Now were talking remember when the F-150 was a 1/2 ton Daly driver ! and you didint need to tow anything but a uhaul trailer, for band gear, and home depot supplies, wait now were talking abut me.

 

, I agree with you about 75%.

that is a very viable option...but one that will never happen.

Ford would be seen as backing down the F-150...and then Dodge, Nissan, Toyota, Chevy would step into that void of "The biggest baddest 1/2 ton"


I personally would like to see the size remain the same, but some gastric bypass occur. If these trucks could lose about 1,000 lbs or so...I think you'd see an easy 2-3 MPG gain...if not more.
what a completely useless and utterly misinformed statement...that ranks up near the top of what I've seen here on FTE. I've towed with a 98 F-150 I owned. It was perfectly fine towing.

And to compare a motor from 10 yrs ago to the newest revision that is roughy 70HP more powerful, 3v instead of 2v...I'm guessing that is what bsimmer was talking about.

not to mention, you are comparing a F-250 w/ diesel to a 1/2 ton gasser...duh, the Superduty does a better job hands down

thank your local hippy tree hugger. with the requirements to limit the exhaust gases a diesel outputs, the diesel engine is strangled to death...you see the high MPG diesels in areas of the world without stringent regulations

that is the killer

Ford has made many many innovations in the past 15 years. Most of them safety and creature comforts...but these come at a cost. WEIGHT

 

that is all.

 

And to compare a motor from 10 yrs ago to the newest revision that is roughy 70HP more powerful, 3v instead of 2v...I'm guessing that is what bsimmer was talking about.

not to mention, you are comparing a F-250 w/ diesel to a 1/2 ton gasser...duh, the Superduty does a better job hands down

Tylus...Tylus
Let me add a little more info, although my comment is for a 98 F150 and not an 09, this truck barely could pull 5000lbs and was rated to pull 9k lbs. A friend had (past tense) a 2004 with the 3v thinking it would pull betting than mine and it was marginally better pulling about the same load and it to was gutless, therefore with my experience with the 5.4 engine I would never own another. Maybe the 5.0 and the 6.2 will solve this issue.

Bottom line is I was forced to upgrade trucks to a F250 because of a gutless 5.4 engine. The powerstroke does an exceptional job of pulling btw...

 

It might have 70 more hp, but the truck has gained over 1000lbs of fat as well.

 

what were you towing with your "gutless" 98 with 5.4?

You come in here and interject a random thought about the 5.4 engine....but wait, you aren't referring to the 09's...and your only experience of the 5.4 3v is with a friends truck, not your own.
are you one of those people who likes to fly by at 75 mph with a overloaded truck and trailer...because you can?from my own personal experience, the 5.4 3v is more than adequate at towing pretty much any load you have within it's rated specs. Of course it will bog down on hills...surprise.

 

show me a gas V8 engine with stock gearing that won't bog down on a hill with a 5-8k load on it??? what some guys expect out of a gas v8 engine is diesel-like performance. just because the F150 is rated to tow X amount, doesn't mean it will do it as easy as the F250, F350...

gearing... i'll bet a lot of guys didn't even consider that when they bought the truck. it makes a huge difference!!!

 

I am curious what you mean by gutless? My step-dads 98 with the 4.6 will tow 5k all day long no problem, but could use a little more power. My 09 with the 5.4 is far from gutless, but obviously will not tow the same as dads 03 F250 with the 6.0 Powerstroke. 5k behind a 5.4 or 5k behind a 6.0 is not comparing apples to apples.




Krewat
If you want brand-new, go look at how the 6.0 Powerstroke did in the Superduty in 2003




What was wrong with the 6.0? Nothing at all. The problems just like with the current powerstroke are in the government mandated emissions controls that Ford has nothing to do with. At least that is what has been my experience, I have a buddie who is a tech at Ford and drives an F250 with the 6.0. Also my dad ordered a 03 F250 with the 6.0 and has yet to have any problems. Just curious if there were any other problems that I am not aware of.

 

Tow a 22ft boat.

The interjected random thought was my actual experience with both the 5.4 2v and 3v engines in which I'm not impressed with either.

Didn't drive a overloaded truck or trailer. The weight was well within the trucks tow rating and I drive the speed limit of 70mph. Not asking too much here for a truck.

Didn't tow my boat to the race track... Actually I towed it to the boat ramp and the 5.4 engine struggled to do just that.

Glad your satified with your truck as I've been a blue oval fan for many years.

My experience with the 5.4 2V and to a lesser degree 3V is very disapointing. Fuel mileage towing the boat was 8 -9 mpg, because the engine couldn't keep the trany in overdrive. It basically ran in 3rd gear. The 5.4 engine was actually quite reliable it just falls short in the power. Also the truck was a 4x4 super cab with 17" tires.

Tylus... Ever driven a Super Duty 4x4 Crew Cab with a 5.4? Well that's really a Utterly and Worthless setup!

 

Tell that statement to my buddy who had a 5.4 3V and traded it in for a fricken Tundra with a 4.7L engine!

 

Folks are using the term "no problem" very loosely here. What does that mean?

Tim

 

one of my company work trucks is an 04 f250 crew cab, automatic, 3.73 geared 5.4 and it is by far the most underpowered v8 truck i have ever driven. just stick your hand out the window and it has to shift out of overdrive.

 

What they are most likely referring to are the headgaskets. The headbolts can stretch, causing the gaskets to blow. If you look over on the 6.0 forum you'll find plenty of discussion on that. I had a 6.0 too, and like your dad I never had any problems with it. It was a great truck. It seems like most of the people that have problems are ones that have chips/tuners, although you do occasionally see one blow that was stock. Doing large amounts of heavy towing seems to be a factor for some as well.


Well Tim, I can't speak for others, but here is what I mean when I say "no problem" in reference to pulling power. To me that means that you can maintain the speed limit on most hills. On really steep grades you may slow down some, but you are still able to pass the tractor trailers that are in the slow lane with ease (funny, you don't hear anyone saying big rigs are gutless). Getting up to speed in order to merge with traffic is easy enough to keep any sphincters from puckering. Taking off on steep hills (like a steep boat ramp) leaves you with plenty of throttle (>40%) in reserve.


I towed 7,000 lbs with my '01 on a quite a regular basis with "no problem" as stated above. I towed in 3rd gear @ about 2500 rpm, and that's where it stayed except on very rare occasions it might dip down to 2nd. Better yet, I towed about 8,000 lbs on a few occasions with pretty similar results. It would slow a little more on some of the hills, but still passing those big rigs. I haven't done much towing with my '09 yet, but with the extra power and 2 extra gears it has over the '01, I can only see it doing even better.

Some guys think that if your truck can't tow up a mountain in overdrive, then it's a dog. Some guys think that if you lose any speed whatsoever up that mountain, it's a dog. I've had a diesel, and with a 7k load it could do that (stay in overdrive). However, some of the loads guys pull with their diesel will make it behave just like my 5.4 with 7 or 8k did. Been there, done that. It's all relative.

 

I guess these arguments confuse me a bit.

If your concerned about towing capacity for the truck, wouldn't you buy the HD or the 250? In that case, why would you gripe about an engine which doesn't meet your needs?

If your concerned about fuel mileage (like me), wouldn't you buy the SFE vs a 5.4 (and larger) engine? In my screw sfe I got 26 mpg driving to work the other day...and thats a fact. I am averaging 19.4 or so between highway and city.

If you wanted the lighter truck, wouldn't you buy the single cab...etc etc etc.

I guess the point I am making is that NO ONE TRUCK OR VERSION THEREOF WILL MEET EVERYONES NEEDS.

Doesn't exist, and never will. Thats why Ford makes OPTIONS.

 

VERY well said, sir.