Personally, I don't think the 5.4 is that bad. I had an '01 F250LD with a 5.4 and it had more than enough power. Stock for stock, a 5.4 will out run/out pull a 351W (after all, it does have a significantly longer stroke than the 351). Yes, you can easily mod the 351 so it will outperform a stock 5.4, but a good intake, exhaust & custom tune can really wake up a 5.4 as well. Add a set of the new TF or CNC ported heads & some cams and you got a pretty hard running engine (albeit expensive). From what I've heard, the V10 is a real beast as well.

I still prefer the old 351, but I have no problems owning a modular as well.

 

V10 is a beast and its thirsty like one as well. Lol

 

I get the same MPG with v10 f350 as I did with my 5.8 f150, (the f150 did have 100k more miles.) That said I loved the 5.8 would run right with my freinds 5.4 and got the same MPGs

 

Although i never owned one I did take care of a couple of 5.8s for a contractor. In commercial service the 4.9s and 5.8s were very dependable. These were F250s with utility bodies and the 5.8s also hauled 6k lb trailers. The only knock on the 5.8s was the gas mileage. All were well over 10 years old and close to or over 200k when replaced. The mod motor replacements had a lot of problems with spark plugs and the COPs and the dealer wasn't much help. They were replaced within 5 years by diesels (2 Dodges and 2 Chevys). The contractor thinks the 4.9 EFI was the best engine for a fleet truck ever made. I agree.
While the 5.4 will get better gas mileage and has a lot of power its a pain to work on compared to the 5.8. I have seen several that have high miles so the internals are probably pretty good.
YMMV
regards
rikard

 

You could swap in a 12v cummins for less money than a head/cam swap of the modular and get nearly double.the mileage. For the same price, you could swap a 12v and turn it up, havin 2x the power and 2x the mileage of the modded 5.4. Just another reason i wouldn't own a modular. . . .of course its just the way i see it.

 

Do not forget the cam phaser problem on some 3 valve 5.4. My friend is getting his 2004 5.4 with 60,000 miles on it fixed for around $2000 at his friends shop. He already had a coil replaced and 1 spark plug that came apart in 2 pieces(what was Ford thinking).

 

True, but the same could be said for the 5.8...if your gonna compare it to a Cummins.

 

actually, the two cant be compared. parts for the 5.8 are dirt cheap. head/cam swap for an SD 5.8 can be done for <500 bucks. that'd be gt40 heads, SD friendly cam. another 300 gets ya a set of long tubes (installed). so for <1k you have a 5.8 that will outpower a 5.4, and get better mileage. just the head/camS for the modular cost ~3k (or more). add exhaust and the required tune to make it run, youre lookin at 4k+. all that is on top of a hefty price tag for the truck/motor combo. a 12v cummins could be had for 1-3k dependin on mileage, and mods of course (1,500 is about average for a near-stock functioning 12v). both gas trucks would still be slow as hell, the only difference is the cost and simplicity of the 5.8 cannot be matched by the 5.4. the modded 5.4 would just be a slow piece of gas guzzlin gold. unless you just want a cummins in the OBS ford truck (the 5.8), it would be worth it to just give it the mild mods to make it run the best it can on SD and keep it cheap. ultimately, the cummns swap with mods would cost about the same as modding the 5.4. . .the only difference is you'd have a faster truck that gets good mileage. if youre talkin about superchargin the 5.8 in a quest to make the truck fast, then yea the same could be said about the cummins swap.

 

I have never been impressed with the modular V-8s..........Until the 3 valve 4.6s and 5.4s came out, they are respectable motors. I would take our old school motors over the new ones though, just for the ease of maintainability/simplicity factor alone.

 

ok, being i am in ford dealers, and i have worked parts for 15 years, heres my thoughts, experiences. fisrt personally. me and my cousin have had the 2 trucks side by side and pulling stuff. my 96 f150 sc, short box, 351 4x4 , my cousins, 2000 f150 5.4 sc short box, my truck would off the line smoke his 5.4 and at the same time outpull it (load wise) in the professional end of things. the 302/351 trucks all that ever went wrong was oil pans rotting out and exhaust manifolds cracking, occasionly gaskets. accessory drives failing due to milage , the 5.4's , blowing out spark plugs, rotting off exhaust studs, cracked exhaust manifolds, the cam phaser issues, the 3v plug issues, lifter /valvetrain isuses, headgasket issues , weak trans , (4r70w) chassis issues, 4x4 actuator issues . vaccum hose issues. power steering pump/rack issues. 9.75 bearing issues , and the latest and greatest 8.8 clutch pack issues. and overall elctronic issues.. hands down, i pick a older gen truck 96-

 

EXACTLY!

 

Guess I will put my 2 cents in...I owned a 2006 super duty 4wd ,5.4, 5 speed auto trans, 3:73 gears. I had to sell due to loosing my job. I liked the engine, however it only got 13 mpg on highway and 10-12 in town. It was the 3 valve/cylinder. 300+ horse matching torque. The engine built power after 3,000 rpm and when puling a trailer the electronics kept shift points around 3,500 to 4,000+ rpm. That made me nervous. I am old school I guess...

Now I have a 1990 F 250 4wd, 460, 5 speed, 4:10 gears. I can stay below 60 mpg on long trips and get 12.25 mpg and in town pretty much around 10 mpg. It seems like apples for apples other than driving an older truck. Financally I don't miss the $380 month monthy payment.

In the future I was thinking about a smaller engine or higher gears. It is my daily driver, at least for now. Maybe in future big tires, but for now cold air intake, electric fan... Who knows can't ever see myself in a Prius...I kind of like the idea of having a monster engine that gets reasonable fuel mileage.

 

I get the same MPG as the 5.4 trucks 13-16 and my trucks weight is less then the new trucks Pushrod all the way !!!!

 

pushrods > multiple cams. there is plenty of evidence supporting this claim. . .and yes it obviously includes the "other brand" that uses only single cam gas motors. . . .

with the above comment, it needs to also be said that SBF > SBx. . .the ole venerable small block ford (albeit more expensive) is superior to all other brands of its era.

 

I love my truck 93 thru 96 f series is the best trucks ever made I grew up Chevy I thought Chevy was the best till I got older started doin masonry work all our trucks are Ford I fell in and bought on I got a 95 3/4 ton with a 351w ice cold ac and runs like a champ