[Guest]

AM thinking about getting newer F150 w/ 5.4. How are Chevies better than Fords or Dodges? Maint? Longevity? MPG? Durability? Parts? I've had older 60's & 70's Ford and Chevy's and liked them both. Thanks for any comments,

 

[889]

Well, this is a chevy board, so most ppl will say chevy. What year you looking? Chevy/ford both had IFS, so dodge has them both beat on that. Besides that, you have ot give us more specifics about years, im not sure what years teh 5.4 came in.

 

[742]

That isn't necessarily true about the new dodge 1500's.. They are ifs. You have to go 2500+ to get solid axle.

 

[889]

Yah, i realized that, but i didn't think the 5.4 Ford was the new one.

 

[578]

ford has a better starting system eith the remote solenoid...with that said, its easy to fix either way. i comef rom a ford family, and i think that fords are built every bit as well as chevies. with that said, look at the numbers for power and MPG...chevy has a slight edge in both. the reason i stick with chevy is that they are easier to maintain and parts availability/swapability is outstanding. dodge has a solid front axle which is better for off-roading...its simply stronger. it does have a bit harsher ride if it amtters to you. also, dodge has a pretty big problem with scrambling tranies on a lot of their trucks. so yeah, i choose chevy. but dodge does have the SFA so its appealing

 

[CodyZ71]

Everyone says the 5.4l feels gutless, my 5.7l most certainly does not feel gutless

Also I've heard that all the new ford engines have problems of just completely blowing spark plugs outta the engine, just POOF and ka ching... But then the new chevy engines, 4.8, 5.3 and 6.0 have piston slap... All and all if I was to get a ford, it would be a F250 with a powerstroke... If I was to get a Dodge it would be with a cummins... A chevy, well of course one with a 350.

 

[FunInTheMud]

Well,

I can tell ya from my experience a little about Chevy's and Dodges. Both my 92 Silverado and 97 Ram were made in USA, and my Silverado was put together better. The Silverado was by far less problematic than the dodge was, and everything that failed on my ram was a dodge part, not a Cummins part. The SFA is nice, however it is not without its flaws. My truck steers all over the place. Now this can be helped with upgraded suspension parts, but I seriously doubt it will be anywhere close to how the ifs Chevy was. The main reason I bough a Dodge was for the Cummins motor. It has the power of about 7 350's, and gets better fuel economy. Comparing a 12V Cummins to a 350 is not a fair comparison though. With all this said, I was more pleased with my Chevy truck than Dodge.

Brandon

 

[037]

I "think" the 5.4 Triton motors started in 1997, but not sure.

Dodge, if I remerber correctly, had a problem in the early years with their 3rd/4th doors on their trucks. Some kind of structure problem. I'm not sure if it was fixed yet.

The thing that burned me on Fords was when I owned an '87 Ranger. There were bloody wires and fusible links and relays and computer controls just EVERYWHERE. And when something went wrong, there was a lot of tracing to do.

My 1998 S-10, when I had it, was more 'solid state'. everything was routed neatly and cleanly. Engine power was there based on 50 + years of technology. My '98 K1500 is the same way. I've only tossed a coil, distributor cap and fuel pump (oh, and the battery cable thing) since I've owned either.

 

[Guest]

simply put i like chevys cuz they look way better and if things ever do go wrong they are a he!! of a lot easier to fix, my 95 GMC has 175,000 miles and the only thing ive done has been starter and pitman arm and idler arm and a tune up(besides exhaust tires and brakes).

 

[MSF]

This doesn't really apply to trucks, but I had a Ford Escort that I bought used and it lasted about 2 months, I think the motor gave. Then got my $50 for it at the junk yard. Then got an 87 Chevy Sprint (1.0 engine, 3 cylinder) that I drove for 2 years and never had a problem with except a clutch and a muffler. I sold it for $300 and am still kicking myself for it. That thing got 45 mpg! Ever since then drove GM fullsize trucks, and the only problems have been starters. Everything else has held up pretty well besides your normal wearing parts.

 

[2629]

Well I have a GMC k1500, a Pontiac Grand Am and a Chevy S10 Blazer. Need I say more?

 

[889]

A 1.0 ltr engine? HAHA

Now you've got a real truck though, so its all good. I didn't even think chevy built anything with a motor smaller than 4 cyl.

 

[Guest]

my brother has a 2000 dodge 4x4. i think its a great truck but i like the way my 88 chevy dries a lot better. the ride just feels more secure to me. also i've heard the first thing you replace on dodges are the tranies. with my chevy the only thing i needed to replace was the annual tune up. GM parts are also more common and swappable unlike ford that changes designs regularly. their first mistake was to do away with the 302. i just like my chevy and even with 33's i can still turn 'em over from a dead stop on a stock chevy 350. i also have a friend with a chevy with 35's and he can still turn 'em over on a stock 350. but in the end its all what you decide to buy and what works best for you.

 

[037]

In reply to:

Then got an 87 Chevy Sprint (1.0 engine, 3 cylinder) that I drove for 2 years and never had a problem with except a clutch and a muffler...

[/ QUOTE ]

I had one of those! Even got a ticket from an airplane / cruiser conspiracy. Apparently the plane tracked me doing about 85 in a 65 uphill on a freeway. I almost wanted to tell the cop "How in the heck can I go 85 in THIS thing, but unfortunately he had me dead to rights".

The only problem I had with it was that I was never seen by people. I got tired of getting cut off, so that's when I bought the Ranger I mentioned earlier. And I, too, am kicking myself for it. Not only 45 mpg, but about $7 to fill up the tank!

 

[MSF]

It was one heck of a car. I have a crappy picture of it here-

 

[Guest]

In reply to:

[The thing that burned me on Fords was when I owned an '87 Ranger. There were bloody wires and fusible links and relays and computer controls just EVERYWHERE. And when something went wrong, there was a lot of tracing to do.

My 1998 S-10, when I had it, was more 'solid state'. everything was routed neatly and cleanly.]

How can you compare the two, they are 11 years apart. I had an 89 Ford Ranger that I loved. I did lack some power, but in the 5 years I owned I only replaced a clutch and a fuel relay. Not that I am knocking s-10's but I don't see the comparison.

That being said, I would go with either a Ford or Chevy. Obviously I went Chevy. I like the parts interachangability, and the vast aftermarket for the 350. I too have heard Dodge has lots of problems with their tranny's. A friend of mine has a 01 Ram and the tranny is already slipping. He told me he doesn't like the truck at all. Another friend traded his 01 Yukon for a new Ram with a hemi and regrets is since. Hasn't really said why though...maybe it's just the payment.

 

[578]

i had 3 rangers, an 88, 89, and a 90. great little truvcks for what they were. all manuals, one have the 2.9V-6. it isnt a comparison with the current rangers though gone is the TTB and everyhting else that mad ea rangera ranger.

 

[037]

You make a good point, but as I said *I* was burned on Ford after that Ranger.

Let's see.

Blown ignition modules.
Blown sensor that sticks behind the throttle body (forgot what it was and what it did, other than not let the truck start without jumping two wires in a relay that was attached to the hood!)
Blown 4x4 control module (first year they had push-button. Smoked so bad I had to stop the truck and get out, since it was mounted in the dash). When it did work I had to sometimes open the driver's side door to get the module to change from 2wd to 4wd!
Blown hubs (plastic cams on the original automatic hubs, cracked).
Oil leaks
Failed parking brake and transmission that popped out of gear (manual), rolled down a hill, hit a trash dumpster, careened off that and rolled t*ts up, whilst I was out getting food and beer prepping for my trip to Baja for the 1000 race.

 

[Guest]

Do not get a ford with the 5.4 I repeat just say no to the 5.4 it is the worst engine ford has ever made and its not just me saying it i was going to buy a 98 expedition 4x4
but like any truck i buy i did some looking in to it and found that the 5.4 had more bad things than good said about it and not buy just a little but like one out of every ten said they like there 5.4 but being smart i went to a friends house who had one and he told me that he was on his 4 motor and his truck was only 2 years old his was a 2000
but it was just the motor nothing else now to move to chevy
i'm going to give you a test one day just look around at the trucks you see old and new I will bet you money that there are more chevys/gmc on the road than any other trucks old and new and that should tell you somthing.

 

[Guest]

The reason every year Ford sells more than chevy is because chevys sells are divied by 2. Because people can pick between GMC or Chevy trucks. If you put Gmc and Chevy sells together then it would almost duble ford truck sells.