hiebs,

Still haven't seen what you plan to do with the truck. How much, how big, or how often you plan to tow. Or, if you'll be towing in the flatlands, mountainous terrain, daily driver etc etc.

That's going to really determine which engine you "should" get.

Honestly, if you don't plan to tow anything big, or real heavy all the time, and you plan to use it as a daily driver. Then the 5.4L will get slightly better mileage than the V10. I only base this on what I've heard owners of 5.4L equipped F250 trucks say they get. Of course some aren't real happy about the way said truck moves a really heavy load up a mountain either.

The V10 does indeed deliver the mail when it comes to towing big and heavy. But she drinks a lil bit more than the 5.4L when running around empty.

Go back up to my first paragraph, let us know your intentions, then we can give you a little bit better advice as to what you may want to do with your money.

Enjoy,
RustyFuryIII

 

A lot of guys have 5.4l in a SD and they do the job. For $600 more I will take the V10 any day. IMO the 5.4l doesn't belong in a CC or X. Stay away from a 5.4l and 3:73 combination.

 

I have 2 trucks, a 2000 with a 5.4 manual & a 2003 v-10 auto, both with 3.73 rears & stock sized tires. They get the same mileage. The v-10 has the overhead console and it tells me I get better mileage at 120 than 100 kms. They should be at least 4.10 gears. Haven't towed much big loads with the v-10 yet as I just got it 5 months a go, but the v-8 pulled some big loads & only ever slowed down up steep hills in river valleys or the foot hills. Don't be afraid of the v-8,but the v-10 has way more power & fun factor. That is just what I have learned, my 2 cents.

 

And now, back to the thread at hand, after deleting the totally unnecessary BS.

Sorry guys, I would have handled it much sooner if it was a weekday

Thanks for reporting it.

 

You should listen to my Bidie who just bought a SD with the 5.4L and 3.73 B$tch about how it is underpowered and is nothing like his old dodge 360, i told him to go with the 10 but he said he didn't think he would need that power, I tried.

 

Same gas milleage? It seems the 5.4 folks are often getting 13-14 and the V10 folks single digits / barely over 10. Also my cousins 2000 5.4l with 3.73 hauls a big ol gooseneck and his pulling tractor all over the tri state area (plus all the rest of the farm work of course) without any complaints. Dont know if the 5spd has anything to do with it though, I know he is happy with it and even claims 15mpg with all the mods he has done recently (tuner, exhaust, etc). But just from feedback on the forums it seems there are way more people dissapointed with the v10 than the v8. Maybe they just had too high expectations, IDK.

I am also contemplating between an 8 and 10. Hauling isnt a factor nor is speed (I dont ever plan on drag racing my truck I guess). I'll take a 1-2 mpg gain in fuel efficiency personally even if the cost was $0 for the v10 in this day and age. But if the fuel milleage really isnt any different, then I'd surely go the 10 route. The only thing I may do is put 35's on it.

 

If you compare two identical trucks, with the same gearing, the 5.4 gets "almost" the same mileage as the V10.

If it's got a load on it, the V10 will get either the same or BETTER mileage.


My '01 with 3.73 gears, I get 16MPG consistently on long highway trips.

I also get about 6 around town, but I can't keep my foot out of it.

 

To all in this reviewing this post, I apologize for the argument that took place on this post last week. I should have handled it differently.

 

You can believe these guys who say that they have a buddy who has a V10 that gets 8 MPG no matter what or you take take the word of the guys who own them.

The only post I ever saw in here of a guy getting single digits on a regualr basis was on a truck that was a lemon. It spent a lot of time in the dealer and had many, many things done or replaced under warranty.

I went from a V10 to an F150 5.4, then back to a V10. I didn't really save any in fuel costs with the F150. Overall MPG difference between the 5.4 F150 4x4 crew vs the truck I have now is 1 MPG. Towing my boat, I got worse mileage with the F150. Very rarely did it get over 9 MPG. The transmission did a lot of shifting too, even with the OD off. 5.4 F150 average MPG for me was 13. 6.8 F250 average MPG so far is 12 MPG empty (10 in town 14 at 65-70 on the highway) 10 towing.

It depends on how you want to use the truck. A 5.4 in a Super Duty has the benefit of heavy duty transmissions, standard or Torqshift, and also the Super Duty platform itself. (A Torqshift in the F150s would change everything though.) It really isn't fair to compare a 5.4 in an F150 to a 5.4 in a Super Duty. I'm sure a 5.4 would be just fine if used around town.

The V10 really shines out on the highway where power is need to merge onto busy interstates, on two lane roads where power is needed to pass slow moving traffic safely and on steep grades where the power is needed to maintain a safe speed.

That having been said. If I used my truck in an urban area, with constant stop and go traffic wherever you went, then a 5.4 with 4.10 gears and stock size tires would be my pick. All flat, open road, piont A to point B, no trailer, a 5.4 with 3.73 would be fine.

Any other variables would have me looking at a V10. For $600 you could never modify a 5.4 to do what a V10 will do stock.

 

I also went from an F150 with a 5.4 to a F250 V-10. When towing the same trailer the MPG's are better with my V-10. Empty on the highway the F150 got about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 MPG better than the F250. Not much of a penalty for a much bigger truck. I checked the V-10 on Saturday I got just over 13.5 on the highway at 70. (light load)

When towing I feel so much more safer and in control with the F250. The 3v V10 with the Torqshift is just a great towing rig. But it is not a hot rod. It is just to heavy.

 

Very wellput JKBrad.