Kind of a new guy to the board. I've had two F150's in the last 5 years or so (1999 and 1997). But, found it more practical to have an SUV after my 1999 F150, thus, have since owned a 1998 Jeep Cherokee and now a 2002 Jeep Liberty. When I owned my Fords, I used to frequent this site regularly. But, have naturally been doing all my postings on a Liberty/Jeep site for the last few years.

I really miss owning a truck and feel very strongly about buying a new 4X4 Supercrew for the next family vehicle sometime in the neat future.

Now that they've been out for a while, how have things gone reliability wise? Back when I owned my trucks, the 4.6L has fewer problems than the 5.4L did. Is this still the case? or, have most of the bugs been worked out of both engines pretty well? How about other stuff with the Supercrew? What are some of the more prominant problems with them? Should I hold off until the new 2004's come out? or, should I get a well tested vehicle, rather than a brand new design? Oddly enough, my 1997 F150 S/C 2wd 4.2V6 5 speed, was the best problem free vehicle I've owned. It was one of the very first ones made back in 1996. I had a few problems with my 1999 F150, a ton of problems with my 1998 Cherokee, and more recently, my 2002 Jeep Liberty has been very good for 1st year vehicle. Just some lingering issues that simply cannot be fixed (i.e. sloppy tranny).

Plus... I just miss have the size, capability and feel of owning a Truck!

All thougts appreciated.

Later

 

From what I have read (and some experiance) the 2003 SuperCrew is a great truck, one of the best out there. Ford worked out almost all the bugs in the 2001 year for the SCREW, thats why thier is a GEN I, II and III. My 2001 SCREW has over 37,000 miles on it and not a problem with it. Also the 2003 is much quieter (have been in one) compared to the 2001 and 2002s.

From past experiance I would avoid version 1.0 of anything, and that means when the new 2004s come out they will still have some bugs in them that may take a year or 2 to get out.

If you want/need a new truck and don't want to wait another 2-3 years, I say go with the 2003. Also if your worried about the 5.4 having problems, I have not heard any problems with them since I got my truck. The only complaint really is the tranny "thunk" noise that I get occasionally, I have heard many reasons and explinations for it but no one has really fixed it or if they say they have thier all diffrent fixes??????

In 1996 when they first came out they may have had a few issues, like the connecting rods had more stress on them than the 4.6 because of the longer stroke, but I have not heard of any 5.4 blowing up in recent years.

Do some research and I think you will find that the f-150 series are tough trucks and you won't be disapointed. Now Ford cars are a diffrent issue all together, for the most part they suck, but the trucks kick a$$!!!

Also if you do get the 4x4, make sure to get the 3.73 gears(FX4 package), you will regret it if you don't with the larger tires.

 

I have little to add since I am on my first SuperCrew. It is a 2003 FX4 and it only has 7,000 miles on it. So far I am ecstatic.

I did do alot of looking into reliability statistics before I bought mine cuz that is what drives my decision making along with looks and features etc, but reliability is a huge factor for me. I looked at Consumer Reports and found that the Japanese are still leading Ford and Chevrolet based on reliability. However, the gap in the past few years has closed dramatically and Ford and Chevy are really quite close to the Japanse vehicles now. Ford is very close and Chevrolet follows with a few more problems. The difference is so small it is statistically meaningless.

I looked at information on Edmunds.com and as many other sites as I could find also. I went through the same agonizing process and ended up specifically with a 2003 SCrew which did have some improvements over the 2001s and 2002s. I feel like Dcovell about the 2004s with regard to buying a new generation product. I too don't think that is a good idea. You might also take a look at the 2004s and decide you don't like what Ford has done with the interior etc.

Good luck with your decision making process.

Tom Hall

 

I have a 2002 SCrew with around 11,000 miles on it. Had a '97 previous, nothing but good things to say about each. Both had the 4.6 V8.
If I was buying again, I would have gotten the power rear window. Something you should think about if you use that back window much. Dcovell and THall covered everything else I would have said. good luck!