I am looking to buy a new F150 4x4. We will occasionally tow an aluminum 2 horse trailer. Guessing at the loaded weight not exceeding 8K. Test drove the 3.5 ecoboost V6 which has 420 ft lbs of torque and the small block v-8 which has 387 ft lbs of torque. Seat of the pants comparison without a load hooked up, the power seemed basically equal. The v8 has 20 more hp which comes into play when not towing I suppose. We are looking at the loaded 4 door Lariat. Here is my question for you who have tracked reliability. Which engine is more reliable? Do those twin turbos fail? My gut tells me the 5.0 is more trouble-free. Any options worth having or avoiding?

 

Turbos don't fail any more than any other part of a vehicle. Way back when turbos were new there were issues with reliability but now they are water and/or oil cooled and lubricated. Big rigs can run the same turbo for couple hundred Thousand miles with no issues.

 

Flat ground and a lot of driving unloaded I recommend the 5.0. 5.0 will get better MPG than the 3.5 and tows just fine.

Running mountain grades everytime with the trailer, probably would go with 3.5.

I chose the 5.0 for just about everything you mentioned: reliability, equal performance, better mpg, sounds friggin' amazing etc.

Josh

 

5.0 is OK towing, but any kind of hill and you'll be very friendly with 3rd/4th gear.. other than that it's a great motor.

 

I think both engines have a proven reliability record and would serve you well. The EcoBoost engines lose a lot of efficiency when under boost, so their towing fuel economy suffers. Outstanding performance though, the boosted torque curve is tough to beat IMHO.

Isn't the small block a Chevy engine? GM and Ford had a couple of joint ventures over the years, but none of them were engines to my knowledge. Definitely not the 5.0L though, it's Ford designed and built. No small block bones under the hood of an F150.

 

Yes that's true but...diesel oil sumps are usually 3 times larger, the oils are more robust (by far), and Otr trucks are generally well maintained.

Apples and oranges.

 

If turbos were going to be a routine failure, I think we'd have seen evidence of that by now. Over the last six months I've read of lots of EB owners with over 100,000 miles without issue. The only turbo replacements I can find are wastegate failures.

One guy in another forum posted a photo of 300,000 on the odometer of his '11 EcoBoost F150. The engine hadn't been touched, and he changed the oil regularly every 6-8,000 miles with Valvoline conventional. Turbos were original.

OTR trucks typically see far more than 200,000 miles on a turbo as well. But I don't consider turbos a weak point until we start seeing failures. At this point I'd consider 5.0L cylinder wall strength more of a weakness than turbos are to an EcoBoost.

 

Can't blame improper maintenance of a turbo (or any other mechanical part) as failure in my book. That's like saying Somebody died at 40 from eating fried food for breakfast, lunch and dinner had a birth defect.