New member -- F150 Build

[Ozarker]

Terry, that's a good looking bumber! Guess that's what it would look like on my '99. I really like the later modles but can't justify the $$$ for the difference, I kept mine too long.

[brianjwilson]

This is the whole reason its not sitting in my driveway right now. I have a hard time biting the bullet on a $17k truck that gets worse mileage than my old GMC that I haven't made a loan payment on in 7 years... I'm going to have to ask the dealer if I can take it for a day and see how it goes with my driving style and location. I do agree the truck feels a bit sluggish, but I kinda attributed that to a "feeling" as it seems to be a bulkier feeling truck. I also need to get a feel how it tows, I was told I could bring my trailer down and hook up to it for the test ride. I don't know if he realized it was my equipment trailer and Jeep that weighs almost 7000lbs combined, lol...

The 5.4L tows great in stock form, in my opinion. My mom uses an 03 Expedition (older 2v 5.4L) with 3.73 gearing to tow a 25' four season arctic fox trailer around Oregon. I've pulled it over the mountain passes over 6k feet and kept 50-55mph no problem with three of us and plenty of stuff.

The truck "feels" sluggish because of the electronic throttle and torque management garbage. After tuning my F150 it does not feel sluggish at all, I love it.

[Robert B]

The 5.4L tows great in stock form, in my opinion. My mom uses an 03 Expedition (older 2v 5.4L) with 3.73 gearing to tow a 25' four season arctic fox trailer around Oregon. I've pulled it over the mountain passes over 6k feet and kept 50-55mph no problem with three of us and plenty of stuff.

The truck "feels" sluggish because of the electronic throttle and torque management garbage. After tuning my F150 it does not feel sluggish at all, I love it.

My next mod will be 4.56 gears and a tuner. I expect that to change the feel of the truck (although as mentioned in an earlier post, the truck did not feel that different with the new, taller tires). Before the F150, I had a Tundra SR5 4WD TRD, which had less HP, but much more aggressive throttle tip in and was probably much lighter. That truck was very quick off the line. So much so that it was too prone to spin its tires in low traction situations, like in the snow or off-road. It was pretty tough to keep from spinning the tires on the road. I expect with gears and a tuner the F150 will be more aggressive but not as aggressive as my old Tundra.

[Robert B]

The 5.4L tows great in stock form, in my opinion. My mom uses an 03 Expedition (older 2v 5.4L) with 3.73 gearing to tow a 25' four season arctic fox trailer around Oregon. I've pulled it over the mountain passes over 6k feet and kept 50-55mph no problem with three of us and plenty of stuff.

The truck "feels" sluggish because of the electronic throttle and torque management garbage. After tuning my F150 it does not feel sluggish at all, I love it.

Also, notwithstanding the seat of the pants feel, when stock, my F150 towed my 5000 lbs boat like it was not there. Great pulling power, strong brakes and stable. I've not towed the boat since installing the coilovers and tires, however.

[buddha]

What does moving up to 4.56's do to the overall mpg and highway feel (rpm at highway speed)?

I've got 35's on my FX4 SCREW (leveled), and it's killed my mileage. I'm getting 12.9 everywhere, and it will not break 13. Of course, I suppose my trip meter may now be somewhat inaccurate like my speedo is now, but doubt it's that big a difference.

What are you getting on a tuned/geared F150 w/ 35's?

I wouldn't mind a little more pep myself. The truck has always seemed too sluggish....

[bdbecker]

...I've got 35's on my FX4 SCREW (leveled), and it's killed my mileage. I'm getting 12.9 everywhere, and it will not break 13. Of course, I suppose my trip meter may now be somewhat inaccurate like my speedo is now, but doubt it's that big a difference...

Actually it will make a huge difference. On my '03 with 33's I'd never see 12 mpg if I used the factory odometer, but if I go by my GPS, I get 15-17 mpg consistently.

[brianjwilson]

My next mod will be 4.56 gears and a tuner. I expect that to change the feel of the truck (although as mentioned in an earlier post, the truck did not feel that different with the new, taller tires). Before the F150, I had a Tundra SR5 4WD TRD, which had less HP, but much more aggressive throttle tip in and was probably much lighter. That truck was very quick off the line. So much so that it was too prone to spin its tires in low traction situations, like in the snow or off-road. It was pretty tough to keep from spinning the tires on the road. I expect with gears and a tuner the F150 will be more aggressive but not as aggressive as my old Tundra.

You might be surprised. Throttle tip in is awesome now, the back end certainly kicks loose very easily. The first time I take it somewhere new for a service, I get comments from the tech that it just wants to jump off the line and they usually bark the 35s accidentally. Remember it's electronic so it depends on the tuning. It could be tuned to go WOT as soon as you touch it if someone wanted to. With my Detroit locker (lots of backlash) I could even deal with mine being a bit less sensitive now.

What does moving up to 4.56's do to the overall mpg and highway feel (rpm at highway speed)?

I've got 35's on my FX4 SCREW (leveled), and it's killed my mileage. I'm getting 12.9 everywhere, and it will not break 13. Of course, I suppose my trip meter may now be somewhat inaccurate like my speedo is now, but doubt it's that big a difference.

What are you getting on a tuned/geared F150 w/ 35's?

I wouldn't mind a little more pep myself. The truck has always seemed too sluggish....

The 4.56 gears helped a lot. When I first picked it up with new gears I almost thought I should have gone with 4.88s. Just because it didn't feel significantly different driving it around the neighborhood at first. But now I think it's perfect. The trans is not working nearly as hard to get moving from a start. It doesn't have to downshift constantly on hills, holds overdrive much better, etc. It drives a lot nicer and strains a lot less, but it doesn't feel over geared.

As for freeway driving, at 70mph the RPMs are about 225 higher than stock gearing and stock tires. I'm turning just a hair over 2100RPM at 70mph and it's very comfortable to me. I am getting rid of my A.R.E. cap and getting a small slide-in camper, so I also wanted to be geared lower than stock for that reason as well.

My mileage with 3.73 gears and 35s was around 13mpg average. After 4.56 gears, about 13mpg average. On strictly highway/freeway trips it is around 14mpg. So I didn't really gain or lose any mileage, and that was not the goal anyway. I gained performance and drivability.

4.10 gears would be numerically closer to stock, but that doesn't take into account larger heavier tires, more drag, more weight, etc. Mileage with 4.10s may be slightly better but it would be minimal.

I do have one friend with a nearly identical truck to mine with the same tires and 3.73 gears, and with the way his is tuned, he says he gets 14-15mpg most of the time. I'm sure if I had mine tuned differently and didn't have to deal with the world's worst drivers around here I could easily make those numbers most of the time too.

[Robert B]

You might be surprised. Throttle tip in is awesome now, the back end certainly kicks loose very easily. The first time I take it somewhere new for a service, I get comments from the tech that it just wants to jump off the line and they usually bark the 35s accidentally. Remember it's electronic so it depends on the tuning. It could be tuned to go WOT as soon as you touch it if someone wanted to. With my Detroit locker (lots of backlash) I could even deal with mine being a bit less sensitive now.



The 4.56 gears helped a lot. When I first picked it up with new gears I almost thought I should have gone with 4.88s. Just because it didn't feel significantly different driving it around the neighborhood at first. But now I think it's perfect. The trans is not working nearly as hard to get moving from a start. It doesn't have to downshift constantly on hills, holds overdrive much better, etc. It drives a lot nicer and strains a lot less, but it doesn't feel over geared.

As for freeway driving, at 70mph the RPMs are about 225 higher than stock gearing and stock tires. I'm turning just a hair over 2100RPM at 70mph and it's very comfortable to me. I am getting rid of my A.R.E. cap and getting a small slide-in camper, so I also wanted to be geared lower than stock for that reason as well.

My mileage with 3.73 gears and 35s was around 13mpg average. After 4.56 gears, about 13mpg average. On strictly highway/freeway trips it is around 14mpg. So I didn't really gain or lose any mileage, and that was not the goal anyway. I gained performance and drivability.

4.10 gears would be numerically closer to stock, but that doesn't take into account larger heavier tires, more drag, more weight, etc. Mileage with 4.10s may be slightly better but it would be minimal.

I do have one friend with a nearly identical truck to mine with the same tires and 3.73 gears, and with the way his is tuned, he says he gets 14-15mpg most of the time. I'm sure if I had mine tuned differently and didn't have to deal with the world's worst drivers around here I could easily make those numbers most of the time too.

Is there an elaborate break in ritual for new gears? I read something on another forum suggesting that may be the case. I'm trying to decide whether to swap the gears before my next trip up to Tahoe next month or after. The tuner will go in a couple of weeks.

[brianjwilson]

From ringpinion.com

All new gear sets require a break-in period to prevent damage from overheating. After driving the first 15 or 20 miles it is best to let the differential cool before proceeding. I recommend at least 500 miles before towing. I also recommend towing for very short distances (less than 15 miles) and letting the differential cool before continuing during the first 45 towing miles. This may seem unnecessary but I have seen many differentials damaged from being loaded before the gear set was broken in.
I also recommend changing the gear oil after the first 500 miles. This will remove any metal particles or phosphorus coating that has come from the new gear set.

This is pretty close to what yukon says, and what I've done the two times I've re-geared. Drive 15 miles, park and cool. Do that three times total. Drive "normally" (no wot starts) for 500 miles, no towing. Change gear oil. Of course I have some friends who install a ring and pinion set, pull it out of the shop and do a big burnout as a break-in. lol

Of course on the F150 the front driveline is disengaged in 2wd. You'll want to use the 4x4 a little, at least to make sure there are no problems. I also drove through one tank of gas with the electrical connection unplugged from the IWE (integrated wheel end) solenoid (vacuum solenoid for hubs) which keep the hubs locked in. It probably didn't do any good since the front end was just coasting anyway. I didn't bother changing the gear oil up front. I may change it this spring as I've driven several hundred miles in 4x4 this winter.

[Robert B]

From ringpinion.com



This is pretty close to what yukon says, and what I've done the two times I've re-geared. Drive 15 miles, park and cool. Do that three times total. Drive "normally" (no wot starts) for 500 miles, no towing. Change gear oil. Of course I have some friends who install a ring and pinion set, pull it out of the shop and do a big burnout as a break-in. lol

Of course on the F150 the front driveline is disengaged in 2wd. You'll want to use the 4x4 a little, at least to make sure there are no problems. I also drove through one tank of gas with the electrical connection unplugged from the IWE (integrated wheel end) solenoid (vacuum solenoid for hubs) which keep the hubs locked in. It probably didn't do any good since the front end was just coasting anyway. I didn't bother changing the gear oil up front. I may change it this spring as I've driven several hundred miles in 4x4 this winter.

Thanks ... This is excellent information.