5.4 v8 Opinions

[basssears]

Weight will be the enemy for sure. I wouldn't want the smaller V8 in my Sportsmobile, but that's right at 10,000#, if you keep the weight down you should be fine. Would you trailer your dirt bikes or put them in the van?

[Obes]

My 2013 eb has a 5.4l, I installed front and rear axles with 4.30 gears when I did my MG 4x4 conversion and have 35's on it. It does great up the grapevine and Cajon pass here in socal. If I wasn't able to find axles with 4.30's I would have gone with 4.56's but have no regrets and no problems up grade. As others have mentioned turning off o/d helps too.

[motovan_mn]

Originally Posted by basssears

Weight will be the enemy for sure. I wouldn't want the smaller V8 in my Sportsmobile, but that's right at 10,000#, if you keep the weight down you should be fine. Would you trailer your dirt bikes or put them in the van?

Ideally would be putting dirt bikes inside the van, and only trailering when absolutely necessary.

[motovan_mn]

Originally Posted by ibike

One thing I will add about the 05 and newer V10 vans is they come equipped with the 5R110 transmission which offers a wider gear range and can be converted to 4x4 while still in the van. The V8/4R75 trans has to be removed and disassembled for the the conversion.

This is a great tidbit of information. I'm not too worried about whether one transmission or another requires a little bit of extra work for the 4x4 conversion. However, are people finding the wider gear range of the 5-speed to be a huge advantage in day-to-day driving? How about in terms of reliability?

As far as I can tell both the 4-speed and 5-speed seem to be fairly solid with no major issues.

[fjefman]

Perspective is everything, right?


I have a '10 Chateau with a V10 4.10 gears, 280/70/17 tires with a Weldtec 4" lift and I think the V10 is just barely adequate for its purpose. I've driven 5.4 vans in various setups, but never side by side enough with the V10 to say how different they are. I'll just say I'm not impressed at all with the V10 so I would not want to go with anything smaller.

But, I'm probably a bit spoiled by the V8 in my Tundra and all of my high HP motorcycles so basis for comparison is, uh, unique.

Really like the 5speed tranny though...especially when towing...no complaints there

[motovan_mn]

Originally Posted by fjefman

Perspective is everything, right?


I have a '10 Chateau with a V10 4.10 gears, 280/70/17 tires with a Weldtec 4" lift and I think the V10 is just barely adequate for its purpose. I've driven 5.4 vans in various setups, but never side by side enough with the V10 to say how different they are. I'll just say I'm not impressed at all with the V10 so I would not want to go with anything smaller though.

But I'm probably a bit spoiled by the V8 in my Tundra and all of my high HP motorcycles so basis for comparison is, uh, unique.

Really like the 5speed tranny though...especially when towing...no complaints there

Thanks for your input! Motorcycles definitely spoil you from a power to weight ratio What does the Chateau weight, out of curiosity?

[Smoker]

Originally Posted by ibike

I have a 5.4 E350 with a similar build out to what your looking to do, haul bikes and sleep inside. Is it a powerhouse? No. Does it go everywhere I need it to? Absolutely. The only time I really wish for more power is on long, steep grades, but slowing down or dropping it out of OD usually does the trick.

I’ve towed a small expo-style trailer from AZ to the mountains in Colorado with two passengers and two dirtbikes inside the van with no issue.

For reference, my van is 2wd with 3.73 gears and 265/75R16 tires, and about 7000 pounds with a full tank of fuel. I think jumping up to 4.10s would put the RPMs in the sweet spot for hills. I frequently go from Phoenix to Flag on and back on I-17 and can hold 75mph most of the way. The only spots that give me any real grief are the climbs up to Sunset point northbound and the out of Camp Verde southbound. I think the higher gear ratio would solve this problem.

I’m also looking at a U-Joint conversion down the road (6” kit with 35” tires) 4.56 gears seem to be the typical prescription for the 5.4 vans with that lift/tire combo. I’m considering 4.88s just for a little more oomph on the big hills, I also may end up with a small cargo trailer at some point which would also benefit from the higher gear ratio.

I’ve also gotten the 5 Star tuner for my van which seemed to make a difference according to the butt dyno. I had a hard time deciding on drivetrain when shopping my van, so hopefully this helps. I do see some 5.4 bashing happening online, but if you plan on keeping your total build under 8000 pounds I don’t see any reason to not go for it.

I've got this UJOR set-up in my 5.4 EB: 6" lift on 35" with 4.56 gears. I don't tow, but sometimes travel with 4 people and gear. Power is adequate for my needs. I cruise 65-70 mph on the highways and have no problem in the mountains. V10s near me, especially without rust, are darn near impossible to find and I didn't want to wait. It was more important for me to have a rig for trips. I'm getting old and for me, time was more important than power and mpg.

[fjefman]

Originally Posted by motovan_mn

Ideally would be putting dirt bikes inside the van, and only trailering when absolutely necessary.

That was my original plan with my van...bought an old wheelchair van with high rear doors for just that purpose. Carried a bike in the van once and will NEVER do it again. A few reasons for that:

1. It is a tall van which means a steep or very long ramp - both are difficult to use safely
2. Tying it down was a nightmare....in a truck or open trailer you can at least move around the bike to tie it down. The van is a tight box for a big street bike or normal dirt bike and it is not easy enough to get the wheel chock and tie down points in the right place.
3. Leaving room for a bike was too much of a compromise for the interior I wanted to build. Bikes are wide and long and it is difficult to have a nice, built out interior and still have room for a bike.
4. Bikes stink - gas sloshing around, dead bugs on the windscreen, bird poop on the seat, dead squirrel parts on the exhaust...whatever...a bike inside will will stink up the van. If your van is just for cargo only who cares, if you plan on camping in it for a few days then no way, not for me. If you want clean your bikes every time you put it in then good for you...but the isn't how I roll, nor is it practical for where I go camping.

I use the heavy duty VersaHaul on the back of my van and have carried all of my dirt bikes and most of my street bikes (up to 540lb) on there are some point...bike and dirt stays outside and inside stays clean and smelling like the pine tree hanging from the rear view.

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by motovan_mn

This is a great tidbit of information. I'm not too worried about whether one transmission or another requires a little bit of extra work for the 4x4 conversion. However, are people finding the wider gear range of the 5-speed to be a huge advantage in day-to-day driving? How about in terms of reliability?

As far as I can tell both the 4-speed and 5-speed seem to be fairly solid with no major issues.

It's a huge advantage in driving, not sure about day-to-day driving because I don't think most of us do it, but to your point yes, it's a huge improvement over the 4R100 and is extremely reliable.

[carringb]

The 5r110 is more durable, but Ford offered both options in the cutaway because the 4r75 was more efficient for city driving. I don’t remember the actual amount, but it was single digits. Maybe 7%.

The closer ratios are really nice for towing. The 6r140 in the new cutaway chassis is even better. My sister’s E450 feels almost car-like getting going from a stop.

Since for offered both the 5r110 and 4r75 in the cutaways behind the 5.4L, a swap should be pretty straightforward, but surprisingly i haven’t seen anybody do it.

The 6r140 would be the best, but the older electronics won’t connect to it. I’m not sure how much work it would be to swap in a 2016-2019 harness and PCM. Should be possible on a v10 since general architecture and the cluster are the same. But the 5.4L was never paired with it. Ford dropped in the 6.2L when the transmission was introduced. US shift is supposedly working on getting their controller to work with it.