Tom, that's what im afraid will happen to the f150. as they continue to look for mpg's there gonna make trucks lighter, smaller displacements, and maybe even thinner metals,, 2014 might be the last of the heavier F150's. Will be interesting what the loyal F-series buyer thinks of the newer generation f150. Will they buy in or look elsewhere..

 

Where else will there be to look? All automakers are being pushed into stricter fuel efficiency requirements. I think it will come down to the company that does it while retaining the most capability of a "Truck"

 

right now ram is looking to do it with a ecodiesel, suppose to get 30mpg's. not sure if there gonna shed weight also. haven't seen what chevy or Toyota is doing. I think it comes down to what you want and use a truck for..if f150 keeps going smaller then I cant see when many contractors wanting to keep using them but can see fleet sales could rise due to savings in fuel. again next year will be an interesting rollout.

 

I know Ram/ Chrysler is slinging the 2014 Ram's as "Significantly revised" but that truck is as old as the current F-150 debuting in 2009 as "All-new" just like the F-150.

Why do people constantly say the current F-150 is so old & dated, and the Ram is so advanced? If Anything, I'm wondering when the next Ram is due out? I hope this next F-150 is so far advanced, ahead of the competition. I only say that as Ram could be sandbagging their next version to trump Ford on their new truck?

 

Honestly, is that a problem? A fully pimped-out Platinum has a payload of almost 3/4 ton. Dodge is showing off their payload on their new 3500 - north of 7,000lbs. On a "one ton" truck. How many people driving F150s actually come anywhere close to using the truck to its maximum potential even once during the truck's lifetime?

 

I have to wonder, how many people outside of the truck enthusiast communities really pay attention to the monroney sticker? You don't get this kind of detail on any other vehicle except for trucks and SUV's, so, why bother.

So, as the wife is looking into the large telescoping mirrors at her pretty face, she says, "I like this one honey because of the color, the wheels and the cool mirrors".

Six months later the husband is complaining and talking smack about Ford because he's only 15.9 MPG's in February and he just doesn't understand. The only thing he's ever pulled with his max tow Ecoboost Platinum is a draft of air and a bag of cat litter.

Educate yourself, buy what you need.

 

My uncle's fully loaded Platinum truck has a payload of only 1,300 lbs. Four 200 lb adults and some gear leaves virtually no room for tongue weight if you happen to want to bring a trailer along. I think most anyone who tows an RV either comes close to or exceeds their capacity frequently. Of course those who don't tow probably don't come close very often.

 

The only problem I see with coils is that they can't match they variable rate of a leaf spring pack. On a pick-up you see wide ranges in payload, so with coils you choose between a nice unloaded ride or loaded ride. Ram is compensating for this with optional air suspension, but several key parts of air suspension (regardless of who makes it) are rather fragile, such as ride hight sensors and air lines. Inevitable higher mileage repairs will be more involved and expensive.
I'm ok with leaf springs.

 

Very true about the long term maintenance on an air suspension system. Some cars like the Lincoln Town Car have been equipped with air suspension systems for years, and it's a common mod to convert them to coil springs when the bags fail. The technology is well proven, but it's one more thing that can fail.

Looks like progressive coil springs are out there, but the technology is probably more expensive.

http://www.tuninglinx.com/html/suspension-springs.html

 

But, you have to ask yourself this... is that a failing of the truck, or of the purchaser not buying the right vehicle? I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of Plats never see a trailer. If you're planning to haul a truckload of people, gear, and pull a trailer... perhaps it's Super Duty time.

 

So very true sir!, the flip side of this, are the same non-enthusiast types who's first posts on these sites are; "what axle/ engine should I get for my new F-150? " and then all of the enthusiast start shouting out "get 3.73's or 4.10 if you can find it, or the 3.5 or 6.2" etc..... As if anyone out there in the inter-web world knows exactly what gear set will make Joe commuter the happiest with their purchase?

Then yes your right, a month or two into it, along with 5,000 miles and you have guys back on here starting threads "Have a mpg concern with my new Max Tow" blah blah blah.

I notice, there's not a whole lot of complaining or posts from 3.7, or 3.5 & 5.0 guys who bought 3.15, or 3.31 geared trucks. As those guys probably did their homework, and are 100% satisfied with their trucks mpg's, capability and performance.

 

For those who use their trucks for hauling heavy loads. I am one of those guys.

Plus not to mention that typically with coils versus leafs you either sacrifice load capacity for unloaded ride comfort. or sacrifice unloaded ride comfort for load capacity. I know multi stage spring rates help combine the two, but it's not an exact match. I use my trucks for work. I don't care to have to pull a trailer to do my hauling if I don't need to. That's why I buy a truck. He** I've even been know on many occasions to overload my trucks. And when I do this I drive with much much more caution as a result. And I have never once gotten a citation for doing so nor have I ever had an accident as a result of doing this. I doesn't make it right but I still have and will continue to do so. And I have traveled longer distances trouble free while doing so. For example with my old 86 f150 I had over 2 ton of fire wood on the back stacked higher than the truck cab itself. All I had to help support the wood from falling off was the way I stacked in the bed with a ladder rack on the truck that my dad and I built several years earlier. I traveled about 45 miles one way with that load on my truck without fail. I did about 4 loads like that. And if you know anything about the Pittsburgh area then you know I live in a very demanding hilly terrain area. Not once did my truck have a mechanical issue, nor did I have any sort of accident with the load, nor did I receive any citations for the load. And I had passed several state and local cops on my route. The closest I came to possibly getting pulled over was 1 state trooper stayed behind me for about 10 miles. I guess he saw how I was driving and that the load was stable and decided to move on. Oh I'm sure he ran my plate thru his database. And I know that was also different time then, but I'd still do with my truck. And a guy I used to work with traded his 09 chevy with less than 12,000 miles on it, in on an 11 ram. The ram had a lesser towing and hauling capacity then the chevy. The ram had 4 coils the chevy had rear leafs. The reason for the trade in was that his chevy suffered the typical 5.3 oil consumption issue and after a top end rebuild the truck started knocking. At about 5,000 the Ram blew the tcase. I told to buy a Ford next time. He said no way his ram is perfect. Yeah right, ok.

 

I buy a truck to be a truck. Meaning a work horse. Not necessarily a fuel miser. If I wanted that I'd buy a turd box economy car. I'm fine with the Idea of being able to tow up to 11,000 lbs. And maintain an unloaded 15-17 mpg around town. These guys that complain about that are just being ridiculous with their expectations and are apart of the reason that the gov. is enforcing the increasingly strict cafe' standards.
Then I say oh you wanna talk fuel consumption do you? Lets talk about my 86 f150 with it's 302 4speed 4x4 it gets 10 maybe on a really good day and strong tail wind pushing me maybe 12 mpgs. And if you think that's bad lets try my 78 f150 351m 4barrel carb. 4 speed 4x4 it gets about 8. And up until late 2010 I drove this daily back and forth to work about 30 miles one way. Never once did I complain. The only reason I parked is I need to do some work to it for inspection and since I don't really need it I wasn't in a big hurry to get it done. Then this past summer I got laid off so I had the time but not necessarily the funds to get it done. Plus I'm chasing an electrical issue with it when I feel like working on it. But that's done for the winter.

 

Your post almost feels a bit contradictory. You mention that you want a capable truck and are fine with mid-teens for fuel economy around town. But in the same post you mention how much better the fuel economy has gotten with your newer trucks, and unless I'm way off my mark neither of your two older F150s will tow 11,000 lbs.

What would be wrong with a truck that can tow 11,000 lbs and get 20 MPG around town? With some lighter weight materials and more efficient engines that doesn't seem so far fetched to me. None of the engines being talked about for the next gen truck lack the power to tow, and a lighter weight body and chassis may give us more capability instead of less. With each evolution we've gotten more power, capability, and fuel economy. Why should the 2015s be any different?

 

To be fair you don't hear those with 3.31s complaining about towing performance either. I really think we as a community oversell the hell out of high gear ratios. If it weren't for my enclosed trailer I would have much rather bought a truck with 3.31s. And considering just how well this thing does with 3.73s I'd be willing to bet it would tow 10,000 lbs fine with them. But alas, you can't get the max tow package and included high capacity hitch without the 3.73s.