Since its a 2wd a gear swap is half price. The 4R100 in stock form makes the truck feel really sluggish also. A good tune really helps. My Throley headers put quite a bit of snap into the low and mid power. I wish you luck on your journey.

 

Stewart just a thought, maybe dealer would let you hook up your dump trailer and give it a pull before laying down cold hard cash for the truck. Thinking out loud here.

Mike

 

Guys, I'm wondering if my posts are not clear. I AM NOT looking for a race truck. I have my Lightning for that. I AM NOT looking for a stop light king. I have my Lightning for that. I AM NOT looking for a 1/4 mile monster. I have my Lightning for that!

What I am looking for is a truck that will on occasion (once-in-a-while), on an infrequent basis, tow a 10k lb dump trailer, AND still be able to provide a little bit of performance when I need to accelerate hard for whatever reason. Performance at least on par with my '03 F150. Based on many, MANY threads here in this forum, I was under the impression the V10 would do that, with minimal performance upgrades.

It's funny, search through the threads here on the forum and you'll find quite a few posts extolling the virtues of the V10, and how they compare, (performance wise, not talking about towing), with very light modifications, to modified diesels and such, yet in this very thread, I'm told I shouldn't expect too much performance from the V10 because it's built to be a tow rig.

It's contradictory!

Believe me guys, I am NOT trying to start something. I WANT a V10 F250. But a lot of my WANT was built upon the posts and threads I read here! Now it seems I'm being told I have unrealistic expectations, based on how some people have posted.

I'm really confused now.

I'm not looking to buy a V10 for towing. I have my Excursion for that. I will use it for towing a 10K lb dump trailer once-in-a-while, but I'm not buying it for THAT purpose. I've actually towed the dump trailer many times with my '03 F150, (not completely loaded, of course) and the light duty truck handled it superbly. But the F150 is going to my son, so I need a replacement, so I figured I'd get an F250. I already have a diesel, so I figured I'd check out how you guys liked your V10's, and your enthusiasm sold me on the V10! But When I test drove one, it didn't live up to the expectations that were set by this forum.

So, again, I say I'm confused!

Of course, I can't tear down the engine of the truck I test drove, but I'm certain there's nothing wrong with it. So certain I'd buy it if I knew with a gear change all my concerns would be for naught. So if it's not the truck, is my disappointment from unrealistic expectations?

Stewart

PS - Joe, thanks for the offer buddy. I wish you lived closer

 

So, you think a gear swap to 4.30's, the other mods I mentioned above, coupled with a crisper shifting valve body, along with a custom tune, will make the truck I drove come close to, if not surpass, the expectations I had before the teat drive?

If I understand you correctly, that's food for thought. I can't ever leave my vehicles alone, and I'm forever modifying them, so it doesn't bother me if I have to modify this truck to wring out the performance I was expecting.

I just need to know for certain I wouldn't be wasting my money.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I hope you guys can tell I'm really trying to love this engine the same way you guys do.

Stewart

 

I know exactly how you feel. I bought my '08 partly on what I read here. Before I ordered mine I drove a '06 and 2 new '08s. All had 4.10 gears. The first '08 was a dog. The wifes 5.3 Sub would have waxed any time any place empty. The other new one and the '06 were stronger but not inspiring.

As Rusty said better than I can is that they pull better than you think they should. If you want more juice, Mike at 5 Star can help. Mine is A LOT more fun to drive with his tune. Will it run with the Dmax I traded? 0 to 60, yes, very close. 60 to 80, nope.

Am I happy with the 10er? Yep. Overall very pleased. If I wasn't something else would be in the garage.

Oh and by the way, your not the first fellow to have feelings like this. Search for a post from a few months ago about the '08s being dogs.

 

I feel in love with my v10 on the first drive and never considered it a 'slug'.

I went from a 00 F150 5.4 and loved it - I had reprogammed it with a SuperChips and put in a K&N. The 5.4 was a great engine, even with the 3.55 rear, I could smoke the tires.

When I looked at the v10, I thought it would be a 5.4 with 2 more cylinders but it didn't quite have the 'get up and go'. I mean it would go, but it was different; not as quick.

The first time I towed, I knew I made the right decision... WOW! This truck pulls like there is no tomorrow... even with the 3.73s. Last year I pulled our 7700# TT from Charlotte to Sandusky - right up thru Fancy Gap, VA... and I passed several diesels. This is not the Rockies, but there are several, long 6% grades that run up to 7,000 ft. I never had an instance where I felt my v10 couldn't do what I expected of it.

When I hear everyone talk about the difference the 4.30 gears make, I want them; but for me (at least for now) my set up fits my needs.

I kind of agree with others here... something must have been wrong with the truck you test drove... or maybe I just got lucky with mine.

 

Dang, I missed this post somehow...

Yes, I do understand that. My expectations of the V10 were never tied into, or set because of, the performance of my custom tuned 7.3 PSD.

That's good to know.

Doooooooooooooooooood!! Don't get me going. There's isn't a money tree alive that can feed the modding fiend within me!!!!!!!!!!!

Not at all. Not in the least bit.

Like I said, my daily driver is an '03 F150 XLT extended cab with a 5.4L engine. My '99 Lightning with a built engine, ported heads, custom cams etc has been relegated to weekend driving, strip action, and autocrossing events.

Yes, your opinion and input has helped. Everyones opinion has helped. I'm glad this thread is garnering a bunch of responses.

I am actually looking forward to modifying (spending the time and money) on whatever I get, I was just hoping the base platform would be better, performance wise, than it seems to be.

Stewart

 

I tried not to use the term slug, because it's too subjective. I may have failed (I don't wanna go back and reread my posts), but I don't think I did use that term. Instead, I tried to tie my observations to something all of you would understand, my '03 F150. I figured most of you guys were pretty familiar with the performance of the 5.4L F150, so I used it as a common frame of reference.

That's a perfect summation of how I feel.

From reading the threads here, I thought it was a reasonable expectation. I can see now I was wrong.

I believe it. But again, I have my Excursion for that purpose.

The towing requirements of my truck would consist of a 2 to 6 mile jaunt to the landfill with a 10K GVW dump trailer.

No, I think it was my expectations.

I'd lay money...heck, I'd give 5 to 1 odds...the V10 engine I test drove is in near perfect, if not perfect, condition. As the truck is right this second, I wouldn't hesitate to hook my travel trailer up to it and haul it to the east coast. I'm THAT confident in it's condition.

Stewart

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but these trucks have adaptive learning strategies. So I think that if the previous owner was a slow driver the truck might adapt to that kind of driving at least I think that's how it works. On a side note I used to have a 2000 F350 v10 crew cab short bed and it had basically the same tools that I have now in my 2008 F350 v10, actually the '08 weighs more, but this new truck will simply outrun the old truck easily, I would be willing to bet my new v10 would outrun the old v10 even if it was empty. I would think that proper gearing would be needed to make you smile.

 

Just wanted to add, I noticed my 05' takes off about as fast hooked to the travel trailer as it does empty. The power is there, it's just not snappy right off the line. It's kind of a learning curve I guess, until you get used to it.

 

"What I am looking for is a truck that will on occasion (once-in-a-while), on an infrequent basis, tow a 10k lb dump trailer, ..."

That is exactly what a V10 equipped F250 SD will do, no problem, none what-so-ever.

"...AND still be able to provide a little bit of performance when I need to accelerate hard for whatever reason."

Again, this engine will deliver in that department also. Want to merge on an interstate at speed w/o worrying about slowing down traffic. Not an issue, she'll do it. Want to accelerate quickly from 55mph to 75mph to get around someone? No problem, it'll do that too. Need some oomph to get up over that extremely steep rise w/o bogging down. Done deal, no sweat.

"Performance at least on par with my '03 F150."

I have no idea, I never owned one to compare the two.

"Based on many, MANY threads here in this forum, I was under the impression the V10 would do that, with minimal performance upgrades."

On that note, we have been accused by some of drinking from the cool aid. But here is the deal, at least from my point of view anyway. Many of us either didn't want, didn't need, or couldn't afford a diesel. Half of us have probably never owned one. But what we did want based on our research, needs, and income was something that offered up more HP and torque than the 5.4L from Ford, the 5.7L Hemi from Dodge, and the 6.0L gasser from GM in a 250/2500 series/style truck or SUV. What we got for a mere pittance, $600, was a great engine at a great price. The 2V & 3V V10 in my opinion is the best gasoline engine Ford has put under the hood of an SUV or truck in many many years. It truely is a terrific truck engine.

In my last post to you I was only trying to relay to you my experiences. Those of us in this forum do feel that we have a great engine. The problem may be that what we feel is an excellent choice for us, may not seem so to others. Great performance to some, may not mean the same thing to someone else based on past experiences. Some peoples experiences run deeper than others. And as one poster pointed out, that issue has been brought up more than once on this forum.

As I said before, if you're looking at the 2V V10, from what I've read here, and learned from speaking with others. This engine has a few more performance mods available to it than the 3V. Which, as some claim, may deliver as much, maybe slightly more performance gains than a stock 3V. Not an expert there, only passing on what I've read, never done the research. And, it is possible down the road that someone, somewhere, may provide an excellent bang for the buck product that provides more HP and torque to the ground for us 3V owners as well.

I hope you find more V10s to test drive, hopefully you'll find one that meets your needs. One that you can wrench on a bit that will deliver more of what you're looking for. I know from speaking with Joe, that he has done some really neat stuff to his V10/drive train, and it performs well for him.

Enjoy,
RustyFuryIII

 

Krewat - not to go against what your saying, but I've never seen any improvments in any of my vehicles by changing filters. I am sure they do make a difference sometimes but mine just never did. On my 150 I put off doing some things to it for a while since I never had much money or time and wasnt planning on keeping the truck that long. Well it did end up a long time and at 100k I went through and freshened it up. I had not done anything to it yet except of course oil changes and cleaning the K&N air filter twice I think. Even had valvoline do thier fuel system cleaner and clean the MAF but never saw any change. Changed fuel filter for the first time. Just before 100k I changed all the plugs and wires (with motorcraft) and even though the platinum was completely gone on a few plugs and the gaps really wide I again didnt notice any change (actually a slight drop in mpg but probably was the same time they were starting winter blend fuel).

Everyone makes a big deal about the MAF but its my understanding that it isnt even used when your engine is in closed loop mode once its warmed up.

I was just on ford.com and selecting the V10 limited the gear choices to 4.10, 4.30 LS only, regardless of transmission unless they are available on a different model (I am building an XL).


It goes to show how different peoples wants are. My cousin has a 2000ish SD with the 5.4 (just the 2V remember) a 5speed, and hauls a goosneck and tractors all the time. Sure he wants a diesel but he has never been dissapointed with the 2V 5.4L hauling a pulling tractor across the state. Infact one time I was with him going through a drive through and he forgot he was hauling the goosneck and almost wipped out the drive through... that thing seemed to me like it had quite a bit of seat of the pants torque and I was just the passenger. Oh, and his had 3.73's. He might have been using L though cause it really did whip the neck. He said its never failed to do anything he wanted around the farm, he just doesnt have any bragging rights.

 

The MAF still samples the air and adjusts the fuel and spark curve accordingly, along with other sensory inputs.

Stewart

 

Yes you did...
The engine and everything could look well maintained, but there are hidden things that you cannot see that would cause it not run right. For example, the v10 is fuel pressure sensitive and if the fuel filter is dirty and restricting flow, then that could cause issues - I've seen pristine trucks with dirty fuel filter (and you even said the air filter needed changing, so just imagine the fuel filter). My point being, Looks can be deceiving. If you really want a V10, then I think you need to test drive more than one.

Another thought is that the truck on had 65k on it... many folks here have said that when they bought their V10s new, they 'woke up' as the odo rolled up more miles. Since I bought mine with 105k already on it, I cannot attest to that.

Have you had someone run an Oasis Report? Just curious what it may contain. Who knows, maybe this truck has had some issues.

I don't believe that you are trying to be controversial or anything (neither am I), but in the end you have to be happy with what you choose... if you're not happy with the V10, then buy a PSD - plain and simple. From what you have said here, I believe that the V10 will suit you well... but that is purely my opinion.

 

The MAF is GOD in the control system. It's ALWAYS used for air/fuel control with the O2 sensors used for feedback in closed loop operation.

Stewart,one thing I think you're feeling vs the other trucks you're used to driving.....The OEM V10 PCM program is hideous. The truck NEVER goes into open loop power enrichment-they operate under closed loop with O2 sensor feedback attempting to control the air/fuel to a stoich 14.64:1 even at WOT. The only time they ever vary from that(with very few exceptions) is when the PCM calculates the manifold flange or catalyst temperatures are too high,then it attempts to drown the engine in an excessively rich mixture to cool them off. A good tune that allows power enrichment at WOT is a nigh and day difference.
JL