Wow LOTS of conflicting information here. 5.4s are junk, I don't care if yours or your aunts brothers cousins made it 200k, the design of the engine and possibility of catastrophic failure is way too high to warrant purchasing one... especially with the good track record and reliability of the 5.0... that said, your best gas towing option from Ford would be a 3.5 ecoboost with the lowest gearing (bigger #) possible. The 5.0 also tows well for that size motor, BUT not as well as a 14 newer GM 5.3 (ecoboost still out pulls it imo). Don't buy into the gas mileage of an ecoboost, you'll be dissapointed, but the power won't dissapoint. 14 newer GM 5.3 will spank everything in the fuel efficiency department, but it does suck some gas when you hook a trailer up to it... GM 6.2 is one quick powerful rig that tows awesome, gets about the same gas mileage as a 5.3, but typically have to purchase fully loaded trucks ($$$$) to get one, sounds like something you're not interested in...