How many here bought a SuperDuty F250 CrewCab 4x4 with the 5.4 and wish they would have gotten the V10 instead?

 

I have a 2003 F250 CC 4x4 LWB with a 5.4L and 3.73 gears.

At the time it was hard to find (in my area anyway) a V10 and I got a GREAT deal on the 5.4L. I doubted the reliability of the new 6L PSD as it was new in 2003.

It's not a "work" truck or a heavy hauler. Haven't towed anything yet. So far it's been a pretty good Home Depot, Lowes, and local lumber yard "homeowner" truck.

It's also NOT a daily driver. I have a 4-cyl car (35mpg) for that and my wife has a new 2005 V8 4Runner.

If the Biodiesel thing really takes off in the future, I would consider...

1) Replacing the 5.4L with a 5.9L Turbo Diesel Cummins (depending on the condition of the rest of the truck).

2) Trade in for another F250 with a RELIABLE Diesel engine. Hate to spend big $$$ to be a lab rat.

That's my $0.02

Bob

 

I have a 05 SD 4x4 crewcab with the 5.4L and love it. While it will not win any races off the line, I have no regrets in using it up to it's rated level in pulling or payload. Buy what suits you and do not fall into the click of needing a "V10" or "Powerstroke" label on the fender. Wasted money if you do not need them.

Hootbro

 

I forgot to add in my earlier post that I DO like the 5.4L in my F250 SD.
My rant about biodiesel was just a vent for the high fuel prices.

Like Hootbro said "It won't win races off the line."
If I wanted to do that, I would have bought a FAST car.

 

I have an '02 CC 4x4 SB with the 5.4 and 3.73's, and I too, love it. Off the line its a bit of a dog, but it gets up and goes when I need it to, and I never foresee myself pulling anything beyond its towing capacity. Like rmo1, I also have a 4 banger I use to commute Mon-Fri, the truck is a weekend toy. I know if I had the V10 my foot would be to the floor off every light, and I would be going to the gas station more frequently, so the 5.4 is a good thing.

 

Nope.......

 

I'm considering buying a new F-250 SD Crew Cab 2WD Long Bed but wasn't sure that the 5.4L would be enough. I don't plan on doing much towing but will sometimes be hauling firewood, lawn equipment, making Home Depot runs, etc., but most of the time will be empty. My driving is about 50% HWY, 50% Local.

Based on the replies on this thread, most of you seem to think that the 5.4L is good enough. I would love to hear some more opinions from both sides of the fence.

Thanks,
Eric

 

BlueOval5.0

For what you mentioned you're going to do with the SD, a 5.4L is fine. The newer 5.4L has more power than the previous version.

MPG isn't that bad as I have a light foot. If MPG where an issue, I wouldn't have bought the fruck.

If I knew I was going to haul heavy stuff in the bed or tow a heavy load, I would consider a diesel.

 

My 99 SD with a 5.4 and 4.10 gears was great when stock but after a lift, 35" tires and 100k miles it was a real dog. The engine still ran great but a moped could outrun it. It even struggled with towing my 20' boat. It would shift in and out of overdrive on the slightest hill.
I just got an 05 SD with a 6.0 and man is it awesome. It also get about 6 mpg more in town. I love it.

 

Did you reprogram the PCM after adding the 33" tires?

 

My 5.4L in the 02 F250 blows. Get between 7-12MPG empty and it is slower than frozen syrup. Won't even tow 2 ATV's on a flatbed 12' trailer without struggling and using over 1/4 a tank on a 50 mile drive..

 

My brother has an 02 F250 SC 4x4 with the 5.4L. He loves it, as it suits him fine for the towing and hauling equipment he does. His boat weighs around 3500lbs. He plows snow in the winter and never has he complained about the available power & torque of the 5.4L. Only "bad" time he had with it was a trip from PA to FL to pick up his other 25' boat, which must weigh around 7000lbs. Going down to FL, he managed about 15mpg. Coming home with the boat in tow, he got only 5mpg. His wife almost died when the Sunoco bill arrived at the end of the month!

 

That's surprising to hear. We just got our barely used 5.4L 2004 F250 FX4 about 10 days ago w/7,200 miles on the clock when we got it. Last weekend, we towed two ATV's, a 15,000 watt generator, a 33-gallon fuel tank filled to capacity, and enough supplies to camp out for the weekend. We had our water supply tank in the bed, it had 210 gallons in it (which weighs about 1750-lbs.). Our F250SD towed that payload over 3-miles of sugar sand (and through about a dozen muddy ruts/ravines we had to cross) to get to our campsite without missing a beat, and if my calculations are right, but keeping my foot out of the accelerator, we got 15+ MPG.

It has plenty of power... and I'm used to power - I have a hi-po 302 in my daily driver Mustang and 440-horsepower special edition LS1 Trans Am that's my showcar... so I know if a car/truck is lacking power.

Our SD didn't disappoint. I was worried that it might, because we normally take my best friend's '99 V10 F350 DRW out to the campsite and it handles the same payload effortlessly; our 2004 250SD did just as well as the 350 did.

Anyway... I think the 5.4L is all you need unless you're using it as a work truck and regularly pulling/hauling loads near the truck's capacity or you spend lots of time off-road where the extra torque comes in handy. I guess we were hauling a grand total of about 5,000 lbs. to the campsite, which is what... roughly half the truck's total capacity? So we weren't using it to its fullest, either... but we don't really have plans to tow 9000+ lbs. any time soon.

-R

 

The 2004 5.4L is a 3-valve with VVT. It doesn't compare to '03 and earlier, or even '99 2-valve V10's.

 

I currently own a regular cab f250 4X4 with a 5.4 and 4:10 gears. I vhave yet to find an instance when i needed more power. Even pulling my 4000 pound boad, I had no problems, as it does everything better(except fuel millage) than my old truck with the 300-6. I was origionally a littel nervous about pulling my boat for the first time from what I have heard on this board about the 5.4. I have found that what I had been reading about needing a diesel or V10 to tow anything was bunk.