GM 5.3 vs. Ford 5.4
I have been tire kicking the 5.3 Chevrolet 1500 Suburbans and the 5.4 Ford Expeditions. From talking to people I get the feeling that the Ford 5.4 is the better tow vehicle. Any thoughts on these tw...
Forum Discussion
Lessmore wrote:Terryallan wrote:msgross wrote:
I've had 2 Tahoe's (5.3) and Suburban (5.3) and a Ford F-150 (5.4). The 5.3 is a great engine in the Tahoe, seemed a little under powered for the burb though, and I wasn't towing. They make a 3/4ton burb with the 6.0, that would be great. Or a Denali GMC YukonXL with a 6.0.
If you are towing over 5,000lbs then I suggest a 6.0 Chevy.
That is what I meant by the 5.3. While as a matter of fact, The 5.4 has plenty of power for well over 6000lbs.
My understanding is that while the 5.4 is reliable and durable....it's not very powerful.
The Ford 6.8 V10 addresses the power deficiency of the 5.4, very well. But not sure if the 6.8 was an option, or was a common option for the Expedition.
Last version of the 5.4L made 300 HP and 365 ft lbs of torque and provided max torque at a lower RPM than the 5.3L. The 5.4L had a much larger cooling system also than the 5.3L. I towed an 8k+ TT with an F-250 powered by the 5.4L with the 5 sp Torqshift and a 3.73 rear quite handily. It just didn't like that much weight in OD and wanted to shift down frequently. It would have been less of a problem with a 4.10 rear gear. Now my 6.8L 5sp/4.10 will hum along at 1950 RPMs in OD with that 32' TT behind it.
