8 of the Best Ford Truck Engines Ever Made

At least part of Ford's legendary success in the truck market can be attributed to some pretty great engines. These 8 are the best engines to ever power a Ford truck. Check them out inside!

 

Can you really have '8 Best' without 8 worst? I mean, have there even been 16 distinctive engines in Ford Trucks since their inception?!? I mean I only count the Windsor as 1 engine with just 6 members in the family.
221 cu in (3.6 L)
255 cu in (4.2 L)
260 cu in (4.3 L)
289 cu in (4.7 L)
302 cu in (4.9 L)
351 cu in (5.8 L)

 

I may have given the 302 an honorable mention but the 4.6L wasn't even considered. The 4.6L was the least troublesome of the modular engines and yet the 5.4L gets the nod.

To set the record straight, the 300 wasn't nearly as economical as the writer would have us believe. I had two of them and 17 MPG was a best for me while my 3.5L ecoboost gets that in town and with tons and gobs of power.

 

Some of those engines don't belong on the list.

The 16v 4.6 belongs on this list, not the 300.

The 460 was a wheezy guzzler. Sure it might have been ok most of the time, but the GM 8.1L ate it's lunch every year. For that, it doesn't belong on this list. And why does it have a thousand water pump bolts, that are all a different length. Good engine if mechanic hours are free or cheap. Not to mention it was the 1st engine I ever saw that could literally EXPLODE a distributor.