4.9 or 5.0

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Nov 25, 2003 | 09:35 PM

jessfactor

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From: philly pa

4.9 or 5.0

hey everyone. my buddy is looking around at f150's, probably early to mid 90's, to haul a small landscaping trailer in the summer and for an everyday vehicle the rest of the year. he wants the 5.0 but i'm pretty sure the 4.9 comes pretty close in terms of power and gets better gas mileage. isn't the 4.9 also one of fords longest lasting, most durable engine too? i'm not looken to start a huge debate, just some info from people who have experience with these two engines. thanks -jesse

Nov 25, 2003 | 09:41 PM

felske

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hi.

if your planing on useing a truck more so like a car, the 5.0 is the way to go...

for towing power and torque, the 300 4.9 is the best bet..

has great torque at low RPM, do to the long stroke, which is perfect for towing.

kyle

Nov 25, 2003 | 09:45 PM

acerockola77

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From: WA

4.9L for sure, 5.0 is a good engine but not for a truck. The big 300 makes lots of torque at low RPMs where the 5.0 dosen't. The 4.9 will last forever also. The gas mileage won't really be much different though.

Nov 26, 2003 | 07:16 AM

steve83

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From: Memphis, TN

The 4.9L gets SLIGHTLY worse mileage than the 5.0L, but it's not enough to be a deciding factor. The 6 probably lasts longer than the 8 given equal maintenance, and can almost hang with it in everything but outright acceleration (drag racing). Guess which engine I like...

Nov 26, 2003 | 09:20 AM

jwtaylor

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I am not familiar with the six getting worse gas mileage than the 5.0? Mine gets 17 with a 5 speed and 3.55:1 gears that is efi. The 5.0 trucks I drove sucked gas like there was no tommorow, may have been a freak event in either case but that was my experience.

4.9 is a very strong motor for hauling/towing if your friend doesn't wanna have a road terror as, previously mentioned, then go for it. They are everywhere and actually cost less (at least around here) than a 5.0. I would opt for a 4.9 or 5.8, but thats me. One thing for sure from my experiences, the 4.9 under normal driving conditions seems like a slow dog, you put a load on it and it seems to come alive, that is where it shines. I wish your friend luck in finding a nice truck, later

Nov 26, 2003 | 10:33 AM

gatesj

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From: Remsen, NY

My father had a brand new '88 F-150 with the 4.9, M5OD and 3.55's with 4x4, and then a '93 with the 5.0 and everything else exactly the same. He liked the 4.9 better for pulling and low end useable power but he said the 5.0 always got just a tiny bit better mileage both loaded/pulling and unloaded but the 4.9 had the real truck power. He said the highest he got was 24mpg in the '93 5.0 but that must have been with a stiff tailwind and downhill.

Both trucks were bought brand new and kept basically stock (I think he put a glasspack on both) so no issues with out of tune problems.

Nov 26, 2003 | 12:56 PM

quadzjr

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From: Cocoa, FL

my brother 4.9 sucks the gas. he gets only 14 mpg efi. he just got it about two months ago. but everything checks out and the computer reads now signals so i dunno. my f-150 with the v8 gets much better gas milage even on mud tires.