400 vs 4.9
MSEE
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Austin, TX
The situation you describe takes a lot more variables into account than the engine itself. One may perform better than the other across various metrics, but perhaps external factors can be changed to favor the other. Certain upgrades may go farther on one motor than another, and vice versa. I'm not really sure what you mean by "winning" in towing. Does that mean... Who can accelerate more quickly for a given load? Who can pull more, if it's OK to go 45 MPH? Who can work an incline better? Who gets better gas mileage? Who is less susceptible to pre-detonation? Year and original application makes a big difference too, especially for the 400. A stock 400 out of a '71 LTD will run circles around any stock 400 that came in these trucks.
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Burlington, WI
still need to know things such as rear axle ratio, trans, truck weight, etc. Are you looking to see who would win in a truck pull (dragging the sleds), or who would win in a game of tug-o-war between the two trucks?
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From: The Shenandoah Valley
A 300 I6 has great low end power or grunt, better than most all of it's competitors .... but place both in same size truck, same trans, same rear gear .... a 300 I6 is no match for a 400.
The 300 was used back in the pre-smog days and all through up into recent history, it was equipped with both carbs and later, well tuned EFI .... the 400 largely just during the worst smog days when engine controls and adaptations were crude by today's yardstick, almost always a 2 bbl carb, and Ford never gave it a good compression ratio.
But build a mild stoick cam smooth idling 400 with some compression and just adequate carburetion or EFI and then you'ld have a real horse.
The 400 was given the longest stroke of all Ford's pass car / light truck V-8s.
The 300 was used back in the pre-smog days and all through up into recent history, it was equipped with both carbs and later, well tuned EFI .... the 400 largely just during the worst smog days when engine controls and adaptations were crude by today's yardstick, almost always a 2 bbl carb, and Ford never gave it a good compression ratio.
But build a mild stoick cam smooth idling 400 with some compression and just adequate carburetion or EFI and then you'ld have a real horse.
The 400 was given the longest stroke of all Ford's pass car / light truck V-8s.
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idaho211
335 Series- 5.8/351M, 6.6/400, 351 Cleveland
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Aug 27, 2010 08:44 PM