F150 thoughts

[Professor Marvel]

I am thinking of getting raid of my old F250 4 dr and picking up a 150 4dr. I am looking at the either the 2.7 or 3.5 ecoboost because of the good things I have read here. I don't tow a lot but when I do my load is pretty heavy. Looks like the 3.5 has nore power but I am wondering if I will be fine with the 2.7.
I was planning to get a 7x14 trailer (2 axle) that I can to use occasionally. Should I get things like towing package or similar options that would be useful? I am not an option type of person for comfort and am looking for a base unit unless there advantages to a particular package that I am not familiar with.
The reason I ask is that there is quite a vast range of prices for the 150 so there must be many option available. Looking for clarity from folks that have bought trucks more recently than myself. My 250 is a 2004 so I am out of touch with the new pickup world.
Thanks for input.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I went with an F150 about 6 years ago after having two Ford Super Duty's. I have had two Lariat's, one King Ranch, and now on my 2nd Platinum. I buy new and trade at 30K for business reasons. My wife also drives an F150 by her choice (she fell in love with mine). I have the 3.5 ecoboost with the new 10 speed transmission; I can't say enough good things about this engine. Wicked quick and fast, and very good mileage as well. I often tow a 12 ft tandem axle enclosed trailer, and Having had the max tow package vs normal standard equipped, I can't tell the difference. I buy the Platinum models for trade in value mostly, but do enjoy the extra creature comforts. I always buy the supercrew and 4 wd models as well. PM me if you want and I'll give you my dealer's info, he is in Eastern NC and well worth the trip.

 

[Roadworthy]

The big advantage for the trailer package is the built in brake controller. If you don't have electric brakes on your trailer it may not do much beyond increasing desirability for resale. I would go with the larger engine if I planned to pull ANY trailer. The larger engine and 4WD will decrease fuel economy but only slightly. A new Dodge Ram with 4WD and a hemi is only about a mile per gallon worse than my ten year old 2WD Ram with a smaller V8.

 

[Professor Marvel]

Thanks that is just the info I am looking for. Glad to have the dealer info. I will PM as soon as I figure out how.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Thanks that is just the info I am looking for. Glad to have the dealer info. I will PM as soon as I figure out how.

Feyer Ford. They have 3 locations, but you want to go to Edenton. Check out their website. https://www.feyerford.com/

 

[KennyG]

I have a 2017 with 3.5 Ecoboost. It's great to have the power, but I pull a 7K 16 foot trailer, fully loaded and think the 2.7 would handle it fine. From reports it appears the 2.7 does get noticeably better gas mileage. Get the tow package with brake controller. Even though they sell 2 axle trailers without brakes, I don't think they are actually legal. And I know it's not smart. My trailer came with brakes on one axle and I added the brakes to the second axle and am glad I did.

My opinion is that the ride, performance and features make this a great truck. I went with the Lariat package and paid almost 50K but I can afford it and will keep the truck for 10 to 20 years, so it's a bargain for me.

 

[jgedmond]

My last F150 was in 1997, big V8 to tow a 24' cuddy cabin V-8 boat. I loved that truck, kept it for 6 years, then my son had it for another 7 years.

Earlier this year (after a coupe of 4Runners), I bought another F-150 and what a difference from the 1997 version! Much quicker, more torque, better gas mileage, higher towing capacity and improved technology / safety features. I cannot even tell that my 7k trailer is back there.

I got a Lariat off the lot at about $66k MSRP, so more options than you may want. It has the 3.5L EcoBoost and 10-speed transmission. The max towing package is well worth the money (brake controller, thicker sway bars, etc) as is 4WD. If you want those without a lot of convenience options, you will probably have to special order a truck. I did that in 1997 and other than waiting 6 weeks, it was no problem to get exactly what what I wanted / needed.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I've got a 2012 Lariat F150 with about 140k miles. 3.5 ecoboost, max tow. No issues. Perfectly reliable. You need the 3.5 engine to handle a 10k trailer according to the build your own website..

 

[B7510HSD]

I have the 2.7 in mine with the 10 speed auto and I tow a 4600# travel trailer no problem can actually increase speed going up any hills I've been up and even pass if you put your foot down!!!

 

[deserteagle71]

Either engine will work fine for you but as others have said, make sure you get the tow package for the brake controller.

After a lot of research I special ordered my 2016 F150 Supercab with the 3.5 Ecoboost. After 3-1/2 years, I couldn't be happier. The truck has never been back to the dealer for anything. Changing the oil and rotating the tires every 5000 miles is all I've ever done to it. All fuel purchases are logged into an Excel spreadsheet I created and it tells me that since I bought the truck new the overall average fuel mileage is 20.96 mpg - and out here the speed limit is 80 mph. Best of all is the the sweet power band. I've always loved driving diesels because of the low end torque and not having to shift down in the mountains. This 3.5 Ecoboost is as close to driving a diesel as a gas engine can come - the effortless way it rolls over 11,000 foot passes with the tranny still in overdrive still amazes me. Love my F150 - getting ready to turn 41,000 miles on it now.

 

[JMER817]

Get the XLT 302A package, trailer tow package, larger 36 gal gas tank. You can have the integrated brake controller dealer installed if it didn’t come from the factory. Mine is the 2.7l and it runs! Avg 21mpg in summer, 19-20 in winter. Will pull up to 7500lbs. If you tow anything heavier than go with 3.5l. My MSRP was $52k. I get A-plan plus had a $5500 rebate at the the time. Got it OTD for $44K. The lariat has a couple more features that I like (push button start, auto 4x4, and auto climate control.) but the package is a few grand more and they usually don’t offer such good rebates for the lariat for some reason. Wasn’t going to spend the extra 6k

 

[Professor Marvel]

thanks folks
great info

 

[TheMan419]

We have the 2013 F150 with the 3.whatever L eco boost engine. We tow a 2 horse trailer so around 7k lbs. It handles it just fine.

We got the tow package so the brake controller is installed at the factory. I believe there are also more cooling equipment for the oil and transmission.

We are in Indiana so not many hills, but it handles the ones we do run into just fine.

 

[dodge man]

A couple of thoughts, I own a 2017 F150 and have a coworker that has one also. Get the "Max Tow" package if possible. It doesn't really add that much towing ability but it includes a 3.55 rear locker, the 36 gallon tank, trailer hitch, brake controller etc. My truck just had the regular tow package and I had to add a brake controller, so my truck is equipped identical to a max tow but it actually cost more than just getting the max tow package by the time you add all the other items in that are included in max tow. Its not a big deal to add the brake controller though. Heavy duty payload package is also great, but they are very rare on the dealers lot. That kicks the payload up over 2000 lbs.

The 2.7 is a great engine but it will have lower tow ratings, I'd stick with the 3.5 if it was me. The 5.0 is a great engine also but they changed the way the liners were installed in 2018. It appears there are people having oil consumption problems with the newer 5.0. I think most of them are fine but on the F150 forums there is just to many with high oil usage and Ford is actually putting new engines is some.

I agree the XLT with the 302A is the sweet spot for options in my opinion. The 301 package is more basic on the XLT but still nice. The XL is more of the basic work truck but is just a capable.

Like all half ton trucks, WATCH THE PAYLOAD. Its printed on the door jamb sticker. Mine is 1940 lbs, you see some that have a payload that is below 1500 lbs, some as low as 1300 lbs. On most half tons the amount it can tow is often controlled on the payload. For example say you have a payload of 1300 lbs. Throw 4 adults in the truck and a couple of things in the bed and that leaves you with as little as 700 lbs for hitch weight. Assuming a 13% of the trailer weight going on the truck hitch and you have a trailer that can't weigh much over 5000 lbs.

Great trucks by the way in my opinion and they are aluminum so rust is less of a problem. Good luck on your search.

 

[Professor Marvel]

thanks all
great info

 

[KennyG]

Not to sidetrack this, but one thing you should be aware of with the high towing capacity of half ton trucks. Although my F150 is rated for over 11,000 lb towing, it has a 5000 lb hitch. How is that possible? The official requirements are for a weight distributing hitch when towing more than 5000 lbs. I don't worry about it with my 7K trailer, but I have thought about trading up to a 10K trailer and I will definitely have to get a WDH if I do that.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I ws just reading the Jan issue of Consumer Reports. They have a section on new vehicle expected reliability of the 2020s. The Ford 150 is pretty low rated, but not a lot of justification. We are looking for our first new car in 15 years so are reading everything we can before we start looking. I have no idea on CRs accuracy on their forecasts like this. What is the best publication for reviews based on the vast experience in TBN land.

Ron

 

[deserteagle71]

I ws just reading the Jan issue of Consumer Reports. They have a section on new vehicle expected reliability of the 2020s. The Ford 150 is pretty low rated, but not a lot of justification. We are looking for our first new car in 15 years so are reading everything we can before we start looking. I have no idea on CRs accuracy on their forecasts like this. What is the best publication for reviews based on the vast experience in TBN land.

Ron

I saw that too and wondered what made them change their minds, what they could possibly know about the 2020 models to make them change their minds from previous models. I got their 2020 Buying Guide just a couple weeks ago (been a subscriber for 40 years) and in that issue (and their annual auto issue) the Ford tops every other pickup make except for the Toyota Tundra for reliability. So what caused them to change their minds so quickly?

But then, as a long-time subscriber I also take all this with a grain of salt. If it's a Toyota, Subaru or Honda Consumer Reports has nothing but good things to say about them. At the time when I bought it, they severely downrated the Chevy S-10...I drove the one I bought for 321,000 largely trouble-free miles. I've owned several Jeep Wranglers and have not had any problems with them but according to Consumer Reports they are just about the worst vehicle you can buy.

As far as for accurate reviews, I've found no magazines that do that and I subscribe to a lot of them. They all regurgitate what the manufacturers feed them. It's only after actual owners start comparing notes on internet forums that you get a sense of what a vehicle is really like...and then you have to keep in mind that it is mainly the people with problems that go on the forums to *****.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, I get more info from forums than anywhere else. There are some F150 forums that are good. Keep in mind Forums can give you a negative impression. People don’t often post “nothing wrong with my truck”, they post problems instead.

Consumer Repots gets there info from people that return surveys. The results can be skewed. Say Ford put a bunch of bad batteries in there trucks. 50 people fill out the survey for Consumer Reports and 10 had a bad battery. That might just show up as an electrical system problem and if 10 out of 50 have that problem it shows up as a major problem even though it’s an easy fix.

 

[95XL883]

I have had my 2018 F-150 for 13 months now. My old Ranger bit the dust so I had no choice but to buy something. Overall, I am very happy. It is an XLT that is one or two options away from being a Lariat. Mine is a crew cab with 5 liter engine, 36 gallon gas tank, 302A package, brake controller, the fancy tow assist and backup option, transmission cooler, heated bucket seats and integrated tailgate step ladder. Again , I am happy with it. My big likes are the ride, very smooth and quiet, the power, my old Ranger never accelerated like this, the 36 gallon gas tank, the tailgate step ladder, the electric back window, the tailgate step ladder, the back seat room, the tailgate step ladder (that thing is great for getting in and out of the bed.) and the step bars. I am still getting used to all the electronics that come when th the 302A package. I have even used the ac power once or twice. Overall I am very pleased with it.

My number one shortcoming is the Obama paint. The paint now is water based and susceptible to rock chips. Get touch paint, you will need it. I wish I would have had the protectant film put on immediately. That would have stopped most of the small chips. With the touch up spots, if I do it now, there will be slight bumps where the touch ups are. My wife wants me to have the hood repainted and then do the film. The number two complaint and it really is not that bad is the 5 liter gas mileage. On a good highway run at 80 miles an hour with no wind or snow, I will get 18 and change. Add a mile with a tailwind and subtract two with a 20 mile head wind. Still the power of the V8 is nice.

I have not had any issues yet. (Knock on wood.). The new trucks have a funky plastic oil drain plug. I’m still getting used to it but it is not a big deal. I had the oil tested after the last oil change and the report was very good. I am a Mobil 1 fan boy, both oil and filter. I am sure other oil are good ( except that petro Canada crap; I hate that stuff. Stupid dealer on my wife’s RDX.). Use what you like, just change it regularly.

The one drawback to such a nice truck is my wife keeps taking it. She has rationalizations but she really likes the truck. Her RDX is nice butI like my truck.

Two things I did add was a spray on bed liner and a backflip bed cover. I have been very happy with both of those.

Hope this helps.

It is interesting to hear the 5 liter engine comments. I will watch mine closely. At the time I bought mine But there was some concern about the ecoboost enginee but I think they got that fixed.


Tires. Ford says 35 lb. The sidewalls say 51 lbs max. Mine are set to 50. Wear is minimal at 20,000 miles and the ride is great. My ranger Ford said 24 lb. The Michelin’s I was running had 44 max on the sidewall. I ran 42 and wear was great. If I ran them at 35 lb they wore fast.


The one option I behold have liked but could not find was the 6.5 foot bed. The 5.5 works but I would have liked the extra foot.


Hope this helps. Good luck.