--Sounds like BS to me,I know nothing about a 6.0 but if my 7.3 is working pulling a load a 5.4 won't even get it rolling

the 5.4 is a lot more stout than people give it credit for. i own a 7.3 and a 5.4 and tow the same trailers with both of them. the problem with the 6.0 isnt that it lacks power, its that you have to run it wide open to keep the turbo spooled up. his turbo wouldnt even start spooling until about 3k rpm, and then it redlined at about 3500. so he didnt have much to work with as far as the power band. it pulled his trailer just fine, but when you have to turn those rpms going up hills you can watch your mpg go right out the window. but if you want to come out to the job site with us and talk to him about one day then youre more than welcome to.

 

the 6.0 has a varible pitch turbo,and his probly was stuck which does happen

 

--the 6.0 has a varible pitch turbo,and his probly was stuck which does happen

i just figured it was designed like that. we have a lot of guys on our job sites that drive 6.0s for their company truck and every one of them hates it. they all carry about 4-5k lbs of equipment on them at all times and every one of them has the same complaint. does good once you get it up to speed, but takes forever to get there, and have to run it wide open up the hills. that being said, ive only driven one of them, and it was one of the ones the guys were complaining about. but id take my 7.3 or 5.4 over it any day of the week.

 

with both engines being stock and everthing working corectly 6.0 will outpull a 7.3 but the problem with both engines is if there is a problem you have very little chance of finding a mechanic that can correctly diagnos it
the 6.0 should pull at the same RPM range that the 7.3 does

 

i may have to go test drive one. i passed up one heck of a deal on a 6.0 without even driving it because all ive ever heard about them is bad. and thats from guys that went from a 7.3 to a 6.0. the companies we hire to do work for us get new trucks about every 2 years and all the drivers i talk to love the 7.3, hate the 6.0 and love the 6.4. theres also a good chance they got an early model 6.0 before they got all the bugs worked out of it.

one of the companies we hire has a really nice deal with their drivers. they retire the trucks at 185k miles and give the driver the option to buy the truck for 1 dollar. if he chooses not to buy it they auction it off and let the other employees bid on it. one of my friends there has gotten two 7.3's for a total of two dollars. the only thing "wrong" with them is they have the company logo on the door and a few holes drilled in the bed to run wires through. but its a sticker and peels off. they have a 4" lift, off road tires, brush guard and a 15k lb winch on them too.

 

So this is my experience. The trailer is a two horse slant load double axle bumper pull with a 7500lb gvwr. With two horses, hay and tack it comes in around 7000lbs loaded. The vehicles I have towed with are, 1987 F250 long bed with 460 gas engine manual trans, 1999 EB expedition with 5.4 gasser, 1997 F250 long bed with 7.3 diesel engine auto trans and a 2005 F350 long bed with 6.0 diesel engine manual trans. They all towed it differently.
The 87 F250 did fine but it would only get 4 mpg. I had to rev her up to get up the hills and would always loose speed and I was always down shifting. But she was getting old and had 180k on the odo.
The 99 expedition seemed to be not enough truck for the trailer. To short of a wheel base. The motor had to work really hard just get the trailer moving and to keep up with the speed limit. I only would use it for short tows and would feel unsafe to go on any freeway.
The 97 F50 towed the trailer great. It seemed to be a perfect match. I got around 12 mpg. It had plenty of power but was slow to make the power, It definitely was not a race truck. The trans was the week link in the drive train and would seem to slip when revving high or when I needed to get on it. Over all it was great but I was one of the few that had a lot of problems with the motor.
The 05 F350 is even a better match than the 97. I don't ever recall ever having not enough power. This motor pulls better than anything I have ever driven. I get around 14 mpg towing. Going up hills I can downshift to 4th gear and it will hold any hill at 55mph. It does seem to lag when first rolling off but since I rev her up to 3500 rpms before shifting she is always in the power band. Overall this truck runs circles around all the other vehicles. It's like I have more truck than I need but it also gives me that safety factor for my horses and family.

 

I have a 99 f250 w/ a 5.4 as well as my 02 7.3. To suggest that a 5.4 is even close to a 7.3 pulling wise is a stretch. Could be that w/ over 200k on the 5.4 she is just tired, but it is by no means anywhere close to the psd for power. It's night and day difference when you step on the go pedal between the two pickups. I pulled the skid steer once with the 5.4, I'll just say it's a good thing I wasnt in a hurry!

The OP's situation is fine IMO. he should be able to tow his trailer occationally without incident. He might not be able to go the speed limit on the interstate, but with a little common sense his f150 will handle the load fine.

 

--The 05 F350 is even a better match than the 97....This motor pulls better than anything I have ever driven It does seem to lag when first rolling off but since I rev her up to 3500 rpms before shifting she is always in the power band....

that proves what i was saying exactly lol. he said it had plenty of power, but he didnt like having to run it to 3500 with a 3600 redline. you may get to the top of the hill faster with the 6.0, but i feel much more comfortable with my 7.3 turning 2-2500 rpm.

-- The 99 expedition seemed to be not enough truck for the trailer.

chances are youve got an automatic with about 3.55 or 3.73 gears too. with a 5 speed and 4.10's it really livens up a lot. and also, youve got the 99 model which has about 30 less horsepower then the 2000, which has about 40 less than the new one. so youre about 70 hp and 50 lb of torque behind the new 5.4 AND have an auto with less gearing. not really a fair comparison.

-- I have a 99 f250 w/ a 5.4 as well as my 02 7.3. To suggest that a 5.4 is even close to a 7.3 pulling wise is a stretch.

same response to this one. comparing the 99 5.4 to the 08 5.4 is like comparing a 96 4.6 mustang to an 08 one. its not even close, other than having the same size displacement. and youre also comparing it to an 02 7.3. so youre comparing the best 7.3 to the worst 5.4. im comparing a better 5.4 to an older 7.3. im in no way saying my 5.4 will handle a 12k lb trailer as good as my 7.3 on hills. but on flat land, theres no difference. and with intermediate weights, 5k-8k lbs, there isnt much of a difference between the two, even on small hills.

 

looks like i was off one year on my 5.4's. 98 was the last year of the one with less power.

but what im comparing is a 2000 f250 reg cab, long bed, 5 speed, 4.10 gears to a 97 f250, reg cab, long bed, 5 speed, and 4.10 gears. so the set up on the two is about as identical as it can get. my 7.3 has 215 horsepower and 425 lbs of torque. my 5.4 has 260 hp and 350 lbs of torque. they are a pretty close match in those categories. the 02 7.3 has 525 lbs of torque, so obviously its going to wipe the floor with my 7.3 as well as any 5.4.

 

I didnt know I was comparing a 99 5.4 to an 08 5.4. I May have missed something. I was comparing my 99 5.4 to my 02 7.3 (both have 3.73s)

The 02 7.3 is not the best 7.3. The last of the best were made in 2000.

Your application must be much different than mine when it comes to towing. I run most of my miles on the highway at 75mph or so. In my experience towing my skid (7k)with the 99 5.4, it takes forever to get up 65, let alone 75. It wont run at highway speed in OD unless your going downhill. Hills that slow the 5.4 down wont even make my 7.3 drop out of OD. I am not degrading the 5.4 it runs great for what we use it for. It works if a guy needs to tow occasionally, but not what I would want to tow with regularly.

 

The Expedition was never available with a manual transmission.

I've got a 2000 Expedition EB 4x4 with the towing package, 3.73s, 4R100 auto and the 2v 5.4L and it has no problem handling a 7k trailer. It even did fine with a 10k trailer.

 

--I've got a 2000 Expedition EB 4x4 with the towing package, 3.73s, 4R100 auto and the 2v 5.4L and it has no problem handling a 7k trailer. It even did fine with a 10k trailer.

i was replying to the other guys response that his expedition wasnt enough truck to handle his 7k lb trailer. and that when you compare engines you need to make sure youre comparing apples to apples. auto to auto, 3.55 to 3.55, etc. you cant compare an auto 3.55 to a manual with 4.10's and then say the engine sucks because it doesnt tow as good as the one with 4.10's. personally i think the 5.4 is a great engine. i wouldnt have one if i didnt like it. i used to pull a 12k lb gooseneck cattle trailer with mine and wouldnt think twice about doing it again.

-- The Expedition was never available with a manual transmission.

i know this.....i was only saying chances are in reference to his rear end. i know he has an auto, but i was only guessing on his gear ratio.

--I didnt know I was comparing a 99 5.4 to an 08 5.4. I May have missed something. I was comparing my 99 5.4 to my 02 7.3 (both have 3.73s)

i realize you have a 99 and not an 08. but you said me comparing my 5.4 to a 7.3 is a joke. youre comparing a newer 7.3 with 525 lbs of a torque to an older 5.4 with 350. i was comparing it for my application. an older 7.3 vs a newer 5.4.

--Your application must be much different than mine when it comes to towing. I run most of my miles on the highway at 75mph or so.

i do all my towing at around 50-60 mph and only have about 10 miles of it that is on the interstate. the rest is two lane roads. my 7.3 does better on really long, steep hills and in overdrive(which is an indication of a more powerful engine), but i never have to tow anywhere that thats an issue. on small hills and any speed up to 60 mph i cant tell a difference in the two. pull out the same, accelerate the same, etc.

 

[QUOTE=phillips91;6189199]--The 05 F350 is even a better match than the 97....This motor pulls better than anything I have ever driven It does seem to lag when first rolling off but since I rev her up to 3500 rpms before shifting she is always in the power band....

that proves what i was saying exactly lol. he said it had plenty of power, but he didnt like having to run it to 3500 with a 3600 redline. you may get to the top of the hill faster with the 6.0, but i feel much more comfortable with my 7.3 turning 2-2500 rpm.




4000 is redline for the 6.0. 3300rpm is where max hp is. I have a stick shift, so reving her up to 3500 is a good thing since after the shift I will be right around 2500 rpms and still in the max torque and I can keep it there going 55mph up hill in 5th gear. So no it does not need to be wound up all the time. My rpms would actually be less than the 7.3 with 4.10 gears since the 6.0 has 3.73 gears. Since you have never driven the 6.0 it would be impossible to compare it to the 7.3. There is more hp and torque at any given rpm on the 6.0 than there is on the 7.3. Stock for stock.




-- The 99 expedition seemed to be not enough truck for the trailer.

chances are youve got an automatic with about 3.55 or 3.73 gears too. with a 5 speed and 4.10's it really livens up a lot. and also, youve got the 99 model which has about 30 less horsepower then the 2000, which has about 40 less than the new one. so youre about 70 hp and 50 lb of torque behind the new 5.4 AND have an auto with less gearing. not really a fair comparison.




It has 3.73 gears with the auto trans. Fair comparison to what? I was just giving my real world experiences with the same trailer on different vehicles.

 

-- 4000 is redline for the 6.0.

The engine had an 3.74 in (95 mm) bore and 4.13 in (104.9 mm) stroke for a displacement of 365 CID (6 L) or 5954 CC. It utilized a turbocharger and intercooler, producing 325 hp (242 kW) and 570 lb·ft (773 N·m) with an 18:1 compression ratio, with fuel cutoff at 3600 rpm.

if it has a fuel cut off at 3600, it would be hard to turn 4000.

--Since you have never driven the 6.0 it would be impossible to compare it to the 7.3.

i said ive only driven one 6.0. the owner didnt like it and i didnt like it either. and both of us also have a 7.3 and a 5.4.

--It has 3.73 gears with the auto trans. Fair comparison to what? I was just giving my real world experiences with the same trailer on different vehicles.

youre saying the 5.4 isnt enough truck to tow 7k lbs. well, your 5.4 has an auto and 3.73 gears. put a stick and 4.10's behind it and you might change your mind. my only problem with the 5.4 is its a dog above 3k rpm. but from idle to 2500 rpm it will tow anything my 7.3 will. and do it with ease.

 

GVWR is not the key rating you need to consider while towing. More important is the GCWR, Gross Combined Weight Rating. That is the weight of the truck and trailer combined. This is often where people overload the truck. This is what stresses the engine, tranny, brakes etc. If you exceed the GCWR too much you will be dangerous on the road, your braking will be inadequate and handling may suffer.

GVWR is NOT the same for trailer and truck, they are SEPARATE ratings only applying to that vehicle. It is just the maximum weight that single vehicle can weigh.

A ballpark estimate for GCWR would be to add GVWR for truck and trailer. So find out what your GCWR is and check out the numbers. If they are close then you need to fine tune your calculations to take into account the other ratings.

GVWR is just the rating on the truck. If you exceed that you will stress the chassis, springs, axle bearing etc.

GAWR is Gross Axle Weight Rating, and has front and rear limits. When the GAWR rear is exceeded this is when you see trucks tail dragging. Also means steering is a lot less responsive.

You need to watch all the ratings but in my opinion GCWR is #1 and then GAWR and then GVWR.

The newer F150 have pretty good ratings, but only when properly equipped. Yours sounds like more of an economy model and may not have adequate brakes, cooling, suspension etc to tow a heavy load. So check your ratings.

Yes you can tow almost any load over your ratings, but that doesn't mean you are safe and that the vehiclw won't have premature wear and tear.

Just my opinion.