F150 to Tundra Storytime

I'm a Tundra owner, and a proud one at that. My friend/boss, however, is cheap, and likes to buy cheap trucks.

About 4 years ago, I helped him by a 2008 F-150 with the 5.4 3v V8. At the time, I didn't know how bad the 5.4 was, nor did I know how good Tundra's were. Not that we would have necessarily found one in his price range of $15000CAD, they are a rare beast indeed at that price.

So anyway, he bought his F-150 XLT Crewcab, and since he bought he's had nothing but problems with it. The power window switches stopped working soon after he bought it, as did the climate controls. The weatherstripping peeled off the windshield, and he had it held on with duct tape. Both of his rear leaf springs broke, and he had them repaired after he couldn't stand the clanking. And the engine. It's gone through starters, alternators, etc.

Then the actual engine issues started. The 5.4's are known for two major problems. The first is that the Spark Plugs are a 2 piece design, and if they haven't been removed for a while, there is a possibility that they will break off while being removed, leaving the bottom part stuck in the head. There's about a 50% chance this will happen if they haven't been replaced in a while. My boss's sparkplugs were due for a change, and since the truck was running like garbage (hard to start, rough idle), they needed to be done. His mechanic quoted him $700 to replace all 8, IF they all came out in one piece. If spark plugs started breaking off, then the bill could run into the thousands, just for spark plugs (there is a special process and extractor tool from Ford just to get the job done, then you have to use a borescope to make sure any spark plug fragments didn't make it into the combustion chamber).

The second well-known problem with the 5.4 is the cam phasers. Apparently, if you stretch your oil change intervals (which he was known to do), sludge will gunk up the oil passages in the block/head, and the cam phasers that control the VVT will fail. The repair can cost thousands of dollars to replace them, and then, because they fail due to gunked up oil passages (which can't be fixed), the new cam phasers will likely fail again. There are two long term solutions. The first is to perform a procedure that effectively locks out the cam phasers. This means you don't have VVT, and engine performance will suffer at high RPM. Given that engines spend most of their time at lower RPM, this isn't a HUGE issue, unless you tow heavy loads often and need that extra performance. The second option is to replace the motor at great cost; obviously this is only viable on trucks that are in otherwise good shape - which my friend/boss's truck wasn't.

Here is a video which explains the problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcN_WcGr4BU

Well, my buddy's truck started suffering from the cam phaser issue a couple of years ago. It had all the classic symptoms. He ignored it, and just kept driving the truck without doing anything about it. The truck became very hard to start, and idled like crap. Driveability was hurt. And then, finally, this weekend, on his way to hockey, the engine finally died. It quit on him at a traffic light, and wouldn't turn over. He called CAA and had the truck towed to his mechanic, not too far from our work. The mechanic called him on Monday, and told him that the timing chain had skipped, and a valve went into a piston. The result? One dead engine. He quoted him $12k to put in a new 5.4, probably because he didn't want to do the work, and to discourage him from doing anything to save the truck.

Here is a picture of my truck towing his dead F-150 from the mechanic to the parking lot of our work, where the truck will stay until he can sell it to somebody who can put a new engine it himself, or use it for parts.



So now the search is on for a new truck. His mechanic advised him to look at GM trucks. I'm advising him to look at Tundra's. He says he wants to stay under $20 000CAD, but even there, I sent him a link to an ad for an immaculate 2010 Tundra DC 5.7L with 113 000kms for $21 000, and he balked at the price. It's sounding like he just wants to buy another piece of crap for under $10 000, so I dunno. I found a couple of 1st Gen Tundra's for around $10 000.

I would personally rather he just buy the 2010 DC, because then he'll have a nice truck that will last him for years without giving him too many issues. Plus, I'll have a Tundra buddy.

 

Sometimes you just can’t get people to understand. I like F-150’s as far as the look features and comfort but the trade off is all of the issues that come with them. I like GM trucks also. Not the current models tho because I think they are ugly. I’ve never had problem out my GM trucks. But the reason and the only reason besides the design that I bought a tundra was the sheer power, reliability, toughness, and reliability they are known for. And so far I’ve been pleased. It is lacking in some areas but those are far and few in between. I would buy a tundra with 100k on it over any other brand. Some people just can’t buy a Toyota truck. They think you are not American. But if they really knew where their trucks were made and where ours are they’d change their tune

 

Well, we're not American, we're Canadian, so no issues there.

He has no issue with buying a Tundra, except for their price. I've sold him on the fact that it's a superior truck (reliability wise) to anything else. He can't believe that a 10 year old Tundra is $21 000CAD, when he could get a 10 year old GM truck for half that.

Now, GM's are fine trucks. The 5.3 is well known to be a good motor. BUT, their AFM system is known to have problems, and can cause expensive repairs down the road. There certainly is a lot more selection of GM trucks than Tundras.

 

Getting a 10 yr old GM for half a Tundra price makes sense. Suggest that he buy two. Then he will have one to drive when the other is being fixed.

 

Group of 4 of us that are close. I have my tundra zero issues and before that my Tacoma. My buddy gmc 2500 Motor issues and electrical issues. Ford gone threw 6 transmissions can’t find issue (dose not off road or beat it ). 3rd guy dodge can’t find out why his emissions fuel keeps disappearing had to fly a master tex from Texas out still can’t find what’s going on. All 3 of these guys have since sold my tundra I plan on giving to my son in 14 years when he’s 16 lol

 

Meh. I wouldn't buy a 5.4 Ford, but in my experience, the Tundra isn't that stellar, either. Every manufacturer has problems.

 

I used to have an 05 f150 screw with the 5.4.Only had it for a year. Worst vehicle I have ever owned. I threw away thousands on it and it caused me so much stress.Lots of mechanics didn’t even want to work on it. I shouldn’t have bought it in the first place, but it was in my budget at the time and I wanted a truck again. Live and learn, I have moved now and am in a better place thankfully haha but man it sure sucked

 

I work for a Michigan based company, so by default they have to buy 'American' trucks. We have Chevy's for the light duty and F250s and F350's for the heavy duties. The operation manager and workshop manager started doing some research on maintenance cost and finally decided to start buying Tundras. They already have a few Tundras in Michigan and we got our first one in Florida the other day. I now have a buddy to park next to!
Now I just have to start talking to them about chrome delete! LOL
Bottom line is; the stats are out there. A little research will confirm the reliability, which equals low maintenance cost. As important as it is for a private individual, even so much more for a company with a fleet of trucks.

 

Everyone has problems, but stats show who has the most. You can Google it, you can ask fleet managers, ask AAA, etc... and the results are always consistent. Toyota is always on top for reliability and RAM is always at the bottom, with Ford and Chevy in between. Those are facts based on actual research.
At my office, other than the company fleet, just looking at personal vehicles; One Tundra has 300,000 miles without any major issues. Zero Ford, Chevy or Ram have done that. Two Rams (Nice looking Power Wagons) have both been towed in for repairs an average of 3 times a year. One of them was in for 6 weeks for them to try and figure out what is wrong. F150 with 36,000 miles had to have the engine rebuilt. Two Chevy's had transmission problems. Another Ford had electrical issues all through the cab - radio, windows, bluetooth etc. all messed up; can't get it fixed. None of the Tundras had any issues.

 

I know - I hear it all of the time about how great these trucks are and how the statistics show this and that. I just must have gotten a Friday afternoon truck.

 

Unfortunately, there are exceptions to every rule.

 

I didn't realize the 5.4L was that bad. My brothers 2000 F-150 is still running with 300K miles. It needs a ton of work but it starts every time.

 

A 2000 5.4 would be a 2-Valve, and wouldn't have the issues that the 5.4 3-Valve has. It may have the spark plug issues, but it wouldn't have the cam phaser problem.

 

Maybe that is all he can afford, so I can't knock him for looking for vehicles at a certain price range. Guess you can say he's being fiscally smart?

 

It's not fiscally smart to buy a cheap, crappy truck. He paid $15k for that F150, and then probably put another $7-8k of repairs into it over the 4 years he had it. Now it's worth nothing. So that's $5750/year to drive that truck, not including gas or insurance. That's bloody expensive, if you ask me.

 

You know your buddy better than I do, so I can't argue that

 

Having done a few of those spark plug jobs, I can confirm that they are awful and whoever thought a 3 piece spark plug was a good idea should be drawn and quartered.

 

Had a 09’ F150 Lariat with the 5.4. Had it for almost 10 years. Truck was bomb proof and would tow like a champ. Never had an issue with the 5.4. Did I get lucky? Who knows. But I kept on top of all maintenance and it always got me home. Just my real experience as a Ford owner.

Now, the 6.0 diesel.... that’s another story.

 

I think as long as you kept on top of maintenance, and did oil changes frequently, then it wasn't too much of a problem.

The issue is that most people don't do that. They tend to stretch maintenance intervals, put off doing spark plugs, etc. And on most engines, you can get away with it. But not with the 5.4L. That engine is not a forgiving engine at all when it comes to slacking off.

The dead engine is mostly on my friend. He knew he had the cam phaser issue, and did nothing about it. I'm pretty sure the skipped timing chain is a result of that, probably due to either a stretched chain, or worn out tensioner. Had he addressed it in a timely manner, his truck would likely still be running today.

 

Exactly why I never changed my plugs on my Ford 5.4. And as soon as my truck developed the Cam Phaser issue... traded that POS in for my Tundra. Windows would fail and just drop right into the door also while you're driving.

 

Just tell him that when his next POS truck breaks down you will be there with your Tundra to tow him home.

 

To vouch for Toyota...I had a 1994 Toyota Pick-up. They didn’t have model names back then. My dad bought it new in 1994 and I took it over in 2000 and ran it till 2005. Then my brothers took it from 2005 until 2008. The body was rusting off it (frame was good). They were known for bad rusting bodies back then. The truck when we got rid of it had 225,000 miles on it. My dad ran it from 0-120,000. I ran it from 120,000 to 180,000 and my brother from 180,000 to 225,000.

when sold at 225,000 all it needed was 4 O2 sensors, new exhaust, timing chain, gasket on the engine and 2 leaf spring repairs and a shit ton of brake calipers. That model they would always freeze up.

it was the best truck I ever had in my life. You can’t beat a Toyota. I would never buy a used Ford or used Chevy with 100,000. My wife’s 2015 Equinox was bought new and now at 95,000 it’s having issues. Radio doesn’t work, check engine light comes and goes, struts need work. You can just tell it has maybe 1-2 solid years left (hopefully).

that Toyota ran strong for 14 years!! And I beat the crap out of it. It was standard with original clutch when we finally sold it. It was unbelievable!!

Why I ever left is beyond me. My dad is and was a Toyota guy for life. Totally believer in the quality!! I’ve had Nissans which he was ok with... but he would totally whoop my ass if I ever bought a Ford or Chevy.

 

Memories... I had a 94, the extra cab one with the little jump seats. Got tboned into a building in Feb 2002 even as i was thinking just how reliable it was and how i wouldn't have to make car payments for a long time. Literally. Miss that truck still. No not a wacked fangirl, I buy and use what works.