Project: Adventure F150

[PDenbigh]

So, I did something bad to the Tan F-150ÔÇÖs 4.6 engine. Zero compression in Cylinder #3 . Whoops. Should have taken it a little easier up Afton Mountain pulling the XR I guess.

Good news is that I found a lower mileage 5.4 liter engine from a 2003 (no more spark plug problems) that IÔÇÖm going to put in it!

Then, in true RJ style, IÔÇÖm selling the new white truck I just got and keeping the tan one!

My justification is that the tan truck is paid for, it has great tires, a topper, and racks. To get the new truck to where the tan truck is regarding capability would take about $4000. IÔÇÖm going to put $800 into an engine, another $800 into installing a rear locking diff, and maybe $500 for a winch, and itÔÇÖll be my perfect adventure vehicle.

The catalyst for this is that I almost got stuck this past weekend in just a few inches of snow. ItÔÇÖs really the fault of the tires on the white truck, but the stupid thing has 20ÔÇØ wheels and I canÔÇÖt find a good all around tire (like the Bridgestone Dualer AT RevoÔÇÖs on my other truck) that I like. Nor did the PO order the liminted slip diff (dumbass).

Second, I feel like I have to be careful driving the new truck. I cant run over every curb, hill, and Yaris that gets in my way and it sucks. I dont want to take it off road either, and most of the things I like to do require going off road! For those of you that have ridden with me you can probably understand what I mean.

Strange shift in thinking for me but I think IÔÇÖll be really satisfied with my decision. Who the heck needs a leather interior and a sunroof in a pickup truck anyhow?

I almost bought a Navigator 4V engine for a total boost of over 130 HP and 100 Tq from my current setup, but couldnÔÇÖt justify the $1200 premium. I think IÔÇÖll be happy with the 60hp and 75tq gain from the regular 5.4.

This will all do fine until the 2010 F150 Raptor comes out.




<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://jalopnik.com/5075561/2010-ford-f+150-svt-raptor-first-ride">http://jalopnik.com/5075561/2010-ford-f ... first-ride</a><!-- m -->

Engine swap is happening this coming week in a heated garage. If you get bored come on down!

[.RJ]

Damn, good luck

The 5.4 is pretty nice.

[PDenbigh]

Almost 400 miles on the swap so far and I'm really pleased. This coming week an SCT X3 Calibrator will arrive and I can finally get the 5.4 running on the 5.4 computer. Due to Ford's Anti-theft, the engine won't start unless the PATS module recognizes the ECU. So, I've been running the 5.4 engine on the 4.6 computer.

While I'm at it, I'm calibrating for the larger tires, adjusting the shift points and pressure, and loading three different tunes:
87 Economy
93 Towing
93 Performance

And if all goes well, on Thursday the truck goes in to have an Auburn Gear ECTED Electronic locking rear diff installed.

Next up:
building a platform in the back so I can camp back there
Installing a dual battery system with a deep cycle to power the rear camping area
Over the summer, a winch
Security System

[PDenbigh]

More info on the rear diff:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.auburngear.com/aftermarket/product_listing.aspx?category=8946f7ff-e4b5-4b07-b738-c6f9d7f93179">http://www.auburngear.com/aftermarket/p ... f9d7f93179</a><!-- m -->



More info on the camping setup. My topper has a slight rise to it so hopefully I'll have enough room to be comfortable. (It doesn't take much room for me to be comfortable)
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.swaygogear.com/articles/truckcamping/">http://www.swaygogear.com/articles/truckcamping/</a><!-- m -->




Here are the tires I went with - Bridgestone Dueler AT Revos. I really, really like these tires for what I use them for. 285/75/16

[.RJ]

That looks like a pretty neat diff. How hard was the engine swap? Did you pull the trans with the motor?

[PDenbigh]

The engine swap was pretty hard. I'm used to working with small engines, or in the case of the Mustangs, having lifts/hoists/etc.

I took the engine out by itself, leaving the tranny in the truck. This added to the difficulty when compared to all the other swaps I've done, but because of the 4x4 drivetrain it was almost mandatory. The dealership lift the cab off the frame when they do a swap.

The engine sets way farther back than I gave Ford credit for, and there is very little headroom at the firewall, making it a real squeeze to get out but most challengingly, a real squeeze to get back in place. It took us nearly 6 hours just to get the engine setting in the right spot.

Thanks to the modular engine family, everything bolted right up except the exhaust Y-pipe because the 5.4 block is wider. I had to have an exhaust shop do a little modification there. We first fired it up w/o any exhaust, just the manifolds, and it sounded glorious. We woke my friend's neighbors up that live about 300 yards away.

[BLINGMW]

We first fired it up w/o any exhaust, just the manifolds, and it sounded glorious.

Good enough, leave it that way!

[ScottyB]

are you going to add any armor/sliders? sounds like you'll be getting into some thick stuff - those parts wouldn't be hard to fab and you'd protect your sheetmetal and possibly some important stuff underneath.

[stevegula]

So, I did something bad to the Tan F-150ÔÇÖs 4.6 engine. Zero compression in Cylinder #3 . Whoops. Should have taken it a little easier up Afton Mountain pulling the XR I guess.

Man. For a second I was like "Holy crap, your F-150 blew an engine towing a dirtbike?" Then I remembered you're crazy car is a XR too.

But still, I peg you a person that takes overzealous good car of his motor vehicles, shouldn't the F-150 have been ok towing a car up Afton or were you being ridiculous?

*edit* It's a serious question in case I needed to clarify that. When I got rid of the Dakota and looked into a new vehicle I realized that I had pushed that thing beyond it's limits because of my GVWR / towing capacity math was .. well straight wrong. That and I had a tendency to floor it and speed up going up mountains instead of doing the intelligent thing of slowing down and getting back into torque range.

[.RJ]

But still, I peg you a person that takes overzealous good car of his motor vehicles, shouldn't the F-150 have been ok towing a car up Afton or were you being ridiculous?

Its a miracle that motor has lasted as long as it has! :lol: Srsly, those are pretty tough trucks. I should have kept mine.

All of pete's mechanical destruction stories start off with "well I was flooring it and... " :lol:

[Kaan]

But still, I peg you a person that takes overzealous good car of his motor vehicles, shouldn't the F-150 have been ok towing a car up Afton or were you being ridiculous?

Its a miracle that motor has lasted as long as it has! :lol: Srsly, those are pretty tough trucks. I should have kept mine.

All of pete's mechanical destruction stories start off with "well I was flooring it and... " :lol:

or... "well i turned up the boost just to see what would happen..."

[PDenbigh]

So, I did something bad to the Tan F-150ÔÇÖs 4.6 engine. Zero compression in Cylinder #3 . Whoops. Should have taken it a little easier up Afton Mountain pulling the XR I guess.

Man. For a second I was like "Holy crap, your F-150 blew an engine towing a dirtbike?" Then I remembered you're crazy car is a XR too.

But still, I peg you a person that takes overzealous good car of his motor vehicles, shouldn't the F-150 have been ok towing a car up Afton or were you being ridiculous?

*edit* It's a serious question in case I needed to clarify that. When I got rid of the Dakota and looked into a new vehicle I realized that I had pushed that thing beyond it's limits because of my GVWR / towing capacity math was .. well straight wrong. That and I had a tendency to floor it and speed up going up mountains instead of doing the intelligent thing of slowing down and getting back into torque range.

Yeah, as the other guys eluded, it was mostly my fault. The truck had a 4.6, no towing package, and 3.31 rear end. To go 70 up Afton required holding it at the redline pretty much the whole way, and that's the story of that engine's life. At 149k miles, I'm happy it made it that long. I've pulled dumptruck trailers with Chad's Mustang on it, and all his tools in the back, I've pulled big 4x4 Jeeps for 500 miles, and everywhere I drive is a race to me it seems. When I drive home to WV over 33 west, it's pedal to the metal the entire way. What takes my parents 5 hours (with 1 bathroom break) I do in 4 (best time of 3:51) with zero breaks. I fade the brakes going down the mountain (on stock pads) and I get about 10mpg going up.

Maybe it shouldn't have blown yet, I can't be sure, but I can be sure it has had a really rough life. I have performed standard oil changes, and since 100k miles I've used synthetic oil.

I think that engine might have been born with problems though. I had to have the head gasket replaced under warranty due to a leak, and that's the same side that lost compression.

The rest of the truck has held together well though, so I decided it was worth it to change engines. The 5.4 is great though, I'm really happy with the added power.

[PDenbigh]

Update: I bought an SCT X3 to disable PATS and get the 5.4 computer running the 5.4 engine. The result is quite a bit more power and much smoother shifts.

Coming up is a trip to New Hampshire, then snowboarding in Vermont. If I make it home I'll report in on how the truck did :-).

[Paul]

Coming up is a trip to New Hampshire, then snowboarding in Vermont. If I make it home I'll report in on how the truck did :-).

You should call Blair! His family has a place in New Hampshire and he goes snowboarding up there all the time. And I know he's not working right now, so he could be easily convinced for a trip up there