagon for vanpool service and it easily pulled mountain grades with 12 adults on board.

BTW, the 5.0 in my '94 F-150 was an absolute DOG here in the mountains.

 

Haha, so is mine. But whenever I put a trailer on my truck it doesn't make that much of a difference. I think that the 5.7 would pull a little better then a 5.0 F150, I can remember thinking that I wouldn't be able to keep up going up the canyon, but I could every time.

I don't have any experience with Dodges, I've driven a couple around town before, but that's about it.

Anyway back to the topic of 5.3 vs 5.4.

 

My 03 F150 5.4 with 3:55 f/rearends, would not beat my buddies 05 silverado 5.3l in a empty drag. When we started towing my cousins mud truck to the races, (he would tow it when I was busy, I would tow it when he was busy) That is where my 5.4 shined. I could pull that truck and trailer faster from a start, and uphills, without all the redline drama. My cousin (a chevy man) actually said it was as if the 5.3l truck only had 2nd gear. He said it took off like it was in 2nd and than when it shifted too 2nd it may as well just stay there. AGAIN The 5.3l is fun too drive, I like how aggressive chevy tunes there trannys right outta the box, ford trannies are lazy!

 

Alright, I know this is a super old thread, but I'm gonna comment anyway.

First off...5.4L vs 5.3L

A few years ago I worked at a Monument company that had two 1/2 ton trucks and one 2-1/2 ton truck that we used...Me and only two other guys ran the entire shop. We got our funding from a funeral home that owned the shop. The funeral home was not willing to fork over the dough for 1-ton long beds...''Which is what really needed''. So instead we had a 2005 Ford F-150 Regular Cab 8-foot bed 5.4L and a 2005L Chevrolet Silverado 5.3L regular cab 8-foot bed.

Both of these trucks were very regularly worked well beyond their ''rated'' limits. At one point I had a 13,000lb trailer loaded with granite and Quick Crete hooked up to that F-150. I can whole hardily say that the 5.4L would tow ten times better than the 5.3L Chevy ever did. Often times my boss and I would have to travel to neighboring towns to set headstones in cemetery's there. Living in West Texas, there were alot of mostly abandoned back roads that we would take ''so we could speed''. This of course led to some friendly race's between us on occasion.

Without a load, the 5.3L Chevy ''which my boss drove 80% of the time'' would beat me in the 5.4L Ford IF we were unloaded. The 5.3L seemed to wind threw the RPM's a little quicker and it would pull ahead on the long straights. However we once had to tow trailers that weighed approximately 9,000lbs each threw the mountains of New Mexico, and my boss was totally unable to keep up with me when towing...The 5.4L easily out torqued the 5.3L and it really showed when pulling. He kept drifting further and further behind me...Eventually he called me by CB radio and told me to slow down so he could catch up haha. But neither of those trucks can hold a candle to my 2011 5.0L FX4's power...That engine is a BEAST.


Now the other subject I want to touch base on. 5.8L vs 5.7L

My first truck in high school was a 1990 F-150 XLT Lariat 2WD with the 5.0L V8. I had a friend who had a 1993 Chevy Silverado 2WD with the Throttle Body Injection 350 ''Pre Vortec''. He and I raced on occasion, and It was generally a crap shoot on the launch...If I got off the line first, I won...If he got off the line first...He won. But I would say from a power standpoint my old Push rod 5.0L was right on par with his TBI 350.

One summer he and I decided to settle the score for good and we took our trucks to the local 1/4 mile track and ran em there. We decided that the winner would be declared after 3 races...I won 2/3 race's against him and the last race was totally neck and neck...It could have been anyone's race, but I pulled about a hood length on him by the end of the 1/4 mile and took the win. So from that moment on I always got to rub it in his face that my smaller V8 took his larger V8 down in the 1/4.

Around this time I had a friend who had a 1996 Eddie Bauer Bronco with the 5.8L in it, and when I raced him he generally would pull about a car length ahead of me, and I wasn't able to beat him until I did some extensive exhaust work and added a CAI to my old 5.0L. My friend with the 1993 Chevy was never able to beat the Bronco.

But something interesting and worth mention here, is that same friend who had the Eddie Bauer Bronco had a little brother who drove a 1985 Bronco with a swapped out 5.8L H.O engine...Which put down the same 210hp as the as the fuel injected 5.8L V8. But that old Bronco was SO SLOW...I don't know why...Maybe it was just really poorly maintained, but when he raced the 1993 Chevy with the 1985 Bronco, That Chevy ate its sack lunch...That old Bronc was so slow that the friend in the Chevy could get ahead of him, and then let off and fall back beside him and gun it again and pull waaaayyyy ahead.

And I did race a 5.7L Vortec Chevy with my 1990 F-150 once...I lost by about 2 car lengths by the time we hit 80mph. Not to shabby considering that factory stock my 5.0L was rated at about 190hp and the 5.7L Vortec was rated at 255hp out of the factory.

I don't ever race my 2011 5.0L I grew up and realized how unsafe road racing is...And I take much more pride in not abusing my vehicles these days. But I know one things for sure, none of those trucks could even come close to the new 5.0L.

So in my opinion, here's how I stack these older engine's.

1st = Chevrolet 5.7L Vortec...I hate to give it to GM...But the Vortec 5.7L's were pretty hot engines back in their day.
2nd = Ford 5.8L Windsor...These would actually run pretty close with the Vortec 350's of the day. Though it was hard to beat that extra 45hp the Vortec's had.
3rd = Ford 5.0L...This engine was actually a sleeper...Maybe I just had a hot one, but I never ran into a TBI or Carburated 350 that could run with it. ''Stock at least''
4th = Chevrolet 5.7L (TBI)...Honestly I was really disappointed in this engine, It only compared with my smaller Ford 5.0L when it should have beat it.
5th = Ford 5.8L Carburated H.O....Not much to speak about here...Some of the worst performance I've seen in a car. ''Poor maintenance is probably the culprit though''

 

Interesting Post. My dad for a short time had a Chevy 1500 with the TBI 350. I think it was a 92. OK truck, but very unimpressed with that motor. From listening to some of my Chevy friends, I thought it would be stronger than what it felt. My 96 with the 302 is much faster unloaded, and pulls about the same. The other day a Chevy which I'm guessing had the same TBI 350, was next to me at the stoplight. Obviously he wanted to race because he tore off from the light. I decided to give it a go and was able to catch up to him and pull slightly ahead by the time I got to 60 which was the speed limit when I let off the gas. He kept it floored and continued on, but it was clear who had the better truck. I'm sure it was a 350, because I know how pathetcally slow the 305s are. Just a note I have redone the exhaust on my F150 which made a noticeable difference in power. Now if only I could afford a new 5.0 although I would go Eco Boost if I was buying new.

 

X2 on ecoboost! I Love my turbo VW GTI! Can only imagine what a twin turbo motor would feal like in a pickumup truck.