Before I start, for those that don't know, the 4.2L is the Ford V6, and the 4.3L is the Chevy V6.

I almost bought a 4.3 liter chevy before I drove the Ford. The Chevy was really sluggish as for as power went. (By the way it was a 2002 Chevy 5 spd) Also, it was noisy. The Ford I drove after it was much faster as well as quieter. Did the Ford people lower the decible level of road noise or something? It's really quiet. (2003 F150 4.2L)

Also, the interior of the Ford is like way nicer than the Chevy's. The Chevy's was just plain and boring to me. The Ford's was pretty nice as far as bucket seats and the dash. Both trucks were single cab, 5 speed, black, and had V6's.

I'm glad I went with the Ford so far, but which one will be better in the long run? Any takers?

 

I must start this by saying that I am a ford fan and always will be, but I also can look at things objectively. I know of a few people that have the 4.3 chevy engine and they swear by it. I really would not want to place in big money on bets against either engine. My 4.2 has over 108,000 miles on it and still going strong, but I also know of one 4.3 that has over 150,000 miles on it and still going strong. Both engines a very good engines, but like I said I perfer the ford anyday.

 

My first vehicle was a 1995 Chevy 4.3L vortec truck. It was a 5 speed. I drove it from 115K to 150K miles. Here's what I replaced:

Transmission
Alternator (3 times)
Battery (3 times)
Terminal Ends
Starter (2 times)
Fuel Filter
Exhaust (had bunch of holes)
Parking Brake
Ground wire from battery
AC fluid (2 times)
Air Compressor went bad (too much $$$)
Clutch
and minor replacements like the filter, oil, etc...

I know not all trucks are that cruddy, but I know when I bought a lemon, it was a lemon. I think the only thing that was really great in it were the upgrades:

Hypertech Superchip
K&N Filter
Flowmaster Exhaust
Sound System -- Clarion deck, 2 6 1/2's, stock 4x10's, California 600watt Amp, 2 Audiobahn 10's, and a box

 

I wrote service for a GMC dealer for five years. That 4.3L vortec engine was "bulletproof." However, it IS noisy due to the fan clutch. It feels nothing like my 4.2....maybe it's gearing or the powerband. The engine never felt strong, in the full-sizes nor the Jimmy's. However it was dependable and reliable.

I love my 4.2 though...i wanted a V8 but for my purposes (driving back and forth to work and moving the occasional piece of furniture) this was practical. I've not been dissatisfied with it once.

 

I believe the 4.3 only turns 190 HP and the 4.2 turns 205

 

that sounds about right.

 

Well, let me say this isnt gonna be a chevy/ford fight response.I owned a GMC 4.3L and had no problems.I always burned out at the red light. My Ford now only spins out when its raining. lol. I love my ford, but I have to go with the 4.3. Only problem s, all gms prices are over 22,000 my truck now only cost 18. Until I get a raise, or FORD goes bankrupt, Ill stick with ford

 

Phantom, you have the same truck I have. You can't spin out from a stop? Strange...

I gotta admit, my old '95 4.3L truck sounded really nice with my flowmaster exhaust, but it just seemed way to unreliable to me. I agree that I could spin out easily in 1st and 2nd gear. Sometime I even got a scatch in 3rd. That truck seems to have a crap load of torque behind it! I think that's at least 1 thing it has over mine. It can pull about anything considering it had a V6. Many times I pulled my parents 4 door mini-van from Lufkin to Dallas and back. (my sister lived in Dallas and always seemed to get her car broke down... ) Anyways, it'll haul a pretty big load with ease, but mine always ended up in the shop.

 

Phantom,

I didn't know they made an F150 for 18K. I paid 29K for mine. Before I purchased my truck, I also went to look at Chevy's. I found that they were priced almost exactly the same, for the same options I was looking at.

I do have this to say about Chevy vs. Ford. I was raised by a family who's tradition was to purchase a new car every year. My father has always done this, as a hobby I guess. We just love cars.

So, following in the family footsteps, I have probably owned about 15 new cars, and a few used ones. Almost all have been either Chevy or Ford.

I ALWAYS had problems with every single Chevy I've ever purchased. Not only the motor, but stupid things like door panels falling off, rubber seals cracking, electrical devices breaking, front end alignments every 500 miles. Alternators every 500 miles, seats coming off the tracks, windows coming off the tracks. Every stupid little thing you can think of went wrong with the Chevy. Granted, the engines never actually broke down.

The last Chevy I owned, and the last one I'll ever own, was a 94 corvette. Beautiful car, the LT1 engine was actually manufactured in Fords Mercury plant, so it's actually a Ford engine. I had so many things go wrong with that car that my "to do" list grew faster than I could fix stuff. I worked on that car every single weekend. Everything was just falling apart, except the motor. Door panels, windows, hatch shocks, hood shocks, all the trim and rubber seals were falling off, stereo blew up, seats fell off the tracks.

I mean, I could on for hours. The list is too long. Anyway, I sold that piece of &^$%^ and swore to never make the mistake of buying another Chevy.

When I sat down in the Chevy truck, just to take a look, the entire interior was made out of soft rubber parts. Granted, all new cars are made out of plastic now, but there are some plastics that are even stronger than metal, and Chevy just used the most absolute cheapest plastic material they can buy.

Just turning the A/C *** on the dash, it felt like it was going to pop off in my hand.

On the flip side, every Ford I ever owned has always functioned 100% with extremely minimal problems.

I'll never own anything but Ford. And when you've owned as many vehicles that I've owned, it's safe to say that my opinions come from experience.

Tom

 

ive driven the 4.3L S-10 and it was sluggish but had a good tourque range it would spin the tires like crazy but correct me if im wrong but the f-150 weighs in at a few more lbs than the S-10 and the bed is feather light on the S-10 also...so basically you are turning 190HP loose on a rear end that weighs less than 1/2 of what the f-150 has maybe im wrong....also Tom, on a side note i will tell you that i smoked a 1500 silvarado this weekend from a light and with my BIKE in the back at that so im excited about the mods to come

 

Acually, I was thinking of putting my Huyabusa in the bed of my truck and cutting a hole in the bed and running a belt from my front sprocket down to my truck axle. I can put a friend on the back of the bike and everytime I need extra power, they can just punch the Busa!! Of course I'll need to invest in a set of wheelie bars and racing slicks, maybe stretch the rear....

Tom

 

If you are comparing an S10 4.3 to an F150 4.2, that isn't fair, the S10 is a much lighter truck.

I drove a Silverado with a 4.3 and an F150 with a 4.2 before purchasing a Ford. Both trucks had 5 speeds. The thing about the 4.2 is, it has a lot more off-idle torque/power than the Chevy does. The Chevy felt really weak off idle. It would really go once you wound it up, but that's not the point of a truck.

I think a lot of this is due to the split port design and variable intake volume design of the 4.2. The Chevy lacks any such design to keep vacuum (and torque) high on the low end. Ford uses the small runners and a lesser intake volume until 2300 rpms, when the extra butterflies open up.

Once the RPMs get up, the Chevy catches up and even surpasses the Ford above 4500 rpms, but who wants to flog the truck all the time to get the power? The 4.2 has good torque off idle, which is what you need in a TRUCK!

 

AMEN Brons2

 

That makes a lot of sense, but there is one flaw to it. A Chevy, even a new one, has less RPM's than my Ford. My V6 redlines at 5400 RPM's...a chevy redlines at like 4700 RPM's! Now I'm talking the 4.3. The new SS version redlines, at about 5500, and that thing is like 40K! My old 95 4.3 relined at 3800! SERIOUSLY! It would fly off the line, but after second, it would get beat by a mini-van.