Only if they had kept the old style rods from the older engines.

 

Why? there's no reason for that-the powdered metal rods are manufactured to closer tolerances and are lighter than the equivalent rods of forged manufacture. The lighter rods are easier on the bearings and allow the engine to rev easier. The closer tolerances allow for better assembly and longer life.
The Lightnings even use the same identical rods that the N/A 5.4L's do-they always fail when the owners get boost greedy,or when they have some idiot tuner that doesn't know what they're doing screwing around with their PCM.
JL

 

im not saying they dont have hp though, theres no doubt about that, my buddys 5.4l would smoke my 302 any day of the week and can tow more, but my trucks 5.0l works for me. im not trying to trash your trucks, i just believe the 4.9L I6, 5.0L, 5.8L and the 460 are proven engines that will last as long as anything else. thats all. I know they dont have as much hp as the new trucks, but if you want hp to tow, buy a diesel, you wont regret it, and get better mileage to. Im just not sold on these new trucks, people are power hungry horsepower freaks who want everything bigger, better, stronger and faster, no one is satisfied with anything the way it is. consumers want this, so the automakers give it to them. every year halfton pickups get more hp, more towing capacity, more room, more economy (yeah right, not the way most people drive). Pretty soon, half ton trucks are gonna roll of the assembly line with 450hp under the hood.lol. and plastic front ends, talk about a way to save money, i am not to thrilled with the way any new cars are made these days.

 

There's nothing wrong with the 5.4. Just maintain it properly and don't complain, it's a V8, gets the job done in most cases, plenty of torque and hp. Sure stuff breaks and its a pain to change plugs, etc. So what? Plastic intake is not a big deal. You're worrying about nothing.

 

When I find that powdered metal technology is up even with tried forhing design I might change my mind. The next motor I build will not have that weak link in it. I've built and tested many a R&D engine from stock to highly modified using forged rods. We never used Ibeam rods in our race engines and kept them together.

I have an engine builder I get some stuff thru and his head porter tells him the head gaskets go when boost levels go above stock. That lets you know there's a limit not to be exceeded. I know what they can handle. We worked at least a year of overtime trying to develope one for Ford. PCM tuners have their limits so somebody is buying software that they shouldn'y have and cranking in enuff spark timing to destroy any engine.

 

Nuce truck there Kaboom, can I have your wheels for my 01 please?

 

I have a soft spot in my heart for the old 300 inch six, but the 4.6 in my van is a fine motor, bit short on torque, but gets good mileage.

The thread on the million mile 5.4 below was mine--because I was quite surprised myself. It's at https://www.millionmilevan.com and I do NOT think that any old engine could have gone quite that far. The guy is up to 1,002,000 miles right now, and is planning to push it another 100k because it still runs. I am absolutely and totally impressed by that.

I am not necessarily a fan of the plastic intake manifolds, or even of the use of an OHC engine design for a truck motor, but there are a lot of these motors that have gone really, really far. If you look for used limos or crown vics on Ebay, you can see that there are a LOT of these cars with the 4.6 mod motors that have gone 300,000, 400,000 miles and up. I've heard of 300,000 mile mod motors being taken down, and the cross-hatching on the cylinder walls is still visible. NOT something you'd ever find with the old motors.

The "ideal" truck motor in my mind might be something like a redesigned version of the old 300 inch six, or the old 351/400/460 V8's, but that is not what Ford chose to do. GM pushed the old small block 350 (and their old 3.8 V6) through a lot of evolution, and these engines also worked well, but time moves on.

Stuff gets more complex, and although I like simplicity myself, I also like the improvements in technology (x-raying cylinder blocks, etc) that make the newer engines less prone to failure from bad metal, or bad cylinder honing, which was always a crapshoot with the older motors. In the old days (and I was there in the old days), there were a fair number of motors that became oil burners early, or had other failures that modern production techniques will minimize. It used to be normal for a new engine to suck down a quart of oil in 1k-2k miles, and now it's rare that you have to add a quart in less than 3k or 4k miles.

And yeah, the spark plug blowouts are bad, and the plastic intake manifolds are bad (although my 2002 van has an aluminum manifold), but I think that the Internet makes these problems pretty darn visible, whereas in 1970, you'd never be able to do similar research to discover the "lemon" engine problems that plagued things back then--it used to just be word of mouth, or talking to your mechanic, or your friends, that would deliver the kind of info we can get in about 30 seconds with Google now.

George

 

You're either smoking crack or something is wrong with your brother's 5.4. I've owned 5.0, 5.8, 4.6, 5.4 2v and 5.4 3v. The older pushrod motors are outdated and will not outpull or outlast these modulars. Yes the older ones are simpler but they were not built to the tolerances that these newer motors are. Take a 5.0/5.8/460 and run them for 200,000 miles, they are usually smoked. These modulars can run upwards of 300,000 if they are properly cared for.

Biggest mistake that modular owners make... running 10W-30 or 40 motor oil in them because "I just can't see running 5W oil in them... goes against everything I've ever known"... that will smoke a modular long before any 10,000 pound load will.

 

So the 5.4's need to be tuned I take it?

 

Thanx but I need my stockers for winter. I waant to change the tires to a wider size since the tuner put a kick in the pants in the motor.

 

They respond well to removing the inlet/exhaust restrictions and tuning. I'm not going to name specific brands but they all seem to work according to a mod book I have.

 

Im not going to say my 5.4 is a complete dog, i have done very little to it, k&n filter and removed cats and mufflers and have a true dual with 2 in 2 out flowmaster as my crossover and exiting in front of the passenger rear tire on my crew cab. just like everyone says i have 120k miles on mine and as long as i dont try and tow something the truck wasnt built to tow it has been fine. But, i have to say it does make half the hp and 1/4 of the torque the duramax i had before this truck made, but i dont tear anything up on this truck.

 

Are you gonna be adding a SC, N2O, or some other power adder to your next engine? Or spinning it past 6500RPMS(4.6L) or 5500 rpms(5.4L) ? If not, there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to spend the money or the extra time involved with rebalancing the rotating assembly for the heavier forged components. The head gaskets on these engines fail when the OEM TTY bolts stretch and allow the head to lift under boost causing it to fail. Or in extreme cases-we've seen ARP studs stretch,and cause the heads to lift. On a few of those, the gaskets were unharmed,and only need a new set of studs.
JL

 

The motor will be built to withstand all you mentioned. Why redo the short block each time you may change your mind? As for expense an aluminum block and forged crank can be had for around $1300. Not a bad price. The long block will come in around $5000. Not bad. I had $8000 in my V6 street engine. I would use studs all thru the engine as I've seen the numbers stock bolts produce and wasn't impressed. It's amazing the things you can do with stuff available at a gasket R&D job(McCord Gasket/Clevite engine bearings).

 

What aluminum block are you intending to use for that 5.4L? If it's the SHM thing-that block uses a queer bearing and has some other quirks that will come up in assembly-plan on double the cost of that block for fixing machining stupidity before you're done. If you're planning on using the GT block-be aware that the GT block has no provision for a RWD starter,and that it must be added via machine shop work.
I think the aluminum block is a good idea considering the weight savings-that'll help the truck with weight distribution.
As for building the engine for several setups-IMO,you should build it based on how you're gonna use it. Compression ratios, piston dish design, cylinder head combustion chamber work,etc..all need to be based on the power adder you choose,and it's intended useage. I don't buy into the "one-size-fits-all" cookie cutter buildups that I see so many shops doing. That's one of the reasons you see so many failures with "built" engines.
JL