Ford 4.6L and 5.4L Engine for Supercab or Supercrew

dhendrie

I am interested in buying either a Supercab or a Supercrew 4x4 for my comuter and hunting rig. I won't be towing anything heavier than a driftboat so power is not a major concern for me.

I am looking for real mileage...summer and winter MPG from your trucks. City or Highway.

I am leaning towards the 4.6L and just need to know if there is that much difference in MPG between the two. Any help appreciated.

cygnusx1

Straight from today's Washington Post:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided to proceed with an investigation of more than 800,000 Ford trucks after dozens of owners said they lost steering control. At least 50 owners of 1999 and 2000 Super Duty F-Series pickups have complained about a fracture in the steering gear sector shaft, which makes the front wheels turn when the driver moves the steering wheel. At least 41 crashes and 13 injuries have been reported to Ford and NHTSA.

Yeeeesh....

fredvon4

sorry I can't help with the MPG of the V8s, I choose the V10 4X4 Crew. Very long, very tall, very wide. If your hunting is the reason for 4X4 and you don't need to haul long loads consider the supercab and short box to keep your wheel base as short as possible. In Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico rocky hilly terrain I constantly have to find other "routes" as my long rig loves to high center on relativly small hills.

The 2001 trucks and I presume the 2002 do not have the steering sector shaft problem.

midnight_stang

1999-2000 Ford Super Duty F-Series sold 500,000 per year, reaching 1,000,000 sold by September 2000.

50 owners complained. making that 0.005 percent of the 1999-2000 trucks. (that's 5 thousands of one percent of vehicles sold)

41 crashes REPORTED(No evidence this steering wheel fracture was the cause found) and that is 4.1 thousandths of one percent of vehicles sold)

So don't get alarmed by this scare tactic post. I'm not discounting any possible issues with the steering gear shaft, just stating the actual percent of vehicles.

But here's a possiblity, a front end collision could provide enough stress to front end parts. And I we all know the steering wheel, and any shafts and gears in between is connected to the front wheels. So maybe this is an effect, not the cause?

jhg185

I'm looking at at a new Supercrew and am having trouble deciding about the engine choice. The EPA on both engines is 15 mpg city and is 19 vs. 21 for the 5.4 vs. the 4.6. Does anyone have any real world experience to report on either engine? The 5.4 is definitely more powerful and fun to drive, but I don't want to get killed on low mpg with the bigger engine if that's a problem. I'm not likely to be doing any heavy duty towing.

rm13

and my top mileage has been approx 18 mpg on long trip. I'm usually driving through mountains when on long trips and suspect that the 5.4,which would probably not need to downshift as often in the hills, would do just as well. I chose the 4.6 because of the mileage but don't think it saves me much. I don't feel it lacks power, but if you've driven (which I didn't) and enjoyed 5.4, it should be well worth the $680 extra. In town we consistently get15mpg with bulk of those miles 3-10 mile trips in traffic. Mine is a 2wd Supercrew.

bess

stang had a decent post. But the origional person was asking about a SuperCrew or SuperCab F150 which is NOT a SuperDuty line..

Dhendrie,
I've heard great things about both engines.. The 4.6 will get better mpg's than the 5.4..

eppy

I get 15 in City driving when I'm not towing, Don't even ask me what I get towing, I'm scared to figure it out.

bnosyt

17 mpg highway

kit1404

Mine is a 1999 F-150 4x4 off/road Super/Cab with 5.4 and it's really not hard for me to get 17 mpg depending on wind mostly at our high altitude and mountainous/hilly terrain of New Mexico driving about 82 mph on cruise. My truck has 3.73 rear gears. My husband's 2001 F-150 4X4 reg. cab with 5.4 (no off-road package) has seen right on 20 mpg in the same conditions (I think his probably has 3.55 gears). These trucks with 5.4 are not gas guzzlers. They do downshift a lot at our altitude, but man when you need the power, it is there. Guess it really depends on how much you need the bigger engine. Frankly, the trucks are heavy and you're not losing much with the 5.4 over the 4.6 in the gas arena, especially if you can resist the urge to floor the big engine.

sebring95

My in-laws had the above truck for about two years/60K miles. It regularly averaged 18mpg. Was used to tow about 5000# maybe every other weekend. It was totally unable to tow that much weight, and the 4.6L is barely adequate when the truck is empty. Developed a very bad knocking during towing around the 50K mile mark and they traded it soonafter. Probably be ok if you live where it's flat, but OD was useless holding highway speeds on the hills. I wouldn't own one with anything less than the 5.4L but it's very hilly where I live.

lariat1

I have to agree with Sebring I had a 97 F-150 with the 4,6 great truck when empty but when it came to towing a 5000# trailer it was severely lacking I to developed the knocking it was do to spark knock when working hard. If I were to get another F-150 it will have the 5.4.Also I never got over 17 MPG with the 4.6,I get the same gas milage with my 2001 ram w/360 as I got with the F-150 and the 4.6.

supercrewz

I have a 2001 SuperCrew Four Wheel Drive with the 5.4/auto combo. It has the limited slip axle (3.55 ratio I believe) and averages 16.5-18 mpg on the highway and about 14 in town.

I have absolutely NO complaints about this truck (almost 14k miles on it now) and it has NEVER been to the shop.

I am very happy with it so far and would not hesitate to go with the 5.4 at all. I drove both it and the 4.6 a lot before buying and decided that, while the 4.6 was "adequate", I wanted to have more than just adequate IF I ever needed it. I've never regretted it for a moment.

Good luck.