I own a 97 4.6 and a 98 4.2
A friend of mine owns a 98 Chevy 5.0
We did a little tow test just for fun.
Total weight of the trailer was aprox. 5100 lbs.
For all you Triton guys, you ain't gonna like the results. The Chevy 5.0 is clearly the superior towing machine. It was able to pull the trailer with less noise, lower RPMs and just more comfortably than the 4.6.
I was suprised though at the pulling power of the 4.2 V6. It was able to get this heavy trailer moving with only a little more effort ( about 200 RPM ) than the 4.6, and our 5100 lbs trailer actually exceeds the tow limit for a 4.2 w/3.08 gears!

I believe that the sohc design of the Triton motors can't compete with an ohv design when it comes to pulling power. This may explain why a seemingly large amount of F150's are sold with a V6.

Don't get me wrong, I would never give up my F trucks, driving a Chevy is like torture after driving an F. But they do make a strong V8.

I hope I didn't make too many enemies or get booted.

 

Sam, CAFE standards are why they sell so many 4.2L powered trucks. I believe that if you wait a couple years, you'll see GM going to overhead cam engines. Isn't the new 4.7L Jeep/Dodge engine an ohc?

 

Sam,
Please tell me the gear ratio of these trucks and whether each truck has a standard or auto tranny. Afterall, there's more to pulling than just the engine.

 

Sam N

I love Chevy's 5.0. It has a good bore to stroke ratio. Chevy claims the 4.3 can tow 5000lbs. So I'm sure the 5.0 is more stout.

 

The 4.2 is an auto. w/3.08 gears
The 4.6 is an auto. w/3.55 gears
Both trucks are S/C with a short box.
The Chevy is an ext. cab, short box
with 3.42 gears, 5.0 V8 , auto tranny.

[This message has been edited by Sam N (edited 03-24-99).]

 

Just thought everyone would like some real world dyno test numbers from an independent source. Picked this up from the Ford Truck Enthusiasts site.

Subject: F-150 vs Silverado vs. Ram 1500

Truck Trends just did a comparison of F-150 S/C 4x4 Vs Silverado 1500 E/C
4x4 Vs Ram 1500 Quad cab 4x4. They put all three trucks on the same dyno
and came up with some interesting results.

Ford 5.4L Triton (manufacturer rated at the flywheel for 260HP @ 4500 and
345 lb/ft at 2300)

Peak HP (rear wheel observed) 209.2 @ 4250
Peak Torque (rear wheel observed) 281.2 @ 3000

Dodge Magnum 5.9L (manufacturer rated at the flywheel for 245 HP @ 4000 rpm
and 335lb/ft @ 3200)

Peak HP (rear wheel observed) 194.7 @ 4500
Peak Torque (rear wheel observed) 257.5 @ 3500

Chevy 5.3L Vortec (manufacturer rated at the flywheel for 270HP @5000 and
285lb/ft @ 4000)

Peak HP (rear wheel observed) 182.8 @ 5200
Peak Torque (rear wheel observed) 221.7 @ 3750

They had this broken down to compare the three at various RPM's but they difference seemed to be about the same (Ford most powerful ,Dodge second, and Chevy last). This makes me wonder if Chevy has some optimistic Dynos or if their driveline eats more of their power than the other manufacturers. The only thing the Chevy did best at was braking and the F-150 tested was an early '99 with rear drum brakes. The "Sport" I got in today and all F-150 XLT and Lariats built after Dec 2nd have 4 wheel disc brakes so this may change the results in that category.

Nathan Bernard
Union Auto, Inc.
Union, IA 50528

See http://www.caranddriver.com/
for Jan 99 test of F-150 for those who are interested...
http://www.ford-trucks.com/faq.html

 

ironoxide, good information! Thanks.

 

ironoxide
I have that issue if truck trend and am familiar with tho results. But as you know
the comparison is between the new chev 5.3
and the others. I still believe that the last generation chevy V8s are superior to the triton and current generation chev motors.
Just like Ford has done, GM is making their motors more like those in cars, because thats the way most people use their trucks
nowadays.
Unfortunately this is at the expense of those who need a real work truck.

 

Sam N,

May be on the smaller displacement engines (5.0L vs. 4.6L and 4.3L vs. 4.2L), however I disagree somewhat when comparing the 5.7L to the 5.4L. Chevy's 5.7L has an advantage with the amount of after market products available, but stock I believe the 5.4L is "neck and neck" with the 5.7L. I am almost positive the '99 5.4L reaches max. torque at 2300 rpm, and in my opinion that qualifies as low-end torque.

On the other hand I agree that the last generation Chevy engines were superior to their newer engines. I should also point out that prior to owning my '98 5.4L XLT S.C. I thought that Ford had fallen behind chevy in the engine wars, but after driving mine for 9 months I believe the 5.4L is superior to the 5.7L. Just my two cents worth.

 

I say, if you need a real "Work Truck", get a SuperDuty w/PowerStroke Diesel. No Shovie or Dodge can match the brute Torque of that baby! I would love to see a "Tug of War" between any Shovie/Dodge against the Powerstroke. It would be NO CONTEST. As far as the present engines go, I'll put my 4.6 up against any of Shovies' current offerings on their new Butt-Ugly Silverdogs any day of the week! As far as past offerings, I still liked the ol' 429 over the 454 any day of the week too! Just my opinions...

FastEddie

------------------
'99 F150 S/C Lariat 4.6 Auto 3.55 Wedgewood Blue Metallic/Gold- K&N, Superchip

 

I agree with Fasteddie. I drove pretty much all the trucks. I just got rid of a 96 Dodge Lamb. I drove the f-150 witht he 4.6 and the 5.4 in Sc. I also drove the 250 with the powerstoke, and My GOSH!!!!!! that baby would pull. I also drove the new shovies and I could not tell any noticable difference between the small V-8's. I bought the 4.6 in a SC SB with 3.55 limited slip, if you are going to be hauling alot and pulling that kind of weight you need a big truck, not a small halfton. As far as a week transmission you might want to do some checking the new Z-71's are having some bad problems with them burning up the trannies. 4 People just here in the small town that i live in have had to have there's replaced. You have to buy what you want. I have been a ford person for years have owned ford cars and trucks for years and have never had many problems with them. Hell maybe some chevy will out pull me, maybe even out run me, but I love my truck and we will see who is still driving there truck 10 years down the road. Just my 2.

Medic12

Oh P.S. how come it took so long for shovie to step up and change some things????? I cant tel you how many people that i know that were chevy fans that have gone out and bought a new Ford. DOH!!!!!!!!!

 

I've driven a 98' 5.7 liter C/K 1500, and it is fast, but doesnt have the sheer grunt or power of acceleration my 4.6 has.

------------------
1999 Ford F150 XLT 4x2, Cloth Seats, Amazon green, 16" All season tires, Soft Tonneau Cover, CD Player, 4.6 liter Triton V8, 3:55 ls, towing package, 4 speed auto, K&N Airfilter, soon Superchip and K&N GEN II.

Fast46Triton

The Terminator!

 

all of u are full oh ****
chevy are alot faster
my friends 98 5.7 is stock except flowmasers on it and it beats 5.4 fords with headers and a lot of the other bull **** on them
and a new 99 chevy beat him and i has the 4.7 on it so i think the 5.3 will beat any fords 5.4 on it
i like the ford looks but chevy is faster

 

What do you know? You can't even get the displacement of the Chevrolet engine right, it's 4.8L, not 4.7. Besides, you have a V6, and I saw on another post some stupid idea of buying a GM eight cylinder and trying to get it to function in your Ford with the OBD II emissions, etc. I'd appreciate it if you'd spare the rest of us from your profanity

------------------
'98 F150 XL Regular Cab, LWB, 4.2L V6, 5 Spd, 3.55 LS, Rhino Lining, factory heavy duty suspension, 3" Gibson Swept Side Cat Back, K&N filter, Oxford White minus the two tone garbage. BIG TIME FoMoCo p/u fan, not some fair weather hammerhead.

 

DantheMan

With all due respect, go find another sand box to play in.

This board is one of the cleanest, most helpful and least obnoxious I have seen, and I visit a lot of them.

If I recall, you recently posted a thread asking if you could put a 6.0 litre Chev engine in your late model Ford.

Again, not trying to be disrespectful, if you want to beat Chevrolet trucks at the high end of the envelope, get perhaps a Litghtning or a 5.9 litre Dodge. There are still no guarantees I guess, but it would cost a heck of a lot less than your engine swap solution.

Please, cool the language. It doesn't impress anyone.

Bill Murray