KEL:
The problem with your 383 is that there is no 'optimal gearing' for it in truck land. Sure in a drag car it would kick my 7.3s square in the nuts, but if you want to haul a load more efficiently than a diesel that makes it's power 2000 RPM less than you, you'd need a tranny with 3 or 4 overdrives and some real low diff gears. You just can't combine low end grunt and highway speed power when you're making your power at 4k, and there's no realistic way around that. Ever notice how 'RV' cams still make their power at low RPMs? That would be the reason.

 

(just step on the long pedel and be happy)

 

i do like the ride quality better, but i am going to put a supercharger on it right after the first of the year.

 

yea that will be cheaper to run

 

Mostly because the 5.4 has the same size pistons as the 4.6 and the V10. It just has a longer stroke. And FYI, the V10 has the same stroke as the 5.4.

Also, boring an engine to increase displacement is an exercise in futility.

 

How hard is it to bore one out? It says on that site that they make .20 and .30 over pistons for the 5.4 and 6.8.

 

Um...not hardly.

Increasing bore in an engine is a great way to increase horsepower. Hot rodders have been overboring engines for 60+ years now. Prior to the mid 60's you could easily overbore an engine .125" without going too thin on the cylinder walls.

As an added benefit, boring the block also increases your compression ratio, all else being equal.

The "Big Three" perfected thin wall block casting in the 60's, which usually limits the practical overbore to around .060. Because of this, boring the engine isn't as popular as putting in a stroker crankshaft.

But (GETTING BACK ON SUBJECT) I thought the 5.4 and the 6.8 shared pistons and rods?

5400/8 = 675 CC per piston. 675 X 10 cylinders = 6750 CC, or very close to 6.8L.

 

It says they do om sullivans website. Unless i read it wrong?

 

Typically I put little faith in them to, however, this one did conclude that if you want a gas powered truck that pulls like a diesel and outpulls the competition then go with the V10.

But in the end who cares which has more power - I drive the one I like to drive and gets the job done. Mine is a 96 with the 460 e4od. Didn't have as much power as the 454 or the Dodge V10 in it's day - but it gets the job done and is still out there 11 years later gettin it done. That's what counts.

 

Getting back to the original subject, did you know the 3V 5.4L V-8 makes more horsepower than the 1996 460?

 

I agree. The torque peak is at right at 3000 on the 383, but the horsepower peak is not until 4500. So if I held it in 2nd going up a grade, it would walk right past the 7.3. But it would also use about twice the fuel and make four times the noise.

Drifting off-topic a little... It is a 69 GMC longbed 4x4, with an Edlebrock carb, Thorley headers, a 6" lift, 35" All terrains, a D44 in front and a Corporate 14 in the rear, with 4.10's and an NP205 "rock crusher" transfer case. I thought I would sell it when I got the Super Duty, but I can't bring myself to do that. It is quick and very fun to drive, like a sports car compared to the SD

 

How about torque? I know my 5.4 makes substansially more power than my old 7.3 IDI with ATS turbo system, and can out tow it any given day of the week.

However my '86 460, with the edelbrock manifold and the 800 double pumper felt like super truck. I could tow like an animal and scoot around way faster than my 5.0 Camaro. Numerically speaking I would like to see how these two compare. I DO KNOW that this 460 was more powerful with drive train taken into consderation than the 454 in the 1980's 3/4 ton suburbans.

That short cab dually ford with the locking 4.10 drug that 4x4 suburban across the black top when I pulled chains in my school parking lot. Wasn't easy to explain to security, but I got off on a noise violation

 

I've got a 2006 F350 CC - 5.4L, 3.73 gears - that I plow with - 8.5' Western MVP. The plow weighs about 900 lbs, and I have about the same in ballast and junk in the bed (6.5' bed with a cap).

Truck doesn't stuggle at all with the snow. I plow in high gear. I only plowed in low once, which was when we had a foot of heavy wet Nor'easter snow and I ran the plow in the V position.

So...it works perfectly fine for plowing.

I've only towed once with it - borrowed a neighbor's 12,000lb trailer (very sturdy - all the bells and whistles on it) to carry a Dodge Caliber - probably less than 3,000lbs itself. The truck struggled a bit from a dead stop, but otherwise I had no problems towing it (about 60 miles on hilly country roads).

 

No, the 460 has more raw torque. A modified '86 460 probably has more horsepower than the 5.4L, plus the truck was quite a bit lighter than a Super Duty.

But, you bring up an important distinction, horsepower versus torque.

Picture 2 men, lifting 50 pound sacks of feed onto a shelf. The ability to lift the 50 pound load is torque. One man lifts 2 sacks a minute, the other lifts 3 sacks a minute. The second man has more horsepower.

Another example, the fist man can lift 50 pounds, and do 2 a minute. A second man can lift only 25 pounds, but can do 4 a minute. The first man has more torque, but they both have equal horsepower.

 

I think there was something wrong with your 7.3 IDI if your 5.4 has more power. As far as dragging a 454 burb, if you cant drag a 454 suburban and you have a 4.10 with a locker, dually, etc, your truck also has issues.