Howdy,

Called my local Ford dealer and asked about an F-150 XL REG. cab w/ 5.4, auto, A/C, and cruise and he told me that he wanted to help but, his dealership didn't ORDER reg. cab 2WD 5.4 F-150's!
He said that they COULD, but it was an unpopular cinfiguration. To be fair, the man was polite and willing to try when I was ready (it'll be a few more weeks 'til I actually buy). He told me that reg. cab was pretty much just for the V-6! No thanks.
Surely the reg. cab can be found w/ the 5.4..I am interested in Ford, despite the seeming uphill battle I'm fighting in finding one configured my way.

Rickenbacker620

PS: I'll consider a 4.6, too.

 

He is right. I can probably count the number of regular cabs I see in a day on one hand. They just are not popular or even practical anymore since the larger cabs came out. I don't know anyone that owns one, even the company I work for leases 8 or 10 Supercrews for field employees and not a single regular cab. You might end up having to order one, I am told my truck should only take 4 to 5 weeks max to deliver.

 

It's funny you guys bring up regular cabs. My 2004 was a regular cab, I know four guys who have regular cab new tyle (2004 or newer) F-150's and i believe my next one will be a regular cab long bed 4wd. But it may be a superduty and not a 150 next time.

 

The only way we'll stock a 150 regular cab is a short box XL with a 4.6 and minimal equipment. White. And one at a time. The regular cab market is just a non-starter. After looking at 2 Reg Cab SD's for almost 200 days, I'm not convinced we're going to stock any more SD's either.

 

I may be too retro, but I prefer the regular cab. My dog likes to sit up front and it has all the room I need.

 

When I was truck shopping in '04, I went looking for a regular cab 4X4 with tow package and electric windows and locks. They were hard to find regardless of brand. I had to go to a different sales region in a different state just to see a standard cab Tundra. I found the combination with the XLT and it also had the 5.4 and loads of options. However, the dealer had two and they were about to have a birthday. No wonder I was able to buy it for dealer invoice less $5,000 in rebates. I'll be floor plan interest ate up more than the holdback. Last year, I could still locate standard cab XLTs but NONE had the 5.4 engine.

 

On the topic of towing ability 4.6 vs. 5.4, obviously the 5.4 will have more power. But look at it this way, once you get that load rolling, you are only using a percentage of the power anyways. So, off the line the 4.6 may take longer to get up to speed, but once there, will have every bit as much power as the 5.4.
How often to you go WOT with a trailer behind you? Probably not often. So the extra power in the 5.4 may just not be neccessary. Comparing HP and TQ numbers between the two engines is not the same as comparing towing power. You would have to do a dyno run of each under load to see where that power is being used and I'd be willing to bet that they are pretty close throughout the powerband. Those advertised numbers are at the flywheel under perfect conditions. They don't include vehicle weight, drivetrain loss and other factors that can't be measured.

So, my guess would be, a 4.6 powered 4x2 Reg cab will pull a load every bit as well as a 5.4 powered 4x2 extended cab, all things considered. It may take another 100 ft to get up to 70 on the highway, but is that a big deal? I agree that the 5.4 with this Tow and Go package would be a no-brainer, but if it's a reg cab your after, that may not be an easy option.

FWIW, I would contact a dealership that did a lot of fleet sales, or drive out into the country where a lot of their business comes from farmers, you may have better luck finding the truck you're looking for.

 

That's my generalization of a comparison of towing the same load with a truck with a 4.6 and a 5.4, each truck did the job well. The 5.4 gets up to speed quicker when towing 6000-7000 lbs but each truck did the job well.

The 5.4 is a bit better in the hills thatn the 4.6, but it ain't gonna run circles around the 4.6.

 

From my experience I traded a 98 F150 with a 5.4 for an 05 explorer eb with 3:73 gears and tow package and that vehicle weighed in at 4500lbs, under normal driving the 4.6 was strong and was a nice daily driver, but when I went to tow my 5000lb boat I could feel every pound, she came off the line ok but the mid range was terrible so I took the loss in depreciation and went back to a truck. I bought an 06 F150 screw kr with the 5.4, 3:73 gears and 5.5 box, the truck weighs in at just under 6000lbs so now I have a vehicle that weighs 1500lbs more. In comparison to the 4.6 explorer there is none, the truck will come out of the whole like it is not hitched to anything, in the middle I feel some lag but I can't even compare it to the 4.6 and the same goes for my 98 I had with the 5.4 that weighed 5300lbs. I know every friend I have that owns a 4.6 truck wishes they had the 5.4. Good luck.

 

I bought a '05 F150 XL 5.4 3 wks. ago. Loaded with a half ton of coal, and a coal stove (about 1400lbs.), I really couldn't notice the load, other than that my truck had the ride of a Lincoln with the load. I test drove a 4.6 XLT with no load, and both seemed to have adequate power. I was surprised an XL had a 5.4 off the showroom floor. 1300 miles and I'm happy with it so far. I haven't towed a trailer yet.

 

I agree that the 4.6 will pull the trailer as well as a 5.4 once you are up to speed UNLESS YOU COME TO A HILL. When towing, there is no substitute for cubic inches.

 

its the longer stroke of the 5.4 that makes the low end power not so much the cubic inches. 4.6 3.55x3.54 5.4 3.55x4.17

 

If you are doing daily or frequent towing (light?), I'd get the bigger V-8. I don't know what you consider "light" towing, but a buddy of mine got a 2005 F150 with the 4.6L, and shortly after this, purchased a 21' fiberglass "fish-and-ski" boat. This seemed to put too much stress on the truck (RPMs stayed high.....noticeable fore-and-aft movement when letting off gas or accelerating.....truck was obviously struggling....especially on even moderate inclines). Just too much...and he only towed about once or twice per week. Used my F250 as much as possible. Get the bigger V-8.

 

IMHO, the 4.6 is too small for any 1/2 ton truck, and remember, the 5.4 is only 330 CID, so it's not all that large either. Come on guys, don't you remember when you could get a 1/2 ton truck with a 390? Why would you ever want one with an engine under 300 CID? And, if you want good mileage, don't buy a truck. There's no replacement for displacement.

 

The stroke is half of the cube in cubic inches. Increase the stroke and you increase cubic inches.