Okay so it wasn't a race, but the other day, my buddy's dad and i were trying to pull out fence posts out of the ground. his truck struggled alot and hes got a 5.7L v8 silverado 1500. he was spinning the tires real bad and it took some reverse-jerk to get them out of the ground. so for fun, i put my 4.2 on it, hooked it up to the trailer hitch, and dropped it in 1st. i spun the tires maybe for a split second, then just jerked it out of the ground. tell me whats going on here? why did my truck do so much better than his? im kind of confused, but happy that they wont talk about my v6 anymore haha

 

It might be that your truck is geared lower than his truck.

 

im not too sure.


i havent touched the gearing so unless the guy before me changed it, then i have no clue.

what is the factory gearing?

 

It varies from truck to truck. There is an axle code on the door you can look up.

It could be alot things, hitch point (higher the better), tires (more aggresive the better), throttle control (easing into it rather than punching it), weight balance (shorter, heavier in the rear). It also sounds like you guys were pulling on different posts, so one could have been easier to pull out than some of the others as well.

 

Maybe he loosened it for you? .

In all seriousness, Ford trucks are well known for their low end torque.

 

I have never had any problems pulling junk with the v6. I've pulled concrete stantions, trees, wooden posts, fences (ripped a whole fence down in 1 shot with 4 posts and like 3 tow straps)... and that's with 2wd with my right foot lightly touching the gas.

Here's some serious shrub pullin':

Notice, NO burnouts from my wheels.... this is how it should be done if you manage the gas carefully. When these pics were taken, I had 3.55's with a LSD. Now I've got 4.10's with a LSD.

Before:


After:


It was no match to the F150. It popped them out like me popping candy out of a candy machine.

 

True, but I don't see a 4.2 out torquing a 5.7, my dad's 1992 is diffinatly no slouch and is still the old TBI setup.

 

Low end torque is different. Ford have a ton of low end torque. Chevys have a ton of high end torque. And pulling stumps out means you need to have good traction, especially when on grass. If the Chevy had no limited slip, then that woudl explain all of the spinning.

 

Uhh, the 4.2 V6 does not have tons of low end torque.

If Ford trucks are known for low end torque, the V6 is the exception.

You want tons of low end torque from a Ford 6, you want the 300 cubic inch inline 6. Now that is a motor known for low end torque. I wish my 4.2 was more like that.

 

This is not only a debate between Chevy and Ford, it is also V-6 to V-8, a V-8 will make a ton more torque everywere than a smaller V-6, regardless of breed. If the GM could have hooked up it would have been a different story.

I am showing a early 2000's 4.2 truck having 252 @ 3400, the '05+ (not shown for an '04) 4.2 make 260 @ 3750 rpm, nothing too magical about either of them. A 1997 Silverado with a 5.7 makes 335 @ 2800, my dads old 1992 makes 300 @ 2800 rpm.

 

I didn't think anyone was trying to have a debate about which has more torque (4.2 V6 or 5.7 cevy V8). They guy was just surprised how well his truck yanked up some fence posts. My GMC Denali (6.0 V8) will run circles around my ole 4.2 V6 F-150, but I'm still pretty impressed with my F-150, I've used it way beyond what is should be used for as far as hauling and towing goes.

 

haha yeah i didnt want a debate i just thought it was funny.


someone said the posts might have been loosened, but that really wasnt the case. they all had about two or three feet of concrete on them, and they were all about the same.

the guy in the chevy had positrak, and he pretty much eased on the gas. so there wasn't anything weird there.


but my truck is a regular cab, and the back end sits up way higher than his. (still working on dropping that )

but i mean i just figured that would be a funny story to tell, and embarrassment on his end. i could honestly care less about torque and gearing and how ford is so much better than chevy. it was just luck guys.


and funny to see his face when i pulled all the posts out hahaha

 

One other thing to remember is that because you V6 is less powerful, it got better traction and that may have helped.
All the power in the world doesnt mean a thing if you cant put it to the ground.

 

very true!