I think it is sad that Ford doesn't have a good gas engine to compete with out of the dealer. And the cost of fixing the mod motor to compete is unreal. It will take everything your V10 has and then some to get around that Hemi if it runs like my neighbors. But I bet your gas milege isn't much different.

 

At least my trucks body and interior will not rattle and fall apart like the Hemis will after 40,000 miles. The quality control and workmanship on Dodges are pathetic. Tell your neighbor not to spend his money on any mods. He will need it to fix his Dodge. By the way, I get 12mpg in town and 15mpg, Highway driving.

 

Give us a break! Where were you 2 or 3 short years ago when Dodge offered the outdated 245hp 360 Magnum as it's "top choice" in Ram 1500s?? Oooh boy! Tell your neighbor to attach a 7000lb trailer to his hemi and see what happens. I'll bet the cost of modifying that Hemi to tow like a Ford V10 is well....unreal!

And I'll gaurantee you my F250 4wd V10 gets the same or better mileage than any Ram 4wd 2500 Hemi and produces alot more torque at lower rpm (like a truck engine should). A new 6.8L V10 engine makes more torque idling at a stop light than a Hemi does at it's max way up at 4000rpm(?).

 

I hate to say this guys, but after reading bmpmdf post again, I think we have one of the Dodder boys in our midst. When I want Ford to improve something, I would say" I would like to see". What does our little spy say " He thinks Ford is sad that it cant build a good gas engine" Read his post again, he is the neighbor with the Dodder. He is such a weasel he wont admit to owning that 3rd rate brand. And I dont blame him.LOL

 

Mountainhound, send me an e-mail with your regular e-mail address and I will show you something sweet that I know you will enjoy!! Send it to spurbarranch@att.net

 

The 2003 Lightnings have the same payload as the regular half ton.

JJ

 

...I think it's kinda funny how Dodge has really been pushing this "Hemi" thing, when in fact the new engine is not truly a hemi. The name hemi as I'm sure we all know cam from the fact that the combustion chamber was hemispherical in shape. The new "Hemi" is actually a pent-roof design, more like what is in any OHC engine, like Ford's modulars. The name Hemi in the case of the new Dodge engines is as much a marketing ploy, (and a pretty good one at that), as it is a descriptive term.

In reply to someone's post about how the old Hemi heads could outflow anything, Fords 427 SOHC and Fords Boss 429 would both outflow the Hemi.

JJ

 

In moving at one time, I used a 96 f-250 5.8 to pull a trailer empty up in the mountains. The same trailer FULL pulled easier with my 3.9L dakota. This was 6-7 years ago. On the second trip, I left the 5.8 at home. We have numerous 5.8's and 5.4's at work, and the 5.4 just works better. Off topic, but it came up.
On the hemi vs. v-10 issue - in a half ton, a guy at work beat my v-10. We hooked up trailers that probably weighed 4K lbs with another 2k lbs on them, and I won. Nothing scientific, just playing around to see waht happened. He still likes his, and I like mine. In years to come, I am sure he'll be able to put more in his engine easier than I can mine - at least in the way of bolt-ons.
Kids reading this at home - do not race with trailers on the streets. take it to the track. An old ford with a 4 speed manual and a 460 did, however used to pull a loaded trailer at 90mph pretty easy.

 

I would agree that the v-10 romp the hemi of the line due to far more torque, but the hemi would catch up. The other day I raced a 3/4ton 2wd extd cab dodge with my 2001 4x4 reg cab 5.4 auto. Off the line it was no contest, I figured with my 350lbft of torque was enough to launch me past his 375. I was correct although I did notice at about 80mph up the freeway onramp his truck was gaining considerably. At about 90 he past me oh well, I guess 75 more horse on a high recing motor does make a difference Id like to know what rear end gears he had and if he was a stick or auto. My atuo does very well cruising uphill and under load.

2001 F-150 reg cab 4x4 auto 5.4
lt265/75/r16
bone stock otherwise

 

Who cares who wins. Reliability,dependability,durability is all that counts in a truck and the dodge loses on all counts. My bet is that ten years later down the road the ford will still be going and the dodge will be retired to the salvage yard. Im getting sick of this hemi business. I cannot believe people are falling for this hype. Dodge is pulling out all the stops to gain market share in the truck market. Nothing has changed . Ford is ford. Dodge is dodge. Dodge has the least repeat buyers of the big three. 20% behind Ford and Chevy. That should tell you something. Hemi doesn't impress me one bit. If thats all you got going for your truck thats sad. End of discussion. Thanks

 

Dodges are plenty dependable, in fact I think I'd be pretty hard pressed to find a more reliable truck than my Dodges have been for me. All this reliability/strength arguing over all the latest models is pretty null anyway since most people will never really know how reliable their trucks really are since they never even work them. I loath the kind of people who will call one of my trucks crap and say their brand is better for whatever reason - I've had both Ford and GM guys do it- of course the Ford guys would be ok with my Fords , and the GM guys with my GM's. It's funny (not) when some friend/neighbor goes touting his brand X 1 ton grocery getter as being a "far more" reliable truck than my 5 year old beater Dodge 318 / 5 speed which has been used to clear 40' pine trees from 10 acres of property, and has only needed a starter in all that time. I've had good luck with them all- these comments never made any real sense to me.

As far as that race goes, it's my guess that the guy in the Dodge was running a manual transmission - that and the weight difference btween the two trucks would give it to you. The HEMI is almost neck and neck in terms of low end torque with the 5.4L.
The NV4500 manual transmission is a SLOW shifting 5 speed - any automatic will dust it off the line, or through the shifting sequence.

 

Maybe your Dodge is plenty dependable. Dodges in general are not.

 

I'd like to see some statistics to prove that, not just hearsay again.

 

Show me some statistics that say that they are dependable, not just hearsay.

 

If you look up Consumer Reports book that lists Frequency of Repairs, you will see how Dodge ranks against Ford in all the catagories. There is a reason why Dodge is way behind Ford in selling trucks.