I wouldnt take the advise of M50B06. Nothing against you but in my experience the 07s are still overly priced now even with the dealers trying to get rid of them. My dad just bought an 06 XLT last week used for $17,500 with LOW miles (11,000) and only one owner when the dealers wanted 21,000+ for the same vehicle with no mileage. Both of those trucks look pretty good. Its a tough decisions. I would get the 05 though.

The second one has a floor shifter? There both good deals. If you want more seats, go with the 04. As far as i know there are no bugs with the 04.(my dad has one, works fine, no problems.) I would say the 05 is more for driving around the city... i mean it has leather and floor shifter. The first one, i would take off road over the second one. Just test drive them, and see what you like.

I love the floor shifter on my Lariat, You cant really go wrong on an F150, and the problem isnt the spark plugs themselves, ford didnt use any antiseize on them. Aluminium heads + no anti seize = bad! Just take the plugs out and put some on it and they will be fine. New plugs came with my Whipple and I had no problem removing them. However I have done a few spark plug jobs on aluminium heads.

Yes there were, only minor though.

They changed the brakes, among some other small issues in 2004. Look on www.F150online.com for more accurate info.

Both trucks have the column shifter. I looked at the '04 FX4 today. I didn't test drive it though because they wanted to appraise my 2wd (for trade-in), but I didn't have it available today. So I'm going to have them appraise it and test drive the FX4 tomorrow. We'll see about the '05.

Anywhere specific at F150online I should look? Or should I search for '05 changes...?

A little help/direction would be nice! ;) Thanks.

Make it 8 votes for the 04 I would DEF go with it.

I'm not sure if you can use the search function unless you are a registered user. Best bet is to just sign up and make this same thread over there, just mention in the thread about the 04 to 05 changes.

04 had some throttle issues i thought.

the link on the 04 does not work for me.

i like the 05.

Yeah thats what i was trying to think of, the throttle by wire was changed a little to make it better for 05+

the link for the '04 should work now Zach

I've since come acrossed an '05 STX 4x4. From the pictures it would appear to have a manual t-case. It has the lesser of the two available V8's, the 4.6L, doesn't have the swanky interior of the FX4, and comes out to 3k less than the '04. Now, the 4.6 would improve my MPG (14/18 for the 4.6, 12/16 for the 5.4). My only thought is what is the opinion of the 4.6L coupled with the size/weight of the F-150? Might I be disappointed in the long-run with the performance? I can't ignore the couple extra mpg's I'd get, and perhaps a V8 is a V8, but I can't get past just how small of an engine that seems for a V8. Again, input/opinions are appreciated.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...00&cardist=132

personally i like the 05s you posted better than the 04.

as for the 4.6L my dad has the 4.6 and has no complaints its not a power horse but great for a DD and it pulled my ranger on a trailer without much hassle. i wouldnt mind the 4.6 but then again power isnt something i need, i am not in a race to get to 65mph when pulling a trailer.

i'm glad to hear some testimonial such as that, cuz that's all i really have in mind for getting this (to pull my ranger on a trailer). its funny cuz i was prepping to go forward with the '04, then i came acrossed this '05 stx. and the fact that its 3k cheaper as a year newer doesn't hurt!

i just dont like the STX wheels myself.

My dad's 4.6 is that of the earlier model f150s 98-03 i am sure they have done nothing but improved the 4.6 i cant see it being worse.

my dad has a 97 Lariat with the 4.6 and a auto tranny, never had any problems out of the motor. I even raced a V-6 mustang twice with it. I won the first time, but in the seconed round i broke the tranny shifter cable lol. Its suposed to be the equivilant of the 302W. But my '89 302 has more power cant say about the new ones.

i like the STX and the FX4. hmm which one do you like better?

If its going to be a DD and your not using it to tow a lot and use it as a work truck, the 4.6L should do more than you need. Its actually a pretty peppy motor for its small displacement.

You need to go test drive both trucks and see what you think.

If you can afford it, I wouldn't even think twice about getting the 5.4l. Nothing sucks worse than buying a truck to tow, and then finding out that it is underrated for what you want to tow.

The 4.6 gets the same gas mileage as the 5.4, and if the day comes that you need to tow 10,000lbs it's nice knowing that you can do it, comfortably. My 5.4 tows a 6,000lb load like its not even there, and gets decent economy doing it. And I have talked to several 4.6 owners that wish they would have gotten the 5.4.

Anyway, that's just my opinion on engine sizes. Big motors arn't just for racing... shoot my 5.4 is down right slow, but it can tow alot... lol

As far as choice for a 4.6 or a 5.4 engine think of it this way, everybody on here dogs the 3.0 in the ranger and wishes they had the 4.0 because the 3.0 is way underpowered and sluggish compared to the 4.0. Its the same thing with the 4.6 vs the 5.4. Nothing against the 4.6, but you arent gonna notice much of a gas differance but a big power differance. If you can get a 5.4L you will be better off. Both are great engines though

id just get an older F-150 with a 302W or a 351W, of cours i am a bit biased