Re: Fords 5.4L V8 Problems
I've owned mostly only Fords with a few Toyota and Chevy trucks.
The best or most trouble free were my two 4.9L F150's, the worst was a 1988 Toyota SR5 4 cylinder 4x4 pickup.
I baby my vehicles and most look and run as good as when they were new when I sell them. The Toyota had a trans fail at 800 miles, and again at 1100 miles, and yet again at 4400 miles, (5 speed manual, never towed or abused), the motor lost two rods at idle at 12,800, the upper ball joints failed at 40,000 and at a 73,000 despite 2500 mile service intervals, and the bed rusted through along both inner wheel wells in less than two years despite being garage kept and never in saltwater. The seat springs were shot at 11,000 miles, the dealer told me I was too big for the seat and that they weren't responsible, ( I weighed in at about 250 lbs back then). The dash cracked around the radio, they said I must have kicked it with my foot or knee, which was entirely possible since my knees would hit the dash even with the seat all the way back.
That truck got totalled after being sideswiped by an older Honda Civic in a parking lot, the other car hit the back of my right front wheel and in turn it removed the entire wheel assembly and ripped a 3x4" piece of frame off with it. I was glad to see that one go at that point.
I had bought that truck after buying a driving an older Land cruiser for several years which was all but trouble free other than the fact that it rusted away from the top down.
I gave Toyota another try back in 2000, I bought another pickup, this time with the V6 and an auto trans, the trans failed in the first week, something about a run of bad planetary gears or something, the dealer rebuilt the trans 4 times before finally replacing the unit with a factory reman unit. I was so pissed off that I had just paid for a new truck, and had a used re manufactured trans in it, and so disgusted with the dealer service, I traded it the minute the trans issue was fixed.
I've had all Fords except for two GMC trucks and two Dodge vans since. The Dodge vans both has trans problems, but they were fixed and the problem never returned. The GM Trucks were fine other than one alternator failure at 120,000 miles and a transmission speed sensor at 180,000 on the other one.
The only issues I've had with any of my Ford trucks were a few warped rotors after towing heavy trailers in the mountains, two clutch master cylinders on my Ranger, and one ignition module on that same truck.
After what I've been through with the few Toyota trucks, it's not likely I'd own another one, at least not new or for any serious amount of money.
I'd consider a later GM truck, (after 2000 or so), and would have no problem with any Ford product.
I am 6' 4" tall and 275 lbs these days and find that only the American trucks are truly built to handle a big guy, I drove to NY last week in a late model Toyota Camry, it was one of the most uncomfortable rides I've had in a long time. I probably looked like a clown in the circus getting out of that thing.
I have several buddies that swear by Toyota trucks, and even when the break, it's always that it was a 'minor' problem or a fluke as said above, but never a product defect or that it wasn't up to the task.
The imports will have to go a long way to prove that they can handle the day to day use dished out when towing and hauling weight day in, day out as a work truck. I still don't see a viable competitor to any of the big diesel trucks made by Ford, GM or Dodge.
I drove a new Tundra at a demo event with a 10,000lb trailer, they would only let me run it on their set course which limited it to low speeds. When I asked how it would handle running across a dirt field or gravel road full of holes, they didn't have an answer. The truck felt 'light' for a tow vehicle and seamed to be working pretty hard to get that load moving. It didn't give me the impression that it would hold up doing it every day. When I asked if they made a work truck, regular cab, 8' bed, they said yes, but they didn't have any there. When I found out base price was over $25,000 for a bare bones truck, that ended what little if any interest I had in a new Toyota. The worst part was that I couldn't get a V8 with a long bed? If I wanted a full sized bed, I was stuck with the 4.0L engine. Not much of a choice since I was after a basic truck which could still do some towing. If I wanted the V8, I had to go with a 6 foot bed. Without the option of the V8 and long bed combination, I lost all interest at that point.
Ford has a similar situation with their Ranger, they have never made an extra cab with the long bed, which really limits the usefulness of that truck.
I cannot understand the apparent trend in making trucks with such short beds either, the way I see it, if it won't carry a sheet of plywood, it's not much use to me, some of us still buy a truck to use as a truck. If I want to drive a car, I take my Town Car or Grand Marquis, both of which have been trouble free vehicles.
Personally, as as far as magazine ratings go, I got fed up with the one way, biased info that is printed in most consumer magazines, real world experience speaks for itself. The day that those magazines quit taking advertising money from manufacturers is the day I might start putting some weight on their opinions. It's been a long time since I've read anything that I agree with in Consumer Reports. Most of the things that they seem to dislike about most vehicles is usually what I find to be their best features.
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