OK I have shopped new trucks used truck fords chevy dodge and on and on as the story goes. all said I finally made a decision to drop a few grand into the old truck and drive it another five years or so. With that I now come to this forum for advise LOL. I am sure y'all hear that crap all of the time so here goes.
Completely stock 99 ford f 150 4.6 L (8th digit W) no modification. It has served me well for 175,000 miles and still runs OK. Pulled the motor out this past spring to drill out the busted manifold bolts and went ahead and installed some new seals and gaskets to stop a few oil leaks but other than that changed the oil every 6 to 7 K and drive the darn thing. A few normal maintenance items such as coil, alternator and battery. Oh yes do not forget the plugs and wires especially the wires that seem to go bad once a year. The gas mileage sucks and the power it makes is horribly low but it gets me around and pulls all of my toys (at a high cost of MPG). I thought about installing a 5.4 but after reading all of the post on adding power through a tune I feel that for the money and ease of installation a programmer and a custom tune may be the way to go.

I am thinking that I will either order a reman long block or pull the motor back out and have the machine shop true everything back up and rebuild the engine.
I am also thinking that the purchase of a Power Hungry Gryphon Performance controller and have Bill and his group write me a custom tune for my driving habits, which are a 60 mile a day round trip to work with 28 miles of high way @ 60 MPH. Pull a boat trailer (? maybe 3K or 3.7 k loaded ?) or a enclosed motorcycle trailer (? maybe 3.5 K loaded with two motorcycles ?) once a month or less. I currently get 13.6 MPG with out the trailer and the last trip pulling the trailer back from TN my milage was down to 10 MPG and I swear I kept it below 65 MPH the entire trip and the trailer was loaded with a couch a chair and an foot stool !!!!! I would like to improve the MPG but the real truth is I would like to have the power to pull more than a wet string out of a cats XSS. I swear I have owned some doggy trucks but this one takes the cake. I had a 88 f 350 crew cab with a 351 bone stock that pulled an 8 K lbs trailer better than this one pulls it self.

So with that line of happy horse crap behind us I would like to hear some input for the entire transformation of my new truck to be. SO Let it rip folks if you could build this for me what are the best recommendations for performance and MPG.
I expect to replace a lot of parts in this build so injectors, heads, exhaust, and any other reasonable parts information would be great. I think that I will draw the line at a super charger or turbo charger.

From a budget stand point I am hoping to spend less the 5K to include the materials for me to complete the body work and paint in my garage (scary huh).

 

Honestly, just swap in a good used 5.4. It will be about as expensive as doing a performance rebuild of the 4.6, but with a lot more pulling power.

The one thing that the 5.4 does best is create gobs of torque at low rpm, which is where you want it for towing and I like it personally for city driving as I don't have to stomp on it to get going. The 5.4 will probably get better fuel economy even, because it won't have to work so hard.

- Erik

 

Yeah, 5.4...
The torque difference alone would sell me. Yeah, you can do some head work to the 4.6, LT headers with true duals and a tune but it still wont pull like the 5.4. Cost wise, I would say 1500 for a good low mileage 5.4 is the ticket. (99 and up have the PI heads=more power) Then put the rest where it is best needed, maybe all new front end (bushings, ball joints etc..) Motor mounts, tranny mounts, fluid changes etc and you shouldnt see over 3500.

1999 4.6L
220hp/265tq
1999 5.4L
260hp/350tq

Throw an exhaust and tune on that

 

Darn it I was really hoping that someone would agree to just build the 4.6. It seems like a lot less hassel to build the 4.6 than to locate a 99 5.4 and still have to rebuild it.
So my hunt will start for the 5.4. I have read all the post on changing out the 4.6 for the 5.4. So I guess my research will need to continue a little bit more.
I will throw out a few more questions here to help that research.
I know that there are some exhaust mods necessary due to the width of the engines. So any recommendations on which set up will improve the MPG the best?

I know that a tune will be necessary so is it best to buy a tuner such as the Gryphon to accomplish this?
If I know that I will have to buy a tuner anyway can I upgrade to a new 5.4 so that I could take better advantage of a lower mileage engine? Would it make since to do this even if I had to replace the computer and wire harness from a newer donor vehical? My understanding is that there is a difference in the security systems that may drive a dash replacement if you go to a newer engine / computer. I am not sure that all of these changes would be worth the newer engine or the lower milage but I thought I might ask. I figure that with the cost of a master bebuild kit for the 5.4 or 4.6 ($1300 plus machine work) if a buy a newer motor that does not need a rebuild the cost of all the other work may be an offset of the overall expense and time. Not sure so I am open to comments or suggestions.

How do I determine the gear ratio on my vehical? Is it one of the digit in the Vin or a digit on the door sticker? Given the engine upgrade should I consider a gear change as well depending on the ratio in the truck now?

As well if you have other recommendation I am open for all of the knowledge everyone here has gained messing around.

Scruffy and Toyz thanks for your input. You told me something that I already knew but sometimes I have to be kicked and drug through the mud a few times before I make a decision. I just hate to have to go on the search for a 99 engine and then have to rebuild it and then all of the hassels of the parts that you expect to fit. that just don't fit. Almost seems to me I should sell this truk and buy one with a 5.4 already in it. But then I end up with a truck that someone has rode hard and put up wet as opposed to the one I have cuddled and cared for over the years. CAN YOU TELL I HATE DECISIONS.

CREEKRAT

 

Go with the 5.4L. That's all I'm going to say, - since you may know the rest lol.

 

Thanks J

I know a few things but it never hurts to ask even the obvious questions. Thats the engineer in me.

What about a upgrade in the year. Any advantages for all of the extra effort?
Most likly I will be happy with any improvements but ??? You just never know. LOL

 

99's the best year for the 1/2 ton 5four ie, forged crank, aluminum intake. Has to be a 150 5.4L tho, since the 3/4tons and E models (Vans) still ran the non PI heads in 99. Ford went to plastic (composite) in the 2000 1/2 tons which had cracking problems.

Did you know that ?

 

I suppose you've been over the "Notes" already. (?) -

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...wap-notes.html

 

Why would you have to rebuild the 5.4? Find a good used on and put it in.

 

I think if you're going for reliability and reasonable performance I would go with a newer motor. The forged crank in the 99 and Alu intake manifold are nice, but not really necessary: unless your running forced induction you wont break the cast crank and the plastic intake manifold cracking problems were fixed in the later years.

I would pretty much look for the newest 2v 5.4 possible. Something like an 03 with low miles, so that it has the 8 spark plug threads instead of 4. If you get lucky it could even have a forged crank anyways, just not the alu intake.

You wont need to re-gear your truck for the swap, but you could if you wanted for more pulling power, and you wont need to change computers. Only thing you might need is a re-tune, but I have even heard it will run OK on the stock 4.6 tune, just maybe lean out at high rpm. Newer motors use COPS, but you can use the coil packs and plug wires just fine. Dunno, shouldn't really be too hard.

One important thing that I need to mention is you should try to find a 5.4 Torque Converter for the tranny. If you use the 4.6 TC it's gonna kill it real fast due to the torque multiplication.

- Erik

 

Axle ratio is on the door sticker. Mine is H9 which is 3.55 limited slip - that's the most common axle. 19 would be 3.55 open.

 

Just checked the Gear Ration 19 so 3.55 open..??.. BTW what does the open mean? does not Lock up?

I think that my engine has a plastic intake?????
I also remember that it has a different firing order (wire location on the coil packs)??
I think that the wires on it are the same as one of the Mustang engines. I just remember a day of cursing when I put them on wrong, went to the internet and looked up my truck, still wrong, finally looked up 4.6 l and compared the different coil wire configurations and tried each one until I found one that did not cause the pistons to attempt the free air jump from my trucks engine compartment to the passenger seat. Hey maybe they are still wrong.. No the engine runs to good to be wired wrong.

I do know about the 5.4 converter but thanks for the reminder. It would be bad to switch the motor and end up with the trans laying on the side of the road a month later.

Hey I also need to buy new hub caps if anyone has some that they want to get rid of...

JMC
I noticed that you have a swap listed.... What did you do on the exhaust?

Thanks for all of the input / post .... It is proving to be very valuable.... Of course it also makes me think WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING.... Just go out and trade up for 4 or 5 K difference... LOL not sure what may happen in the mean time but for now my brother is looking for a good engine to make the swap.

Thanks again to all
Terry

 

Read the swap notes in my sig.

 

Hes running stacks now

 

JMC

Thanks I have read that post a dozen times in preparation for my swap. Great information I you did a wonderful job of assembling it into a understandable format. I have printed it out just so I have it for multiple reviews.... LOL
I was really looking for some input on what type of exhaust system you might have used to insure that I had the best flow for overall performance. But no big deal. I know that I am going to have to do a little modification to connect the exhaust to the stock system used by the 4.6. So I will plan on buying a Magnaflow system.

Terry