EcoBOOST

[El Wood]

Man, am I impressed. I turned in my lease over the weekend. I had a 2010 Ford F-150 V8 with 9500 towing. I planned on leasing another as I love the truck. I did tell the salesman however that I might need to step up to an F-250 for a little more towing. He told me I would get 11200 out of the truck he wanted to show me. He then printed out a window sticker and showed it to me. I said, wait a minute!! This says V6!?!. He said lets drive it. Man, was I impressed so say the least. This little thing called "Ecoboost" made all the difference... This truck could do circles around my old one. It has 365 horsepower and more torque then my old V8. Could Ecoboost be compared to a turbo engine? I'm obviously no engineer. It also has rear differential lock. Is this new to trucks? I know I talked about it a lot with the dealer when I bought my tractor...

Here is the truck... I went with the "Appearance Package" which I thought was sharp.

 

[JJZ 109]

Sharp truck indeed. Back in May I bought a new F150 XLT. The 5.0 does everything I need it to do, as I do very little towing with it. I also have a '97 F Super Duty bucket truck if I have any heavy towing to do.
The dealer didn't have any Ecos on the lot, but for my use I couldn't justify the extra $$. Sounds like it's going to do just fine for you though. Keep us updated when you've done some towing and let us know how it works for you.

 

[k0ua]

It also has rear differential lock. Is this new to trucks? I know I talked about it a lot with the dealer when I bought my tractor...

Not really, I remember the Chevrolet "posi-trac" on a 1969 for sure. I think they introduced it about 1965. My dads 1971 ford F150 had a locking differential. I have owned several trucks thru the years with locking differentials. There are many different varieties of locking differentials with many pro's and con's of each type.

James K0UA

 

[Diamondpilot]

It also has rear differential lock. Is this new to trucks? I know I talked about it a lot with the dealer when I bought my tractor...

Not really, I remember the Chevrolet "posi-trac" on a 1969 for sure. I think they introduced it about 1965. My dads 1971 ford F150 had a locking differential. I have owned several trucks thru the years with locking differentials. There are many different varieties of locking differentials with many pro's and con's of each type.

James K0UA

Posi is not even close to a locker. What you are thinking of is a limited slip type, not a true locker. Locker does just what its saying and locks the rear diff. Its either air or electric. The one on the F150 is electric. As for being new, not really in the aftermarket world. In the OEM world they are with Nissan being first to offer them followed by Toyota and Ford. Dodge has them on the Power Wagon only and GM has a hybrid G80 mechanical locker for the HD trucks only but its kind of Mickey Mouse.

I have Dana44 33 spline axles with lockers front and rear on my 08 Titan. Its like another 4 wheel drive in what it does for you. The only limit is steering. Just like on an tractor with the Diff locked it will really bind up but it will sure pull.

Chris

 

[jwstewar]

....and GM has a hybrid G80 mechanical locker for the HD trucks only ......Chris

GM has had the G80 forever in all lines of trucks. I had one in my '93 S-10. I had one in my '97 1500 and currently in my '99 Silverado 1500 and my 2008 Suburban 1500. This unit works well in stock form. If you bump up the horsepower, yes, it will become the weakest link, but in stock form it is very reliable. Having owned and abused 4 of them, sister with one in a Trailblazer, and Mom has Dad's truck with one, w/o a single issue in any of them. I really like it, especially in off-road use like getting my tractor unstuck. It kicks in when needed, but yet unlocks as soon as you get moving so you don't break something. Works well on my truck too when towing our 36' camper weighing in close to 10k lbs. For the number of them sold and as well as they work, I wouldn't exactly call them Mickey Mouse, I've always held a pretty good opion of Eaton.

 

[SeymourBota]

"Ecoboost" is Ford's way of saying the engine is turbocharged.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The biggest issue with the G80 locker is it unlocks at about 25mph wheel spin. I had one in my 05 Dmax and looked at installing them in my 04 and 06 Ford Powerstrokes but after the research I chose electric units. 25 mph of wheel spin, not truck moving but wheel spin, is not much. In my 05 Dmax and in my neighbors 07 Dmax it clunks pretty abruptly. Also while changing the diff fluid I found lots of clutch like material in suspend. Not saying that is a bad thing, and like you said they have sold tons of them, but there are much better options on the market like what Nissan, Dodge, Ford, and Toyota are using over the G80 mechanical locker.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

"Ecoboost" is Ford's way of saying the engine is turbocharged.

Yep. Ecoboost has twin turbos. Its a impressive engine. My father has a 2011 with about 14,000 miles. Zero issues and has average 18.XX mpg since new. His is a FX4 Supercrew 4x4 with 3.73 gears and the highest GVWR package available. We towed identical trailers with it and my 08 Nissan Titan and it got about 25% better millage.


Chris

 

[jwstewar]

The biggest issue with the G80 locker is it unlocks at about 25mph wheel spin. I had one in my 05 Dmax and looked at installing them in my 04 and 06 Ford Powerstrokes but after the research I chose electric units. 25 mph of wheel spin, not truck moving but wheel spin, is not much. In my 05 Dmax and in my neighbors 07 Dmax it clunks pretty abruptly. Also while changing the diff fluid I found lots of clutch like material in suspend. Not saying that is a bad thing, and like you said they have sold tons of them, but there are much better options on the market like what Nissan, Dodge, Ford, and Toyota are using over the G80 mechanical locker.

Chris

I know it is supposed to lock at 20 MPH, but after unloading a load of hay the other day, I decided that I had enough work and wanted to "play." I had gone through the garden to get back in front of the barn so I could put the truck away. I got on the gas pretty good. It immediately spun the rear tires of course since I was on grass, it was spinning both back tires up through 85 MPH wheel speed. Not saying it was locked, just saying the truck was spinning both tires. The kids just gave me the look of "Dad, what the heck are you doing now?" LOL. Sometimes just gotta have a little fun.

The G80 was around a long time before anyone else was offering anything even close. Is it the best, maybe not, but sure is hard to fault it for ease of use and such. Have a buddy (sound familiar? LOL) that has a 2012 F-350 with the electric rear locker, he is a Ford guy, but likes the automatic operation of my G80 on my 13 year old truck.

 

[yelbike]

I'm not a Jeep guy, but I think the true locking diff has been around for 10-15 from factory thru Jeep on the TJ maybe even the YJ. I think its available both front and rear.