[jdoggmoney]

Hey everyone. My regular board is the SWB BBS, but I'm looking for a tow rig and need a little advice or information on later model F-150's.

I have decided on an 04-06 F150, four door, either Lariet or FX-4. I don't haul my junk around enough to justify the additional expense of a 3/4 ton oil burner, and although they ride nice, the late model GM stuff seems a bit week when it does come to towing.

Here's the bulk of my curiosity. I have a close friend who owns and car lot and will sell me a truck at about his cost. He currently has as 06 4door and has very recently had an 04 and two 05 extended cab F-150s. He swears up and down that the 06 has much more power than either the 04 or 05s.

I have driven both the current 05 and 06 he has and agree that there is a very noticeable power advantage going to the 06.

Could this simply be a gearing issue? If so, how can I tell quickly what the two trucks have for gears. Also, The truck that seems to have more power is a four door Lariet and the other 04 and 05s have been extended cab XLTs. This wouldn't make a difference would it?

I've tried to research this issue on the internet, but everything I've found says that the 5.4 liter puts out 300hp since 2004. Also, I have not pulled a load such as my Jeep to compare loaded, but I expect the results to be similar as far as poer goes.

Any insite, suggestions or ideas are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Checking gear ratios

If the trucks have tacometers then it would be easy to see which one has the lowest gear. Just get out on the road and put the trans in drive or if it is manual then fourth should be 1 to 1. Run it up to 60 miles per hour on a level road and see what the rpm reading is. The higher the number.....say 3000 (about a 4.10 ratio) the more easlily it will pull a heavy load and the more fuel it will use running empty.

If no tacometer, then the dealer should be able to print out a build sheet that will give you the ratio or you can do it the old school way. Jack up the rearend until both tires are off the ground (don't forget to block the front wheels) put the trans in neutral and then mark the driveshaft and one of the tires so you can count the number of times the shaft turns for each rotation of the tire.

Partsman