I've seen people that accellerate hard all the time, then slam on their brakes and their cars last for years. Plus, I hate it when people tell me how to drive - I'll drive as I wish. I say just do as you wish.

 

100,000 should be just the beginning of a great relationship. I have an '88 150 with 195,000 miles. It has the inline-six 300, and is going very strong. As well as they make vehicles today I think 200,000 shouldn't be that big of a deal.

I am on this forum in anticipation of my buying a new F-150.

 

Well then the draining the oil and brick idea still stands then !!!

<----- your bearings

cheers

Bdd

 

i dont accelarate just to slam on the brakes. but i have a bmw and i drive it pretty hard and hitting wide open throttle atleast once a drive. it does help to remove engine and carbon build up. but i won't intentionally do what your trying to do; giving the truck hell week. its not just the engine but your brake and suspension systems are getting a workout too. btw. my bmw has almost 105K on it and im sure the compression is as good as a car with half that many; i can't believe how strong it still runs. so my engine transplant for that car might have to wait atleast another 5 years.

 

oh yea your basically trying to get it more responsive? i feel how the engine goes and i dont think your going to get it to go any faster because its not how its built. its built for heavy duty and torque so most of the engine parts are too heavy. how about getting some more air into to engine and a less restricted exhaust so the engine can breathe better.

 

why dont you take some of that "soundproofing experiment" money that you are throwing away (mentioned on another post of his) and do some engine mods that will much better spent and get you the results you are looking for?

 

Toreador.

From what you are describing it sounds like you should've bought a hot rod or a sports car instead of a shiny new truck. I own a 1997 F-150 Lariat with a 4.6, and I have taken a test drive on nearly every single 2k4 F-150 with a 5.4 in it and I can tell you this, the 5.4's are NOT going to be quicker to "open up" than the 4.6. The 5.4 that Ford has designed for these trucks isn't inspired by lead footed hot-rodders in mind, it was designed and dropped in them for the power to haul.

First off, trucks are not meant to be "fast" or anything like that. Sure, there are some trucks now that are made for that (F-150 Lightning, Dodge's RAM SRT-10, and a few others), and there is even a division of NASCAR that uses trucks. However, the typical F-150 (XL, STX, XLT, FX4, Lariat) is made for the real purpose of a truck, to haul things. Just look at the F-150's 2004 line brochure...almost every single peice of eye candy they serve up in the brochure is with a boat or an RV attached to the *** end of the truck or a bed full of supplies. Keep in mind that they use this brochure to help sell the truck. I'm sure if they geared these vehicles to exploit their usefulness in a race...they would feature pictures of them racing and in the shop with guys tuning them up with the latest performance mods or something along those lines.

Second, I need to admit that I do open up the engine on my truck about every single time I drive it, then again I live in a city where you need to haul *** a lot of the time, heh. I have almost 90,000 miles on my truck now, and it's still running like a champ. Bought it 3 years ago and it had 54k on it. My uncle use to have the same exact truck (bought brand new in 97 though) and he lived in the country with nothing but dirt roads and when he sold it it had 298,000 miles on it and still ran like brand new. That's why I got mine. He wasn't a speed demon like myself. From these two trucks being used in different ways, and still running amazingly, I can tell you that "throwing down" on them won't hurt a bit. Well, it shouldn't anyway.

I'm going to sum this up by saying that you can and should do whatever you feel like to your truck because it is, afterall, YOUR truck. I'm frankly put-off by the responses of some people on the forums here to your post. I would expect much more of a "let us know if it works" instead of a "you're a moron and you're going to screw something up." Anything on a vehicle can be fixed or replaced, and alot of it that you can mess up you can replace or fix yourself. You shouldn't go out in fear that you'll break something, unless you're not prepared to shell out the cash to have it fixed. Again, I say do what you want to your truck man, you paid for it, I wouldn't let somebody tell me how to unless I ask specifically.

Have fun and let us know how your truck is feeling after all this. Latah.

~FG18

 

We are not telling him what to do, but what he is doing isnt a very sound decision. Trying to help him before he makes the mistake of breaking or damaging his brand new truck. I dont see the problem with this. After all that is what forums are for. Another forum a guy wants to add a crew cab to his truck by sawing the frame and welding a chunk in.. should I just say "have at it and let us know how it goes?".. You and I both know these arent the best route for these vehicles and we are just stating what is obvious to us. Sometimes a bit sarchastically but its all in good fun.

 

Thanks, Big, I'm not offended or rattled by the responses. I'm sure all are in convincing me to take the best route for my truck. I expect 200,000 plus miles off this engine, and I'll bet anyone here I'll get it, even with my short lived experiment.

 

Just give it time man, there is no need to put your truck through "hell week" its not trying out for the Navy Seals ya know! Most of the guys around here will agree that after ~1500 miles these trucks really come alive. At almost 3000 miles I can honestly say the truck I'm driving now is totally different than it was 2996 miles ago (had 4 miles on the odom when I picked it up). I never put my truck through the bends just to "loosen" it up, but yes it was tigther than dick's hat-band when it was new. I did vary my RPM's mainly by varying my speeds between 40-60 mph and shifting btwn OD and D. Also for the first 500 miles or so I would manually down shift to "1" when approaching a red light. IMO, by giving your truck a "hell weekend" you're right it won't damage it (just think how rental vehicles are treated) they will hold up (that's why they install rev limiters now) but I also don't see you gaining any ground on making your 5.4L "looser" or quicker. I would recommend paitience and maybe a diet for the truck if you want it to be faster.

I also drive on a daily basis a 97 F150 with a 4.6L with 85K, and it will "twist" up much quicker than the 5.4L in the 2004. Also the 97 seems much quicker, but then again the 97 has excessive road noise and wind noise, the radio sucks, its just a plain XL, and overall doesn't hold a candle in the wind to my FX4.

 

oh yea ive just got over 3000 miles on my truck. it has loosened up a lot. the A/C even seems like its getting colder.

 

Ha ha, this is funny as hell. In my opinion, if a truck should be driven like a vintage caddy, then a vintage caddy should be in the garage instead of the truck.

Toreador isn't trying to break Walker Evans' records or anything, he's just driving a truck within the realm that truck was designed for. If hammering the gas for a week is going to make his 04 F150 a beater, then maybe I should reconsider buying a Ford when it gets here.

Drive it like you stole it, Toreador. I know I will.

 

Seems pretty radical for one more horsepower doesnt it. I hope he has an extended warranty

 

throw some sand in the oil too.. that will help grind in some much needed clearances and loosen things right up..

As was stated in earlier posts, that is why buying used is such a gamble. No, it probably wont break anything and may run for 200,000 miles.. and people who smoke and drink daily may live to be 100.. but not likely.

 

Wow, this has certainly turned out to be a hotbed of opinions, and rightfully so. Look, I see new f150's all the time now and SOME drive all calm like my granddaddy, and SOME are hotrodding around pushing the truck. Nothing has changed with driving styles over time... The ONLY thing that has changed is technology. Trucks are being built bigger, stronger, faster..... Drive it like a black Monte Carlo with a 3 on the hood is in your rear view. He isn't slowing down... you shouldn't either.

Ask my grandaddy the same question and he would say to baby it like she was your bride to be.