devongarver

Wow, lots of responses, thanks guys! Well, where to start. I do plan to tow/haul with it, but only occasionally. It will mainly be for my g/f commuting, we just feel a fullsize truck would benefit both of us, since i sold my truck, and now have a mustang as a toy, and an explorer as a daily driver. She has a POS cobalt, and it is falling apart steadily, so we are looking to replace it.

As far as getting power out of the 4.6, that won't be an issue for me, I'm familiar with the motor. But my concern is with the transmission, since they do not offer a manual transmission. Is the transmission in the 4.6 the same as the one in the 5.4? I'm not worried about the rear end, thats easy to upgrade, but it will withstand 350hp easily even with the weight of the truck. Its the same one that was in my ranger which I put a blower on, and the same thats in my mustang. I wish I could just swap in a manual tranny but that's just asking for trouble in a new truck. As far as the "dodges I've driven", Im referring to the new lineup dodge and Toyota have. When the competition has 75-100hp more than you, its time to work on stepping up the power. I know the older dodges, even the 06's had no *****. But the new ones are like 400hp or damn near. Anyways, not the point, point is I want a reliable motor than can make decent power. So my biggest concern was the issues mechanics at Ford dealers have been tellign me about the 5.4. Anyone else have troubles with their 5.4?

ray h

The 4.6 comes with the 4R70W auto and the 5.4 comes with the 4R75E.
I cant find a direct comparison between them but I have found that they share many of the same performance upgrades and have the same physical demensions. It seems that the 4R75E has differennt electronics that change the shift points. The 4R70W is also the performance Mustang and Crown Vic transmission and was also the auto tranny in the 5.4 up to around 2004 then they went to the 4R75 after that. Therr are a ton of performance upgrades for the 4R70W because it is used in the Mustang.

ATOM

stock for stock the 70 can't taken abuse very well, i know a guy who ripped his out in 30k miles on 33's. just not a good tranny for a big truck, however you can build anything to be bulletproof with deep pockets.

ray h

We all know a guy who could tear up a sherman tank given the chance. I would classify both of these tranny as medium duty with the 75 being marginally better. It would seem they share better than 90% of the same parts with the major difference being the electronics. Still though, the 75 does have a higher torque rating I guess so that should make it a better choice. Anyway, Ford has always had decent transmissions and I would take either of these over the newer Dodge medium duty automatics.

ATOM

he's a 40yr old guy who drives his truck to work and back, the low hp and torque of the 4.6 and bigger tires, the constant shifting, will overcycle and wore out the tranny in time. low hp motor, crappy trans, small rear end--3 good reason's not to buy a truck with a 4.6

ray h

My mistake. I should've put a at the end of that sentence. Obviously I dont know anything about the guy so I pretty much had to be joking around, but in light of your caustic comeback, I probably shouldnt appologize. low HP motor, crappy trans, small rearend???? Ok, whatever.

ATOM

no need to apologize, the 4.6 is no powerhouse, the trans is weaker than the 75 and the rear end is smaller too, if you want more beef, 5.4 is where it's at, ok whatever nothing, the 4.6 is not meant to be worked hard

BigBlack08XLT

I just want to make sure that I am in the Ford Forum, right? Because the Dissing of my Ford Truck is just rediculous.

ATOM

the 5.4 equipped truck is better built, it's the truth, more strength

BigBlack08XLT

Thanks for letting us know that. But Me and other 4.6 Ford Truck owners probably dont appreciate someone on their own forum saying their truck is a worthless POS. If I wanted to hear that I have a slow lo HP grenading tranny havin truck, I would jump over to a chevy or dodge forum and hear it from them.