I have a 2001 F150 with the 5.4. She's got 177k on her now, still runs pretty damn good I must say. I recently bought a bigger boat (22' Cuddy) that's pretty heavy for her to pull BUT she does it. I was considering buying another truck but I LOVE my truck. I have a DVD/NAV (Used for watching ScoobyDoo as I have a 5 ye old) and remote start and OBVIOUSLY 4 doors with leather blah blah...I was considering a 250 or something along those lines. OR a SC Harley. But really, I'd really like to throw some money at it and keep it. I'd like to possibly re-power it; maybe a rebuild and a sc and cosmetic crap. I'm a good mechanical tech; I build and repair gable-top packaging machines for a living.

The question is this; is there a "usual" way people go about this? I'd like to have some decent HP like a lightning but I really want to be able to drive it and pull my boat with no fails or issues. Is a newer 5.4 swapout a suggestion or should I rebuild my old motor with some bulletproof parts and a charger to get my HP numbers? I have a Ford tyranny guy so that's no issue; I also have a company car and my motorcycle if I have a few days of down-time. Anybody got any good suggestions? Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks fellas!

 

How heavy is it? My 5four pulled a car hauler most of it's life and it turned 300,000 miles recently. Original trans, - just run the good stuff in it.

I've never needed more power, but yes, it would of been nice at times. You could put a supercharger on top. Allot of people do that here.

Harley charger or lightning is a bolt on and tune.

 

Yea, you want a "roots" blower for pulling. For that power above idle.

 

She's heavy man...maybe 7k or so with the trailer. But I'd really like it to be faster; thinking of cleaning it up with some wheels and all that crap INSTEAD of getting something else to wrench on. Should I rebuild the motor first or throw on a SC and ride it till she pops? Its 2wd but I don't really wanna lower it...maybe level it when I put tires on but that's it.

 

In the meantime, did you put a bigger granny cooler on?

 

Nope, it heated up at one time, burned it a little, but saved it with that Amsoil stuff. I also have a larger trans and it's a 4x4. If you have the smaller trans, yea, you might want to go with a deeper trans pan. Maybe a larger rear diff cover; it depends. The cooler on your model should be sufficient. You'll have check all that out. You most likley have the smaller trans, a 4r70w. It will say on your door frame or you can count the bolts on your diff cover. I have the E4OD/4R100.

But, yea. That's heavy, - usually people just leave they're yahts at port.

 

BTW- That engine isn't broken in yet. Not if it was taken care of anyway.

 

i would put a bigger cooler on since you are in florida.

get a V10 F250 transmission cooler. looks like this.



and you can mount it like this.

 

Nice, - things huge. Don't say it....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD_xWrhZ8yI

 

Yeah I'll find one of those as soon as I get back home. And it aint a yacht, its just damn heavy for some reason. I know my buddy rebuilt the rear end a few years ago and he told me it had "the same geartrain as the 250". I'll have to check the code though for certain. I really do love that truck, just figured it'd be just as good to spend that new truck payment making my baby a little better! One of the maintenance mechanics I was talking to earlier at the plant I was at told me to get a junkyard motor and rebuild it with the best damn parts and strap a lightning setup on that. I may look into doing that, considering she's running just fine as of right now...

 

Not the same as an F250 unless you have a 7700 model F150. If that's the case, then your all set. Just run good fluids. That knocks the heat way down.

She's plenty tuff. Believe me, your motor is fine, -we specialize with that one. It's fine, IF it's been taken care of.

Hell the F250's came with a 5.4L as well.

 

Well, I guess you didn't have to

 

She's been taken care of! Always run Mobil 1, on top of all the maintenance. Only real issue I ever had was a couple of coil packs. Otherwise, awesome. Kinda why I don't want to change into anynother vehicle!

 

Mobil one can be worst enemy. Well, certain types anyway. That said, I wouldn't chance it.

Someone will probably post the exact type that failed engine ware tests, I can't recall.

The 5fours just use coils, 1 per, always have. Coil Packs are used on the older 4.6L's and Essex 4.2L. Yea they're used to run more than one cylinder, - hence "pack", a pack of cylinders.

So yea, coils go bad, -specially if you loose your lower inner fender-well skirts, which happens frequently.