I just went out to buy a 5.4 E250 van and I told the guy I would be there in an hour and he sold it on me before I got there.I went there and the van was being unloaded by the new owners as I watched my van deal go up in smoke!

So it is time to move on and I found another one a 2003 e250 but it has the 4.6 instead of the 5.4,how do they compare? I need to be able to pull 5000 pounds around town. The e250 that was sold out from under me had 126000 miles on the 5.4 but the 2003 E250 has 205000 on it and is a 4.6 but it is the original owner with all service records and these were mostly highway miles.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou!

 

They are very comparable at higher rpm's but the 5.4L is much better at low speed and low rpm's especially in the towing department.

 

that is exactly what I wanted to know,what about gas mileage?

 

Couldn't say in a van, I'd expect the 4.6L to get worse pulling 5K lbs than a 5.4L. For in town you are probably looking at very low teens.

 

Thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Real, FYI we bought a 2008 4.6L last summer to replace our 1996 E-250 camping van that we've used since 2003.

My husband found the 4.6L so underpowered on long grades and towing a jetski trailer (which weighs ~ 2500 lbs.) that we sold it after two trips.

We've just recently purchased a 2006 E-350 with the 5.4L engine. This weekend will be our first "summer cruise" with it, and I can't wait.

All that to say - I think you'll be happier with the 5.4L, given your towing expectations.

Sandi

 

more to how it tows than whats under the hood.
properly geared 4.6 could easily seem more powerful than an improperly geared 5.4

 

I bought a f150 with a 4.6. I believe I will be ok for what I do. I hear the 4.6 on the highway just driving gets better mileage than a 5.4?

 

Nothing touches low end torque for normal pulling conditions and for lowend torque there is no substitute to cubic inches.

Why do you think a diesel tractor trailer can pull 100000 pounds with no problem TORQUE.You can screw around with a 600 HP gasoline engines gearing all year long and it will not pull 100000 pounds effciently because it lacks real ***** which is torque!

 

The "torque" you're referring to is generated by
Gearing. Look at the gear reduction of the drive and bow gears in a tractor.
put a 1:1 ratio final drive in that tractor and see how well it pulls the 100000.


terrible comparison

 

No the torque I am referring to is generated by foot pounds with are made at a much lower rpm on a bigger displacment gas engine or a diesel. you could do the work with a motor that turns much more RPM and has less raw muscle which is TORQUE but you would need a 100 speed gearbox to get it up to speed and it would still be wimpy compared to a big rig engine that makes 1500 pounds of torque at 2000 RPM which is right above idle. That is how they get the load easily moving.

Gearing is important but no amount of gearing is going to work if you are lacking the power to do the job and especially if you are attempting to pull a heavy load 75 mph up and down hills on the highway if you lack the HP and torque sorry your gear box cannot make that up at all.

 

Gearing MULTIPLIES torque where horsepower is not multiplied (besides that horsepower is what makes you go fast, it helps towing not at all). So an engine with 300 ft/lbs of torque with a 3 to 1 rear end in high gear (Never tow in O/D) will give you 900 ft/lbs of torque at the rear wheels (measuring anywhere means nothing). But an engine with 250 ft/lbs of torque with a 4 to 1 rear end will give you 1000 ft/lbs of torque. Which is gonna be better for towing? The 1000 ft/lbs of course. So your theory is wrong, it is proper gearing that gives you usable torque to the ground and not what the engine puts out. My old 460 with a 4.10 rear will tow just about anything (even a 31 foot offshore racing catamaran with twin 502 Chevy BBs), it just won't pass a gas station. Another example. My 1993 Crown Victoria with a 3.27 rear end is rated to tow 6000 lbs. Then again my 1999 Ranger with 4.0 and a 3.55 rear is also rated to tow 6000 lbs. Gearing is everything when towing.

Why do you think the 6,7 and 8 speed gear boxes are showing up in cars and small trucks now. Because the engines have no torque down where it can be used.

 

Absolutely Correct.

 

Torque is your pulling power excelleration and HP is your mile an hour to your given aerodynamics.

What would happen if you put a 2 HP RC airplane engine in a Moped? It would not be able to pull it no matter what the gearing like the 50cc moped engine because the RC engine lacks the torque to ever be able to pull the moped and spin up so it can get into its little narrow power band to make the 2 HP. The torque band is way to narrow and spread to thinly across 40000 RPM no matter what the gearing to do the job.

Same thing on a 500HP Big RIG diesel pulling 80000 pounds, a 500 HP big block chevy will never pull 80000 at 80 miles an hour because the RAW power curve is to narrow and to hard to maintain.

A rig makes 500 HP right above idle that is how it does what it does, it makes 500 HP like nothing all the time. On a little crappy gasser you have to spin it up to an area of power that is narrow and cannot be maintained pulling 80000 pounds no matter what the gearing. If it could do the job you would see alot of rigs pulling 80000 pounds with big block Chevy gas engines!
That is why you only see big block gas engines in smaller trucks pulling 20 to 30 thousand pounds. They lack the true muscle ( TORQUE ) not HP to do the bigger job effectively. Who wants to shift 100 times a minute and they still would not pull it even close to what a lower RPM torque monster motor would.

 

I don't wanna hurt you feelings, but I have a moped, a 1985 Honda Spree and its biggest down fall it it has a 1 speed with a centrifugal clutch. Dead as slow off the line. The newer scooters (same 50cc motor) have a Variator (a CVT) which makes the pulleys change size. Off the line is great due to the torque multiplication at low speed and when the pulley get to 1 to 1, top end is good. So again gearing is everything. You need to return to basic mechanics theory 101. You got it wrong.

Oh if your big block theory is right why did Ford put a lowly 330 in so many of their big trucks?

Big CID will give you big torque at low RPM but you can do the same thing with a little engine with little torque and a great set of gears.

Oh and you can't compare diesels to gas engines, it is an apples and orange comparison. If you compare an electric motor to a gas or diesel, again, not a fair comparison. Or like comparing a VW Bug to a Lamborghini. Yeah they are both cars but nothing alike in any way.

Where do you guys get this totally wrong mis-information?