For a work vehicle, where we do quite a lot of highway driving, do you guys recommend one of these motors over the other for longevity/reliability or will either of them do as long as they are maintained? This will actually be in an E-250 van (the weight it about the same as an F-150 though) and we won't be doing any towing and our payload will be relatively light, ~1000 lbs.

Thanks for any input, Ryan

 

With proper maintenance, just about any modern engine should give you a long trouble free life. Its when you start trying to cheap out and skimp on maintenance that things start adding up.

 

I work for a major utility,, we have a huge fleet of E250's, f150's , f250's, f350's. The 250's and 350's have the 5.4 and most of the 150s have 4.6..
With oil changes done a 7500 miles , we trade in at about 130K miles and rarely have any engine problems. All are still going strong when they leave. Most of the trouble is brakes and transmissions.

The e250 run about 7500 lbs loaded.. The 150s are about 6500lbs, and our 350s run about 9500lbs. They carry this weight their entire service life. Plus do additional towing of trailers.

I have been thru 4 vans 2 chevys 2 fords , and am now driving a 2005 4x4 f150 5.4.. No internal engine problems with any of them.

 

My 97 F-150 just turned 117K miles. I'm wondering if the lifetime of the engine accessories (alternator, water pump, power steering) is better than the older Ford trucks?
I just as soon replace the alternator and water pump NOW rather than waiting for them to fail but if the lifetime is a lot longer on post 97 trucks that would be a waste of money.
Whats your opinion on this?

-Steve

 

As far as lifetime of accessories is concerned, you cant really say how long they will last. Some people get alot of miles out of them, some people dont...IMO with those types of things, you should just wait until something fails (if its going to). You would spend a fortune trying to replace everything you thought would fail.
Keep in mind, I obviously dont suggest the same thought process for "regular maintenance" items (oil, spark plugs/wires, filters, etc)...

 

I'm still on my original everything, except alternator. But in defense, I jump off machines etc. constantly. I think that shortens the life of an alternator. I have 160,000 miles on my truck.

 

the 4.6 i pulled out at 140,000 miles had ZERO wear on the bearings. the rings were a little loose so it smoked a tad. i imagine another 100,000. i have heard fleet for v10 gets 300,000 plus.