Im new the forum and just bought an 05 supercab lariat 5.4 yesterday. I love the looks and comfort of this truck but I have to admit, it is a dog. My wifes Explorer has way more power. I test drove 5 trucks at 4 different dealerships before I ordered my truck from out of state, and they were all this way. It seems ok at highway speeds but pulling out in traffic seems dangerous as slow as it is.

I had this issue on my 6.0 diesel and it just required a reflash to resolve the problem. So I went into the service manager before I bought the truck and asked if there were any available updates. He ran the VIN and said it has the most recent flash on it already????

Do these trucks need break in time or what? Oh and and spinning the tires is out of the question (not even close).

If I were doing it over again I would still have bought the exact same truck, but a little power would be nice.

 

I wouldnt worry about spinning the tires, the back end on thw truck is designed so you dont hence no spin.
As for power i wouldnt put it down so bad, at freeway speeds its pretty good,
and i would never have said it was dangerous. Trust me there are plenty of vehicles out there that are slower.
Explorer??? my friends got an 01 with the big motor and i passed him no prob, then from a dead stop and same thing, I always thought it didnt have to much feel but it moves pretty decent.
Congrats on the truck.

 

You will notice a difference in power once you reach 2-3,000 miles.

 

These trucks are so luxurious with a quiet comfortable ride you don’t realize how fast they really are. I can spin my tires no sweat. Wait until you get it broke in, about 5 or 6 hundred miles, it will liven up. And don’t forget these 04’s and 05’s use CAN and also have adaptive strategy, so the harder you drive it the more it responds and vice versa.

Congrats on the new ride and welcome to the forum porksword

 

I have to admit I thought the same thing.. it gets better tho.
need to put a cold air on and exhuast. then a tuner.
its much better now and I havent put the tuner on yet. tomorrow

 

The lack of power must have not been to bad or wasnt really a issue....if so why did you still buy one?

 

congrats on the truck!
hes right about this...give it a while to get broken in- i just rolled to 3000 miles -got it mid may- and it is really starting to wake up- if i choose to push it, i can get em to squeak at a light, or stop - alot more willing to move that 6000lbs now than it was when new... trust me...
jj

 

Accelleration is proportional to power divided by weight. They have plenty of power. Unfortunately, they have plenty of weight as well.

 

Thanks for the replies, I will give it some time to break in. I did notice that it seems to respond better at half throttle from a dead stop than full. I wonder if thats the electronic throttle control cutting it back? It feels almost like it has a governer on it cutting the power just as it starts to build.

I bought one because I liked the way it looked, rode, options, features, and its quieter with a better turning radius than the crewcab diesel. I bought the supercab only because the bed isnt long enough on the crewcab to put my 4 wheeler in with the tailgate closed so I can still tow.
I bought ford because they are the best truck (imho), they are the only truck I buy, and I get them all on the A-plan.

 

Thats true, I shouldnt say the explorer has more power. More like it feels like it accelerates quicker. I havent gone out drag racing explorers (nor do I plan to)

After some time if I need a bit more passing power I guess I could go the tuner route. Are there any warranty issues with using a tuner? I will probably leave the exhaust alone since quiet was one of my objectives with this truck. I guess Im getting old

 

I have 11,500 miles on mine and the 3 power adders (intake, exhaust, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the XCalibrator tuner) and it will spin the tires from a stop anytime I want. If I get em spinning with a little power-braking, it will spin through first gear and change into 2nd sitting still! When I got mine it did feel very sluggish, mostly because of the electronic throttle control. It really limits what you can do and feels very "mushy". I loaded up the 87 octane tune first a long time ago and WOW it really makes that thing drive like it should. It's not that it gives it that much more power, it's that it lets you use what it already has when you want it, by changing the shift patterns and the throttle control. It's seems the factory programming is for people that drive like grandma. I'm not saying to run and get a tuner, because of warranty situations, but that is most of the problem with these trucks from the factory I think.

 

Everybody gets A-plan this month!!!!

 

Just a final two cents. I thought my truck was a slow beast as well. My wife ridiculed me because her Yukon XL was way quicker off the line.

However, after a few thousand miles it came to life. I'm now at 10k and i think this truck has all the power, and speed I need. On the freeway, I can easily crank it up to pass. Up the big hill to my house, I can puch it to 60-65 in no time with room to spare. I've lit the tires without trying (a little bit, no smoke).

I carried about 600lbs of rocks in the bed the other day, I hardly knew it was there.

It's a truck, I would have bought an Infinity G35 if I wanted speed. I wanted carrying power and room for plywood, plants, dirt, sand, mulch and every other thing I need to keep my house in order. For this purpose, it is way overqualified!

 

I really think that the no haggle, the price is the price type buying is the wave of the future. Nobody pays any mark up anyway.
Customers like it, and so do I.

 

I thought mine felt slow at first compared to my 2000 F150 scab 4x4 5.4. So having both trucks in the driveway until I sold the 2000, and having a G-Tech, I did a little testing and even though the new one felt slower seat of the pants, it was actually a consistant full 1.5 seconds faster in the 1/4mile than the 2000, and quicker 0-60. This was with about 1000 miles on the new one and no mods. Not exactly scientific, but a moral booster no less.