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2008 ford f-250 with a 5.4

M

mantisman

Member
I found a 2008 f-250 with the 5.4 v8 with a 6 speed auto has anyone pulled a 4 place enclosed trailer with one? I was wondering about mpg pulling and not. The older 5.4's were way under powered and only had a 4 speed auto now with more power and a 6 speed auto maybe there ok.
 
Ford did not have a 6 speed auto until 2011 w/ the new 6.7L psd. The 08's had a 5r100 (5 speed auto). Not sure about towing power, but if you plan on towing much and you don't want a diesel, i would look for a v10, very little price difference upfront, and i doubt it will be that much worse fuel mileage. Just my $.02.
 
We have had a lot of GM and Ford gas engines. Really liked my 8.1 496 but the milage was poor and it always burned a little oil, which they all did for some reason supposedly. Had a F 150 with 5.4, and now a expedition with the 5.4, all with 6 speed autos and they tow great for what they are. Milage towing a mirage enclosed is about 8-9 mpg at best. I would not want to tow with the 5.4 and a 5 speed auto after having the 6 speed auto. My brother has an 08 V-10 and 5 speed auto and it gets around 14 on highway and 8-9 towing. It's by far the strongest gas motor we've ever had in ANY vehicle, it blows the doors off the 496 Big Block GM we had, which in it's time couldn't be touched! My 6.4l diesel gets better MPG on the highway than V 10, but really the towing mpg is only 1 or so better. V-10's are a much better buy these days too, although I like my 6.4 powerstroke.

Just my $.02!
 
We have had a lot of GM and Ford gas engines. Really liked my 8.1 496 but the milage was poor and it always burned a little oil, which they all did for some reason supposedly. Had a F 150 with 5.4, and now a expedition with the 5.4, all with 6 speed autos and they tow great for what they are. Milage towing a mirage enclosed is about 8-9 mpg at best. I would not want to tow with the 5.4 and a 5 speed auto after having the 6 speed auto. My brother has an 08 V-10 and 5 speed auto and it gets around 14 on highway and 8-9 towing. It's by far the strongest gas motor we've ever had in ANY vehicle, it blows the doors off the 496 Big Block GM we had, which in it's time couldn't be touched! My 6.4l diesel gets better MPG on the highway than V 10, but really the towing mpg is only 1 or so better. V-10's are a much better buy these days too, although I like my 6.4 powerstroke.

Just my $.02!

hmm, i have had completely different results than this. i have good friends with 2 ford v 10s and one dodge v10. All three of them will openly admit my 6.0 with the 4l80e is better towing. Oh well, i'm sure there are many other factors involved, gear ratio, cab set up, what is being towed, etc etc.
 
It might have something to do with the year. I'm not completely sure but I think around 2008 is when the V 10 went to 360+ HP??? I have been around some older V 10's and they weren't anything like my brothers 2008, but they were older models, prob around 2002 or 2003. We had a 6.0 GM and had terrible luck with it, it wouldn't hardly pull better than 5.3l. But i know some guys that really like them. Like you said, lots of factors can make a difference.

Off topic a little bit but anyone on our farm will tell you the GM 454 Vortec was the greatest motor ever, hahah. Good power and decent milage for a big block. Ran the SH%$ outa a few of them and they were great. I think we also have a few 350's with 300k+ on them too still around.




hmm, i have had completely different results than this. i have good friends with 2 ford v 10s and one dodge v10. All three of them will openly admit my 6.0 with the 4l80e is better towing. Oh well, i'm sure there are many other factors involved, gear ratio, cab set up, what is being towed, etc etc.
 
I found a 2008 f-250 with the 5.4 v8 with a 6 speed auto has anyone pulled a 4 place enclosed trailer with one? I was wondering about mpg pulling and not. The older 5.4's were way under powered and only had a 4 speed auto now with more power and a 6 speed auto maybe there ok.

The newer ones aren't any different despite what Ford rates them at.

Although, a supercharger on a 5.4L is a nice alternative to the overpriced diesel option .... too bad it voids warranty :(
 
We have had a lot of GM and Ford gas engines. Really liked my 8.1 496 but the milage was poor and it always burned a little oil, which they all did for some reason supposedly. Had a F 150 with 5.4, and now a expedition with the 5.4, all with 6 speed autos and they tow great for what they are. Milage towing a mirage enclosed is about 8-9 mpg at best. I would not want to tow with the 5.4 and a 5 speed auto after having the 6 speed auto. My brother has an 08 V-10 and 5 speed auto and it gets around 14 on highway and 8-9 towing. It's by far the strongest gas motor we've ever had in ANY vehicle, it blows the doors off the 496 Big Block GM we had, which in it's time couldn't be touched! My 6.4l diesel gets better MPG on the highway than V 10, but really the towing mpg is only 1 or so better. V-10's are a much better buy these days too, although I like my 6.4 powerstroke.

Just my $.02!

I've never driven a V10 that I thought held a candle to my 8.1L.
 
It'll get you where you're going...........at 5000rpms and 35mph!
Not to offend anyone, but all 5.4's are turds in the power dept IMO.
Probably looks like a good deal, and it should be to even consider it.
You'll be getting 11mpg avg BEFORE you hook the trailer to it. With trailer, don't even bother looking, just know if it says 100mi to next gas station and you have 1/2 tank or less, better stop and fill up.
Would be a good truck if you need the 3/4 ton for hauling weight in the bed, but don't haul much weight behind the truck or you won't be happy.

Edit: I've had about a dozen 5.4's in different variations of truck, 1/2T, 3/4T, 2wd, 4x4 and would buy one for reliability, but not for power. BTW, the new 5.0 will blow the doors off a 5.4 and get at least 5mpg better doing it.
 
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the 8.1l chevy is a 502 and they will out pull a duramax atleast the two we have a work and the only good v10 was a 2000 to 2002 dodge and the chevy 6.0 were animals compared the the gmc because their diffrent gear ratio. the 6.0 chevy is the best truck im my opinion takes a beatin and has all the power in the world just my opinion
 
the 8.1l chevy is a 502 and they will out pull a duramax atleast the two we have a work and the only good v10 was a 2000 to 2002 dodge and the chevy 6.0 were animals compared the the gmc because their diffrent gear ratio. the 6.0 chevy is the best truck im my opinion takes a beatin and has all the power in the world just my opinion

The 8.1L will not out pull a Duramax ... also, its a 496, not a 502 ;)

But I agree, I'd take a GM 6.0L over a Ford 5.4L any day of the week. I'm not a huge fan of the powerband on the GM small blocks since the Gen III and all the mfg's went to the higher RPM torque peak style power bands for mileage .... but I'll be damned if that 6.0L isn't the best of all the small block gas motors on the market today.

If I could get a GM motor in a Ford truck or a Ford front end in a GM truck my life would be complete.
 
we had a 2005 8.1 chevy at work and traded it for a 2011 duramax and it does not pull half as good as the 8.1 have nothin to lie about as im a chevy guy from birth to death :tea:
 
we had a 2005 8.1 chevy at work and traded it for a 2011 duramax and it does not pull half as good as the 8.1 have nothin to lie about as im a chevy guy from birth to death :tea:

Then something is wrong with your duramax. The 8.1 is the best Gas towing motor ever built!(IMO) But it still isn't even in the same league as a Duramax. Especially a new one!
 
Then something is wrong with your duramax. The 8.1 is the best Gas towing motor ever built!(IMO) But it still isn't even in the same league as a Duramax. Especially a new one!

IMO? Nah, thats a fact ;)

I wish like hell I could get a revamped DoD-style 8.1L in a new 2500HD or 3500 series truck.
 
5.4 in a 3/4 ton truck is a waste of time, and i'm a ford guy. seriously way underpowered. if it has to be a gas, buy a new one with a 6.2 otherwise you're wasting your money
 
The **** gets deep fast. Dude must have had the most powerful 8.1 ever built or 4.88 gears.:tea: Hard to beleive less hp less tq and fewer gears would make something pull better. Guess we all have had it wrong for a long time. In this theory I'm putting a single cylinder 250 fan in my sled in the am.
 
The **** gets deep fast. Dude must have had the most powerful 8.1 ever built or 4.88 gears.:tea: Hard to beleive less hp less tq and fewer gears would make something pull better. Guess we all have had it wrong for a long time. In this theory I'm putting a single cylinder 250 fan in my sled in the am.

Actually no, all of them were built this way. And its a pretty well known everified by almost any number of dyno tests, what GM has officially listed their Gen III small blocks at under SAE standards .... usually comes out at the wheels, not the crank .... pretty well known they under rate them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Modular_engine#6.8.C2.A0L_V10

So in other words, ford wasn't even RATING the V10 to be what the 8.1L was until 2005 .... and, it didn't make peak power until 4200 rpm or something like that .... the 8.1L makes peak power @ 3200 ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Vortec_engine#Generation_2

And as many have said above as well ... I don't care what Ford's ratings on their motors are on paper, in the real world they don't perform as well as the GM motors do in the real world ... So I'm thinking that GM under rates their motors, and ford probably rates theirs spot on, because I don't know anyone who has actually spent any seat time in both trucks who say the GM gassers don't out power the Fords.

With that said, I'm not bashing Ford, my next truck will be an F250 or F350 .... but it won't be a gasser.

GM makes the best motors out there .... too bad they were recently taken over by communists :(
 
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I found a 2008 f-250 with the 5.4 v8 with a 6 speed auto has anyone pulled a 4 place enclosed trailer with one? I was wondering about mpg pulling and not. The older 5.4's were way under powered and only had a 4 speed auto now with more power and a 6 speed auto maybe there ok.

You couldnt get a clear answer from anyone here. Turned into a Ford / Government Motors deal. Wish I had an answer for you but I don't! Never owned a newer gas rig. All of my gas rigs are older then most of the people on here LOL. That includes me too!
 
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