Anyone pulling any significant weight with a 5.4?

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:32:11 -0600, Steve Barker LT rearranged some electrons to form:

Sure. It was available in the F250HD.

On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 01:05:56 -0500, David M rearranged some electrons to form:

.. at least part of the year...

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:00:24 GMT, "CJB" wrote:

Your points are well noted. Back 25 to 30 years ago and more we did not have the benifit of OD in SUV's so when you had a 4.10 or deeper for towing power you had engine cranking going down the road on highway even when unloaded but today OD changes that and you can have a 4.56 with a 2100 to 2300 RPM cruise in OD at 65 MPH depending on tire size in a big SUV. ANother part of the problem is detriot is making impressive HP rating on smaller engines at the expense of low and mid range power. It is no big trick to get a high HP rating out of a small engine. You simply move the torque peak to a higher RPM and since HP is bascially torque times RPM you get more HP. But, there is no free lunch because when doing this you loose lower RPM towing power where you need it most. Idealy for a good gas tow motoer you want a torque peak by about 3000 RPM or sooner for a few reasons. One is better lower RPM response and power and the other is better efficeny. A gas motro uses the least amount of fuel per HP hour produced while working hard when it is at or very near its torque peak (as its peak VE or Volumetric Efficency) If you engine peaks its torque at 3700 RPM or more and you are towing at 2500 RPM and pulling hard performance and MPG is going to lack a lot and when you hit a hill and RPM drops it will loose more torque as RPM drops. With a diesel it reaches peak VE as a much lower RPM (typically 1500 to 2000 RPM) so it you tow at say 2200 RPM and hit a hill as RPM try to drop you are also gain a bit of torque rather than loosing it. A big block gas motor has more displacement and peaks its torque and HP usually at about 1000 RPM less so it has more usealble power to tow with even if it has a lower HP rating (example, a 300 HP GM 8.1 will waste a 310 HP 5.3 towing badly or the old discontinued Dodge truck V10 will likewise waste a higher rated Hemi and same with a old 460 vs a 5.4). Since these engine as eithe now gone or soon to be gone the next best optiion is to regears trucks to make better use of availible power. A 5.4 with a

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

No it is not. HP is a measurement of work done not torque. I guess you flunked physics.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

oops I have a 5.7, this is about a 5.4

This is precicely the reason that the old Ford 4.9 was a stump puller. The motor was not a high revver at all, but it did grunt where you wanted it to. Some manufacturers years back even put inline 6's in school busses. It wasn't because they were big H.O. engines, but that their peak power production was at a usable rpm. One other interesting change that occurred over time is that people now want to cruise at 70mph. It wasn't that long ago that 55 was the nat'l speed limit. I used to drive a 66 passenger bus with a sb chebby 350 2bbl under the hood. How can a puny motor like that handle such a beast? Easy, it was geared really high, and actually redlighted the overspeed indicator at 52mph...

I'm not saying that we need to go back to those days, but I'm just pointing out that people's expectations have changed.

CJB

FYI: It seems to be quite confusing to some, but; It was actually geared really LOW, Higher numbers equal Lower gear ratios.

By The Way, For a few decades before the '70 gas crunch and the silly national 55 mph speed limit, the normal highway speed limits & cursing speeds in the US were 70-75 miles per hour plus (in much less speed worthy vehicles). Three quarters of the states have such vast areas that a 55 mile per hour speed limit is absolutely ridiculous.

You probably don't remember your physics, 'cause you forgot the last half. Horsepower is a measurement of work *applied over time.*

I actually knew both of those things; sorry for the transposing of high for low...

CJB

On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:32:38 +0000, SnoMan rearranged some electrons to form:

Wrong again, Snowblower.

Power = work / time

On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:21:58 -0500, Matt Macchiarolo rearranged some electrons to form:

Thanks :-)

Snowblower just proved (again) that: 1. he is an idiot 2. anyone who takes his stupid advice is, well, you get the idea.

He reminds me of the guy that puts his fingers in his ears and says "La La La La I can't hear you La La La La" whenever someone proves him wrong.

There's a guy like that over in rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys, Bill H. He's pretty knowledgable but if he is wrong about something he's loathe to admit it. I have him killfiled right now because he started a little flame battle with someone in another group that spilled over into ramj+w, and he can't help himself but to respond to every little insult.

On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:41:55 -0500, Matt Macchiarolo rearranged some electrons to form:

Yes, he is a well-known troll in alt.hi-po.big-block.ford-mercury.

Over there, we call him Lou Ellen, among other things. He is usually intimately associated with goats.

David M (dmacchiarolo)

Good points. I used to drive a few differnet dump trucks in 70's while going to college for extra income and one was a C60 single axle and the other was a C70 triaxle with a 427 and a 20 speed. THat 427 hauled

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

I see that thread was crossposted a lot!

My Granparents pulled a 33ft 5th wheel with their 2WD, 99 F-250 Supercab and a 5.4L engine. They would pull the trailer to Yuma, AZ and back every year. They were pleased with it, and did it very easily. You want to verify that you get atleast a 4.10 gear in the rearend, but it will do it fine.

Ford Tech