GM 5.3 vs. Ford 5.4

Good friends of mine needed a new vehicle for the family last year. He and his wife were comparing the Tahoe and Expedition, and decided the Suburban was a little too big for their needs.

He is a big GM guy (has a nova and Jimmy). I was shocked when they decided on the Expedition. They said overall it was the better vehicle. Now the updated Tahoe is on the market, not sure which choice they would have made.

It will be interesting to see the mags do a comparison of the new ecoboost X and updated Ho.

both good motors, the 5.3/six speed screams to the redline and feels quicker off the line, but the 5.4/six speed has much more stump pulling torque downlow, while towing the 5.3 will be in lower to mid 4k rpm range on every hill or in wind, the for will be about 1000-750rpm less from my experience.

Nope and chances are we won't see anyone really going down in displacement engines in thier tow rigs and yes towing and racing are two different things and and some are made as tow rigs ... Not sure what they had in mind when the 5.3 was disigned but plenty of people put 300k on them towing and in many other car makes they always say "what's under the hood" and the guy will reply quietly .... A small block and last I heard I know it was an old problem but never heard of a 5.3 blowing spark plugs out the bottom end . All in all they are both great It's just hard to beat that smooth sounding line of LS motors .

LMMNOCATS_EFI wrote:
Although a great motor our stock 06 Yukon SWB would beat any stock 5.4 exp or F150 hard to use as a judge but check out youtube there's a lot more Ls motors out running tritons .... Just sayin

Or just look at there 0-60 times

Well the stock 3.7L F150 is faster 0-60 than both motors!

But you don't see too many folks trading in their V8s so they can tow with a smallish V6.

LMMNOCATS_EFI wrote:
Although a great motor our stock 06 Yukon SWB would beat any stock 5.4 exp or F150 hard to use as a judge but check out youtube there's a lot more Ls motors out running tritons .... Just sayin

Or just look at there 0-60 times

Racing and towing ain't the same. Any motor can be tuned to run fast. It's the motor that's tuned for towing that's going to last longer.

Although a great motor our stock 06 Yukon SWB would beat any stock 5.4 exp or F150 hard to use as a judge but check out youtube there's a lot more Ls motors out running tritons .... Just sayin

Or just look at there 0-60 times

APT wrote:

krobbe wrote:
Now you're in a higher weight class with a TH. You should look at the actual total weight you want to tow along with higher tongue weights. You'll likely be in 3/4 - 1ton diesel territory.

I would not recommend any 2007+ SUV for a 26-28' toy hauler and any Harley. The receivers have too low limits at 1000 pounds max. If you 3+ rows of seats, then think 3/4 or 1-ton passenger van. Then you are comparing Ford's 5.4L V8 and 6.8L V10 to GM's 6.0L V8 and 6.6L diesel.

I agree 100%. A "28-foot" model toy hauler will actually be around 32'-34', and add in a slideout, GVWR will probably be between 11-13,000 GVWR with tongue weights will probably be around 1500-1800 pounds.

APT wrote:

krobbe wrote:
Now you're in a higher weight class with a TH. You should look at the actual total weight you want to tow along with higher tongue weights. You'll likely be in 3/4 - 1ton diesel territory.

I would not recommend any 2007+ SUV for a 26-28' toy hauler and any Harley. The receivers have too low limits at 1000 pounds max. If you 3+ rows of seats, then think 3/4 or 1-ton passenger van. Then you are comparing Ford's 5.4L V8 and 6.8L V10 to GM's 6.0L V8 and 6.6L diesel.

As much as I love my Expy, I would NEVER hook up a 26-28ft toy hauler. The 5.4 and 6spd could pull it, but the suspension would probably be bottomed out and the receiver about to fall off. Dry tongue weighs are close to or over the receiver limit. Then add batteries propane water and stuff in the wonderfull pass through storage. The toy weights don't really remove much from the tongue. 3/4 ton or larger for sure. 5.4 is available in 3/4 ton trucks and vans, and will work, but the 6.8 is a better choice along with the GM 6.0.

Desert Captain wrote:
Some Of the 5.3' s come with too tall of a rear end (3.42-not designed to tow), but my 3:55 did just fine with the limited slip diff. A 3:73 would be even better. If you can find a 5.4 with the 6 speed trans/ 3:73's you will blow the doors off of 5.3.:B

Of course the 5.3 w/ 3.42 gears are designed to tow. That is GM's towing gear in 1500 trim w/ the 5.3, and it does just fine with the 6 spd transmission. In fact, that combo tows a lot better than the old 4 spd w/ 4.10 gears (check my signature to see how I know!).

The non-towing gears are the 3.08 -- you want to steer clear of those.

krobbe wrote:
Now you're in a higher weight class with a TH. You should look at the actual total weight you want to tow along with higher tongue weights. You'll likely be in 3/4 - 1ton diesel territory.

I would not recommend any 2007+ SUV for a 26-28' toy hauler and any Harley. The receivers have too low limits at 1000 pounds max. If you 3+ rows of seats, then think 3/4 or 1-ton passenger van. Then you are comparing Ford's 5.4L V8 and 6.8L V10 to GM's 6.0L V8 and 6.6L diesel.