Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

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justrfb
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Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#1 Post by justrfb » Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:50 am

Hello All.
I asked you a few months ago about a specific Ford F150 we were thinking of looking at and your help and suggestions were numerous and very helpful! Thank you... We didn't pull the trigger on that one and I come before you again asking your opinion and help. I am looking at another late 2K's F-150, 4WD, 4 door Crew Cab, low miles... It has the 5.4 EFI V8 engine. Is this a desirable vehicle to tow our boat and camper with? I am looking for opinions and experience with regard to the specific engine, trans and such. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Rich
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#2 Post by Blessed » Wed Sep 16, 2015 10:38 am

How much does your camper weigh?

My family has been in the Auto repair business since before I was born... Ford and Dodge provide most of the business... all manufacturers have produced problem vehicles at one time or another...

I'm partial to GM trucks.... their stuff is more universal, available, repairable, adaptable... my 2003 5.3 silverado has 278,000 miles and runs like new...

My Dad has a 2004 f150 w/5.4 and it gets better fuel mileage than mine and handles better than mine...his has 150,000 miles... the dealer never could keep the cruise control working... it doesn't pull the boat as good as my truck and the ac doesn't work as good as my truck... especially around town... his ford doesn't move enough air at low speeds and at idle...the head pressure gets really high... he ordered it new... we'll see how it holds up...
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#3 Post by Blessed » Wed Sep 16, 2015 11:39 am

The Ford 5.4 Triton is hit or miss... some will run problem free for 300,000 while others don't make 100,000... here are a few blog screen shots I took about Ford 5.4...

Image





:arrow: In this one the guy is having serious engine trouble and no codes are given... makes it tough to troubleshoot and repair... most dealerships and repair shops start throwing parts at them at this point at the owners expense... I have experienced this personally with our motorhome that has a 6.8... which is a 5.4 with 2 additional cylinders. ... ours was running terrible... had a bad mass air flow sensor, a bad fuel pressure regulator and no codes from the ecm... my silverado will let you know if it has a tiny vacuum leak... :arrow:





Image

:arrow: The only reason I bought the V10 was the price... I got it cheap enough... it's a risk I was willing to take... they are known to spit spark plugs out... or strip out when removed... hopefully it will be one that lasts... we'll see.. :arrow:
Last edited by Blessed on Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BobG
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#4 Post by BobG » Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:01 pm

Hmm...

When we decided we were going to buy a truck and camper, I went to the camper place first, and asked "what size truck do I need?"

The answer was clear: F-250, GM 2500 series or Dodge 2500 series.

ESPECIALLY if you're going to put the camper in, and tow your boat, you may be exceeding the capacities of the F-150.
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#5 Post by badmoonrising » Wed Sep 16, 2015 3:07 pm

As an ASE certified tech, I actually rate reliability (domestic trucks):

Ford #1, followed by Chevy and way at the bottom, Dodge. I was a Chevy guy until I had to work on them too much at their dealers. Went to Ford and was only doing oil changes. Dodge, engines and transmissions and electrical nightmares. Dodge never got the idea how to build a transmission right.

My Dad had a Chevy Silverado, motor went at 35k miles, was diagnosed as a factory out of round cylinder. GM tried not to pay for it, stating it was lack of maintenance (my Dad was adamant about maintaining his vehicles). A call to a lawyers, who called GM finally got them to pay and he went to Ford.

I have owned all Ford trucks, none sold with less than 200k miles, all with no issues. Current truck has 152k miles, zero issues. Ford has been #1 in domestic reliability since the mid 80s. Consumer Reports and every other publication will back that up. GM cars were getting better, but around 2009, quality started to fall to a point where Dodge was catching up...then there was that recall of all those Rams....

As for the 4.6 and 5.4 engines, haven't heard of any of them having issues unless lack of maintenance or abuse was involved.
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BobG
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#6 Post by BobG » Wed Sep 16, 2015 3:17 pm

badmoonrising wrote:Ford #1, followed by Chevy and way at the bottom, Dodge.
I absolutely love my F-250 with the V-10 triton gas motor, and manual transmission. Finding a manual transmission in the Rocky Mountain region was almost impossible. Bought it with 107,000 miles on it, and it's been flawless.
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#7 Post by RcgTexas » Wed Sep 16, 2015 4:56 pm

I have a F250 with a 5.4 with 180k Still does well . Uses a little oil but still runs and pulls well.

One tip I'm sure you are aware of is to always turn off the overdrive(Tow Haul)when trailering. It will save the tranny.

I also have a 96 model F250 with a 7.3 turbo diesel with only 76K its a real trailer dragger.
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babock
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#8 Post by babock » Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:15 pm

I would not buy a 5.4L engine between 2004 and 2008. Had bad problems with spark plugs breaking and getting stuck in the heads and bad cam phasers(very common problem). There are currently class action law suits for the cam phaser issue. I used to own a 2004 Ford F-150 and sold it before I had any of the issues. Buddy of mine had to replace his 5.4L in a 2010 because of bad main bearings but hadn't heard that this is very common.

I am more of a Chevy guy. Have owned several and pulled heavy loads..up to 12K lbs with no issues. Never have had an engine or transmission problem.
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JBO
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#9 Post by JBO » Wed Sep 16, 2015 6:19 pm

babock wrote:I would not buy a 5.4L engine between 2004 and 2008. Had bad problems with spark plugs breaking and getting stuck in the heads and bad cam phasers(very common problem). There are currently class action law suits for the cam phaser issue. I used to own a 2004 Ford F-150 and sold it before I had any of the issues. Buddy of mine had to replace his 5.4L in a 2010 because of bad main bearings but hadn't heard that this is very common.
I'm not a big fan of the 5.4 engines for the above reasons. I've owned 5-6 of them between personal and business vehicles and they've all been OK performance and maintenance wise. Nothing awesome. They didn't seem as reliable as the 351's they replaced.

I REALLY like the 3.5L Ecoboost engines in the newer Fords. Lots of power, decent fuel economy, and no diesel upfront/maintenance costs. I currently own 3 vehicles with 3.5L Ecoboosts and will have a 4th next month. So far, they've been very reliable.
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#10 Post by Blessed » Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:15 pm

Last edited by Blessed on Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:09 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#11 Post by Lt. Dan » Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:24 pm

badmoonrising wrote: Dodge never got the idea how to build a transmission right.

Dodge uses a ZF 8-speed transmission now. Most are built in Germany but some are now being built under license by Dodge. There is nothing wrong with that transmission.
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#12 Post by NonHyphenAmerican » Wed Sep 16, 2015 10:06 pm

Have the 5.4 in my 2007 F150 Super Crew.

I like it and it has 98,500 on it.

In our business, we drove Ford E-350 Vans.

I owned 17 of them from a 78 to a 2009.

When they quit making the 460 cu in V8, we went to the V10's.

Only ever had one with a problem. The valve guides went at 47,000. Ford replaced the heads under warrant.

We averaged 350,000 miles on our Fords. The lowest mileage one was an 82 that got totaled when I wrecked it in 84. It had 202,000 miles on it.

The Highest mileage was 411,000.

According to our DOT Maintenance Records, my average repair/maintenance cost including tires and oil changes was .04 cents per mile.

If I knew I was going to haul any kind of a heavy camper, I'd get at least the F250 and wouldn't balk at a V10.

My experience is that if you want a "Pickup", you buy a Chevy, and if you want a "Truck", you buy a Ford.

Just my .02.
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#13 Post by justrfb » Thu Sep 17, 2015 3:58 am

Wow, thank you all again for your experience and comments. I appreciate your help. :bowdown Our boat is not large at all and our camper is a good sized pop up so a F-150 is more than enough to pull them. We are looking to get more pull than a Honda Pilot which has a little less pulling uummmppphhh than a F-150 but still can handle our boat and camper. I am excited to check this F-150 out but I am sad to say my wife is not as excited as I am... This specific truck is very nice but it is far from us and a little outside our budget. I thank you all again and will refer to this thread in the future if I can't persuade my bride to go for this one... :paranoid She is usually very smart about these decisions and after 29 years of being her husband, I have learned to really lean on her instincts and judgements :) . Thank you all again.

Sincerely,
Rich
Rich and Annemarie Bias
2007 20' Princecraft Vantage 20L
2007 Merc 75 4 Stroke
2006 Honda Pilot

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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#14 Post by badmoonrising » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:25 am

This guy abused the hell out of this van, finally died at 1.2 million miles:
http://www.millionmilevan.com/
Ed, Cheryl, Ethan and Aspen.
2013 Sun Tracker Party Barge 22 w/90 HP Mercury, "Hellrhighwater 2"
2014 E-350 Extended XLT.
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Re: Looking at another prospective Tow Vehicle...

#15 Post by Blessed » Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:25 am

Image
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