I thought it was a gasket that was notorious for leaking on the Triton 5.4L.
Yep, it is. 2001 5.4s are notorious for a lot of things and none are good.
Guess I got lucky because out of the 22 trucks I've owned of every different brand the 5.4 triton has been to most reliable with the least repairs out of all of them, with dodge hemi 5.7 being the worst. My personal vechile is a Triton with 298k and still rocking along. Told my wife I would drive it into the ground, almost 20 years later she is my favorite work truck of all the ones my buisness owns. I have 6 other 5.4 and all of them just as reliable. But that is just my vast experience talking.
Removing the intake is easy on this motor. It will take a good mechanic about 3-4hrs. If you are doing it yourself I would replace the injectors (or clean them), coil packs and spark plugs. You are going to be there so you may as well. Rock auto sales the oems pretty cheap. This way you are set for another 200k.