i don't speak up very often, but this is one of my favorite topics. Hehehe. it's Ford that I'll pick every time. Ford owned products period. Have always had good luck with everything except the 2.9 liter v6 that was in the rangers and bronco 2's back in the 80's and early 90's. Had 2 broncos with that engine, one survived well, but the other didn't. But in your case, if the 5.0 is anything like it used to be, it should be a great run.
and true that Ford did not take any bailout money. but someone mentioned the 80's products degrading. That was all makes in trucks, GM and Ford both. They did the same thing. As far as the BIG fight over which is better, that is just between the customers. the engineers of GM will call Ford when they can't figure out how to fix a problem, and Ford will call GM if in the same situation. They work together while we argue, LOL. But the biggest thing is luck, you could get either one and have a ton of problems with it, but had you picked the truck right next to it on the lot, you may never have a single problem. They all make great trucks, and all make a lemon once in a while too. Personally I have never bought a new rig, only used, that way you get an overall idea of what to expect. My last buy was 2003 F150 4x4 Sport, with the 4.6L V8, reason was all the mechanics in the shop were saying that they were averaging 400K and more before giving trouble of any sort, but the 5.4 were tiring out around 100K.
I probably didn't help you in a decision much, but I had to throw in my thoughts anyway.
Good Luck. PS, one of these days I hope to get my hands on a Ford Raptor, baja ready from the factory.