Who tows with a 5.4??

Spence

Spence

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Salisbury
Well, title pretty much says it all. I was more or less set on a diesel, but after seeing how nice of an 5.4 excursion i could find in my price range, i am starting to lean that way. It will be my DD, and i would love the practicality of an excursion for that, compared to a pickup. since it will be DD, i would rather sacrifice a little power for fuel economy, as compared to a v10, but would i regret this???

i dont mind going slow enough up the hills, and tow duty is kind of considered the seocondary duty of the vehicle. Would this be an ok choice????
 
I think an Expedition would be better for a DD/occasional tow rig.. 5.4 with the factory tow package...

I have towed with one before, it did well for what it is...
 
any specific disadvantages to the excursion??? just the size and weight?

honestly i just like the look a lot better, but would consider an expedition
 
I towed with a 250 5.4....it was no diesel, but it did ok.
 
A 5.4 Expedition is my work truck and we tow quite often with them. They do really well for what they are. The 5.4 has a lot of power, and the 4 wheel independent/4 wheel disc Expedition is nice.
They are rated for 8900#, IIRC.
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
A 5.4 Expedition is my work truck and we tow quite often with them. They do really well for what they are. The 5.4 has a lot of power, and the 4 wheel independent/4 wheel disc Expedition is nice.
They are rated for 8900#, IIRC.
Click to expand...


Im glad to hear so many people say this, it looks like for now i will hold off on the diesel and PROBABLY go with a 5.4, assuming i find what im looking for.


Chris brings up a good point though, im really not sure that i want IFS and IRS on my DD. I know lot of people would say otherwise, but even for a rig that will never be wheeled, i would much rather have the strength, simplicity, and reliability of solid axles. I had nothing but problems with the two ifs rigs ive owned, as far as wearing out parts and alignment.
 
we have a 5.4 F-350 and it tows just fine. doesn't get real good MPG loaded or unloaded. but it gets the job done make sure you get the towing package if you do get one, lots of good upgrades.
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
A 5.4 Expedition is my work truck and we tow quite often with them. They do really well for what they are. The 5.4 has a lot of power, and the 4 wheel independent/4 wheel disc Expedition is nice.
They are rated for 8900#, IIRC.
Click to expand...

he switched from excursion to expedition. i'm pretty sure the excursion still has a solid rear axle.
 
huh? the ones i am looking at are around the 2000 model year, i guess i should have specified. Arent those excursions solid axles front and rear on the 4wd?
 
I towed with our 5.4 Excursion and it did just fine. No complaints. And yes they are solid axle. D50 front and 10.25 rear.
 
thanks

so what kind of mileage could i expect in general, and when towing. I wouldnt be surprised of single digits towing, but would 12+ be feasible just daily driving???
 
I never got above 13 in my 250 6speed 5.4
A friend has an 03 Excurrsion and she said she has never gotten above 8...I I have no idea what gars or dricing style on hers.
 
I had a friend who had a GM 5.3 crew cab truck he pulled a trailer with, when he wrecked it he was given an expedition 5.4 to use while his GM was being fixed. Long story short, he didn't like the 5.4 compared to the 5.3.

I would say to test drive them and see how they feel. Anything with a V8 will be able to handle the job, it will just be how well it performs while doing it and personal preference. For your aplication a 5.3 or 5.4 would be fine depending on how much weight you are going to pull.

Personally i would try to find a GM with the 5.7, 6.0, or diesel in a 1500HD or bigger.
 
well, good to know, and as much as i feel like a fool saying this, no GMs for me. I am the type of person that hates on overly brand loyal people too.
 
I have owned a 98 F-150 and a 03 F-150 with the 5.4. I was pleased with its pulling power, I drove one of them to 160k with no problems and the other 80k with no problems. I hauled 5000-9000 lbs daily with both of them.

Fuel mileage on the other hand was not great between 10-12 mpg. But in its class of truck I would say it was very comparable. I would not buy anything else.
 
The Expeditions are 4 wheel independent. Excursions are all solid axle.
 
expeditions only went to IRS when they changed from the round front end to the squared, blockier fronts.
 
I just sold my 250 5.4 last week. We towed in a convoy to Gulches a couple weeks ago and I figured it up that I got 7.5 mpg down there and 6.5 mpg coming back. I've had the truck for 5 yrs and it was a 2000. My mileage started out being 13 local/DD to 9/10 local with 175'000 miles on it. The other guys in the convoy were getting 14 to 17 towing in Dodges so after 20 years of being a LOYAL Ford guy,I bought a new Cummins. Good luck in your decision.
 
Maybe you corrected it but if so I didn't see it. The only 2 engines avail in the Excursion were the V10 and the diesels? (I have been wrong before though...)

The Exped has the 5.4 litre and as Rich said, I know it tows pretty well.

My Excursion had the 7.3L diesel and it towed like a CHAMP. I got pulled for speeding UP a WV mountain pulling my Jeep on the trailer.

The V10 Excur you can actually pick up pretty reasonable, SprayPaintMan had his on here not too long ago. The v10 sucks gas but other than that it tows well too. I think he (Noah) was getting 10ish around town? I got 15.x around town with mine and best ever hwy for me was 17.x (not towing)

Very nice truck though and heavy duty components, basically a F250 or F350ish.
 
 
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