Just to be clear, I am not knocking the truck and it’s performance with the 4 L engine, I am just passing along a word of caution that this is a major potential repair that usually shows up between 130,000-160,000 miles, so used shopper beware. I currently own one in my 2006 explorer that I bought new and maintained religiously, and tow my 3,000 pound trailer with it. I have known a few people who were able to get to 180,000 or so before failure but those are the exception. I have known a few people who were able to get to 180,000 or so before failure but those are the exception. It is a poor design because Ford converted an old push rod motor into overhead cam motor, so there was a lot of modification required. They cheaped out with the brilliant idea of using the exact same cylinder head (with different camshafts) for both sides of the motor, and that is why the sprocket for the passenger side head is on the backside of the motor with access blocked by the transmission.
