The Ford is a flat tappet engine, 5.4L Triton, the same basic engine design of our Rover engines, a standard V8, 2 valves single cam engine.
I have experimented with the oil in it.

5w-30, 2-3 quarts per week.
10w-30, 2-2.5 quarts per week.
10w-40, 1-1.5 quarts per week.
15w-40, 1-2 quarts every 5,000 miles.
All of these were done using 5,000 mile oil changes with me being the only person driving the van.

 

That is some crazy consumption with 5w30 glad the thicker oil worked out better. I bet the HDEO did some cleaning of the ring packs and valves too to help out with the consuption.

 

I use Rotella 10w30 in winter and 15w40 in summer. Never any problems. And there's no lifter noise on start-up.

Eric