I have owned this truck for 15 years. It is mint and mechaniclly better than new (IMO)! I only put about 2000 miles a year on the ticker.
I did the 5.4 swap with long tubes to make pulling a 7k lb boat better. It has certainly helped, but I have some compaints:

1 - Mileage loaded and unloaded sucks! 6mpg towing, 15mpg highway at 70 mph respectively.
2 - The gaps between gears are aweful. I have 3.55's and the gap between 2-3 is especially bad under load. to get up to highway speed I need to hold 4500 rpm's and then let off the gas to get the upshift. Then 3rd drops the revs significantly.
3 - Low end power isnt bad, but not what I think it should be. I cant help but wonder if the additional weight of load range E tires, Lariat wheels, and the 1/2" difference in height from "P" tire to an "LT" 265/70/17 is contributing to the issue. Collectively I have gained about 60-70lbs of weight in wheels from what I had with the aluminum sawblades.

So the question is, what to do to improve... best bang for the buck.
Options:
1 - I have found someone that can do gears at a great price, but gears present a few problems.
- The next ratio up to make a good improvement is 4.10. Ideally I would like a 3.92, but no one makes a reverse cut 3.92 for the IFS. A 4.10 means I will be turning over 3k rpm in OD at 70 mph. Right now I am only turning about 2650. 75mph will be over 3200 rpm! I can't help but think my highway mileage will go from bad to worse. City might improve because I can get into OD at a lower speed. I know my coverter is designed to be used for towing in OD, so I am hoping I can tow at 2800 rpm cruising at 65 mph resulting in way better towing mpg.? Currently I am in fear of the gear! I'm concerned I might spend a lot of money and regret the decision because highway performance won't be tollerable. Thoughts?

2 - I have given serious thought about going back to "P" series tires and AL wheels to get the weight down. I know it won't help the gaps between gears much, but overall performance would improve some.

3 - Another truck is hard to justify considering how little I drive it. I also am extremely particular about colors, condition, and options, and doubt I would be able to find something I woud be happy with for what I would want to spend. The odds of me finding what I want without having to dump $$ into it fixing brakes, tires, fluids, etc would make a gear swap look cheap!

Those with EXPERIENCE, please help guide me!

 

Your OD isn't working.

With those tires and 3.55's, you should be turning 1850 in OD at 70. With 4.10's it would be 2125. In 3rd direct, it should be 2650 and 3050 respectively.

 

You are 100% correct on the #'s! I made a mistake on the numbers. Just jumped in my truck to verify. OD is working correctly. So I can live with the 4.10's cruising.
GLC will the 4.10 "tighten" the gap between 2-3, or will it be as annoying? Do you think my mpg will change much + or -?
thanks.

 

I don't know about tightening the gap, but you should notice better performance and I doubt the gas mileage will change much either way. Is this your 99? If so, you will need to reprogram the ECU for the different axle ratio and tire size to correct the speedometer and the speed input to the ECU.

 

The truck is a 98 with a 99 5.4. My 4r70w requires the speedo gear change.

 

Sounds like you want the towing performance of an EcoBoost for the most part..

I can't really help with your current situation, other than to confirm that the towing performance you are getting is about right for what you got..

I towed with a 97 F150 with the 5.4 in it and now tow the same #5000 TT with a 13 EcoBoost and the difference is incredible..

Of course, it cost quite a bit for the 'upgrade', and it sounds like that's not really what you need or want to do..

Since you only drive it 2000 miles a year, I'd just set my towing expectations a bit lower and accept that it is what it is and the only way to really save gas is to slow down a bit.. I know that in either F150, once I go above 65 mph (towing or not) the mpg's drop too..

I got around 10 mpg towing and 17 mpg on the hwy with the old 97, but that was doing 60 mph towing and maybe 65 mph on the hwy. Any faster and single digits was common. I'm getting around 10 mpg towing with the Eco too.... But, the hwy mpg's go up to 20+ mpg if I keep it below 70 mph.

Good luck!

Mitch

 

I apprieciate the confirmation on the crappy mileage!

As for another truck, an F-150 with a 10 speed auto will likely be enough to sway me to part with my $$! If I can have a truck that gets similar MPG to my wifes car, I would drive it more. As it is I have my company car (2013 escape) and hers for most of our needs. As much as I love my truck, it's tough to beat driving a company vehicle I don't pay a dime for including fuel!

If only I could get my company to spring for F-150's!

 

Driving the truck only 2k miles per year, why is the fuel economy such a concern? Put some 4.10s in it. You will love the end result when towing or around town.

 

My tank is only 26 gallons making my range lousy. Some places I drag the boat to require a fill up every 120-130 miles! If I could gain even 2 mpg I'd be happy as hell!

 

I feel like everyone expects their trucks too take off like a rocket ship while towing a heavy load? Re gear if you want better tow performance. Your unloaded mileage will suck more though. Realistically the tune is the best thing you can do for increased performance besides big money mods like a S/C. If mileage bothers you spend 35k on a new truck and then pay for gas on top of that. Bet you wont break even. I think you should be happy with what you have. I tow the same amount with mine and feel it does just fine. Along with LT C rated 265/70/17 tires and it made no difference in mileage.

 

I'm sure plenty of people would be content with what I have now, but I wouldn't call the execution doing it "well." I've driven well set-up tow rigs with this weight and wind resistance (this boat feels more like an 8k lbs than 7k) and the difference is night and day. Since I know I will likely run this beast another 5 years, I want to make sure I can go wherever I want with little reservation. I think a nice set of Bilstein' s out back with 4.10's in the front and rear will net a significant improvement.

 

7700 hd shocks and an add a leaf in the rear made a nice difference for me. Also the front brake swap. I've had bilsteins and they were nice. But I'll never pay that much for a shock again. Go 4.10s if it is worth the investment to you! BTW nice flareside, I own the same.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Even if you only get 9 MPG, you will NEVER save enough fuel to justify a 40 or 50 thousand dollar truck. Especially, if you're only driving 2,000 miles a year! And as fuel gets cheaper, the math gets even worse.

By my calculations, right now you should only be using about 222 gallons of fuel per year. At $2 per gallon (it's $1.95 here) that's only $444 per year! Even if you could DOUBLE your fuel mileage with a new truck, you'd only save about $222 per year! That probably wouldn't even pay for the increased insurance costs!

 

You don't need to do the math for me. I would be buying a different truck in a few years for family reasons, not economics. If the new truck is as good as this one is (reliability), I will likely be buried in it!

 

As far as reliability goes.. My old 97 F150 had 255,000 miles on it when I traded it for the 13 F150.. And the 97 was running fine and never had any major mechanical issue..

But, it's nothing compared to the 13 in terms of.. Everything..

Will I go that far with the 13?? Dunno.. But, so far so good!

I might not even make it out of the bathtub tomorrow... You just never know..

Mitch