dad got a "new" (to him) superduty

dont know alot about these, but dad took deliverly last week of a (i bieleive) 2005 F250 superduty. reg cab, 4x4. axle code 37. from what ive been reading online its a 3-valve per cylinder 5.4 (300 hp) 5 speed automatic. has the tow/haul switch. i havent done much more than drive it empty down the road, but it seems all the tow/haul does is eliminate the o/d, id assume it raises the rpm at which the shifts occur. has the auto/manual hubs, 17" steel wheels, 4 wheel disc brakes. had a boss plow on it prevoisly. dad has a western pro-plow on the '94 hes going to try and keep (and adapt) to the s/d. too bad the wheels wont swap between trucks, the '94 has nearly brand new tires, but besides the metric bolt-pattern/ hub-centric design setup of the superduty, i can see theres not much clearance between the calipers and rims, no way would a 16" rim clear the calipers even if the bolt pattern matched. its silver, has the xl trim, worst thing ive heard about these is the 5.4 has a issue with the ends of the spark plugs protruding into the combustion chamber, and the plug can break off when changing. this truck has about 50,000 miles on it. havent got a picture of it yet. i belive the 37 axle code means "3.73-open" not sure of tire size, it definly has more kick than the 94 its replaceing, the '94 is a 351, E4OD,3.55's, 4x4. my favorite was the '77 it had the 400, 4.10's, C6 ,full-time 4wd. this seems to be closer to the '77 as a workhorse than the '94 was. going to try and search to see what mpg this thing might get. id guess 15 at best. theres alot of varibles and after all, its a truck with the areodynamics of a brick. id prefer a 7.3 diesel in it yself, but dad had a new '86 with the 6.9 that was such a problem child he's never considered diesel again. it seems fairly tall for a stock truck, no need for ramps to change oil. not sure what he paid for it, its surprising he found a 3/4 ton with that low miles that hasnt been beat to death, granted its seen plow service, you can tell the box has been used, then sprayed with spray bedliner. id almost bet it was a lease to a landscaping company. only thing i dont like is no cruise control. id assume all the wiring is there, would a "cruse-control" steering wheel and servo motor with throttle cable be all thats needed to get cruise? could easily snag that from a junkyard. i thought it was a 4 speed auto until i shifted the trans manually from "3" to "D" and it shifted twice, unless the converter lockup makes it seem like a extra shift, but from what ive read there is a 5 speed auto.

Yea, the spark plugs can be a PITA, which is why that will be the ONLY thing my F150 ever sees a Dealer for. I'd suggest getting some different plugs in it ASAP.

pcollins said:

Yea, the spark plugs can be a PITA, which is why that will be the ONLY thing my F150 ever sees a Dealer for. I'd suggest getting some different plugs in it ASAP.

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My friend has an 06 F-150 with the 5.4 and says this exact thing.

It's really a good little motor though.

I used to have an 04. Gobs of power, and averaged around 15mpgs. not too bad for a 3/4 ton

I know they changed quite a bit of stuff between '04 and '05, but dad has 16's on his '04.

It has been a pretty good truck, used to be a service truck for an elevator company. She just flipped over 135k as I was following a tractor home tonight. Balljoints, sway bar links and spark plugs/boots is all it has received/needed in the 2.5 years since we got it. Well that and nerf bars because even though it is a 2wd it is too tall for mom.

Upgrading from the '80 F-350 dad is thrilled to have cruise and A/C in a service truck. He curses the manual doors though... it is a frickin long ways over there to unlock the other door.