Truck Trend's recent comparison
 

I recently read the comparison in the October issue of Truck Trend and I have a question about a comment made in the atricle that some of you may be able to explain to me. In the "Dislikes" note about the Ford it says "torque wasted on open rear end". What exactly does that mean? Being an owner of a pre-97 model and having only driven a 4.2 XL (rental) for a month I'm not sure as to what they mean. Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Neal

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'94 F-150, 4.9 6cyl., K&N FIPK, Mangecor 8mm wires. Gibson 3" Side Swept, MSD Blaster Coil. Recently Superchipped! Stereo under construction, 2-10" Rockford Fosgate, 600 Watt Amp. Pioneer head unit, will sound great if it ever gets done! Est. 200 hp 300ft/lb. Torque! Not bad for a straight 6!! New project: '82 Stang, 351 Windsor. I'll keep ya posted.

By open rear-end, they mean the truck didn't have a limited slip differential and thus had a lot of wheelspin during their WOT 0-60 tests.

Most trucks on the dealer lots don't have limited slip differentials, but a lot of people on this board have them in their trucks!

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'93 Regular Cab XLT Shortbed, 5.0, K&N, Borla, 160,000 miles; Future SuperCrew owner.

Neal
I think what they mean is that without a limited slip rear end, the 5.4's torque resulted in many one wheel burnouts, couldn't put all that power to the ground.

Complaining about too much power and torque? Hhmm, life must be rough huh!? https://www.f150online.com/f150board/wink.gif
Thanks for clearing that up! Keep on truckin!

Bests,
Neal

I keep losing more and more respect for motor/truck trend magazines. What a stupid way to run a test, if you're going to be doing power tests then get the options that a power hungry customer would get.
During the last couple of years they ran the dumbest tests: the tested a '98 Chevy against a '97 F150, the Chevy won (duh). The next year it was a '99 chevy against a '98 ford ... guess who won!

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1999 Lariat Super Cab, S.B. 5.4L, 3.55 LS
and everything but the leaky slider window.
Bright red w/ gold 2-tone, Leather Captain's Chairs
Mods: Duraliner bedliner, Bugflector II, Hide-a-hooks.
& a leeetle chrome tip on the exhaust.

I have the 5.4l and 3.55 gears.
Wish I had limited slip.
Wheels are easy to spin.
Too much power I guess.
Oh well, better more than not enough.


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99 XLT 5.4l reg cab
4 wheel disc/ABS
5 star larait style wheels
Toreador red 2tone
3.55 gears
255/70/16 OWL
Delta toolbox
Eclipse 5340 cd player
Memphis ARCS50 component speakers (excellent sound)
Sherwood amp
subwoofer coming soon
More mods as funds become avalible.

94 f-150

The regular open rear end is more daily driver friendly. My father-in-law has a '92 Florida State Patrol mustang with a limited slip rear end. It can be scary. For example I was pulling out of a parking lot I floored it causing both wheels to "lock" I almost lost it. Any serious hot rod has traction lock or positive traction. All that bottom end torque & no limited slip = serious burn out.

Oh yeah, we have the same truck. I am putting a hi-flow converter & 3" single cat-back on it. I will tell you how it comes out.

Fordme,
From what I understand putting a higher flow cat on our truck will seriously lose low end torque! Being that our engine isn't a high revving engine, I'm not too sure as to how excited I would be about that! I've thought about it, once! https://www.f150online.com/f150board/wink.gif Let me know what kind of results, type, and difficulty you experience! Thanks!

Neal

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'94 F-150, 4.9 6cyl., K&N FIPK, Mangecor 8mm wires. Gibson 3" Side Swept, MSD Blaster Coil. Recently Superchipped! Stereo under construction, 2-10" Rockford Fosgate, 600 Watt Amp. Pioneer head unit, will sound great if it ever gets done! Est. 200 hp 300ft/lb. Torque! Not bad for a straight 6!! New project: '82 Stang, 351 Windsor. I'll keep ya posted.

Just a note to all that have the limited slip differentials. I replaced my fluid, after going offroad and getting water threw the vent, and used the proper synthetic fluid and friction modifier, but I'm still getting the clutch grinding sound around corners at partial throttle. Any ideas or suggestions?

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'98 F-150 XLT Reg. Cab Flareside 4x4, Black, 5.4l, 3.55LS, tow package, K&N, GTS headlight covers, Alpine changer w/FM mod, Clifford alarm system w/keyless entry & starter disable // Future considerations: 285/75/r16 Mud Terrain BFG's, bed mat, tonneau cover, suspension lift.