Well, yes and no. My wife has relented on the sale of Rusty until Dad's truck is going, so there's a reprieve. But, it is gonna be hard to justify having 3 Ford 1/2 ton trucks, so I'm sure Rusty will go when Dad's is up and running.

 

The 2.7 is a dog compared to the 3.5EB It will be fine if used as a commuter or grocery getter.

To use the 2.7 as a tow vehicle will be nothing but disappointing.

The 3.5EB gets horrible mileage towing a 6000 lb trailer. I know I've had to fill a couple of these gas pigs up on trips and hand calc'd the mileage.
The 2.7 will be much worse.

If you are going to use the vehicle to tow and work do yourself a favor and do not buy the 2.7

 

As Oddball said in one of my favorite movies, Kelly's Heros: "Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?"

Seriously though, you've used a lot of very relative terms, like "dog", "disappointing, "horrible", and "worse". Unfortunately, those terms mean very different things to different people. And, for the most part they are all negative. So, let's get a bit more specific.

I'm not sure what people are expecting of the 2.7L when towing, but in this Motor Trend test it appears to have handily beaten the Chevy 5.3L and knocked the socks off the Ram diesel. And, it should be noted that the 7,000 lb trailer was at the limit of the 2.7's towing capacity.

However, you were also talking about gas mileage while towing, and I don't see that the MT test gave towing MPG for the 2.7L. But, I do have some information from the real world about the 3.5L EB's towing MPG. Last summer my brother and several others I know took their trucks, families, and side-by-side four-wheelers to Colorado from south-central Kansas. My brother was driving his Titan, his son was driving a Chevy 3/4 ton diesel that's been tweaked to do 20 MPG pulling a house, and two of the friends were driving recent 3.5L EB's. And all were pulling large trailers loaded with multiple four-wheelers, tools, and spares. The Chevy went up I-35 and across I-70 at 80+ MPH, and the Fords followed, while the Titan went straight west across Kansas at 65 - 70 MPH. When the MPG was calculated the Fords got 13 MPG, which really disappointed (there's your word) the drivers since they were used to getting 15 MPG when towing. But, the Titan got closer to 15 MPG due to the slower speed, and that was because my brother knows that those high speeds more than quadruple the wind resistance - which was already bad with those heavy trailers with all sorts of wind-catching things sticking out.

So, while I don't know what you mean when you say "The 3.5EB gets horrible mileage towing a 6000 lb trailer", I do know that it should do at least 13 MPG and maybe even 15 MPG if driven reasonably. But, let's assume it gets 13 MPG when pulling my boat - I'll be happy with that! One reason is that Rusty gets 9 MPG when pulling that boat, and 13 is a 44% improvement. Second, with the large fuel tank I'll have a range of ~450 miles, which is about 6 1/2 hours at 70 MPH, and that's probably a lot longer than I'll want to drive when we have our granddaughter strapped in her car seat.

As for not buying the 2.7L in a tow or work vehicle, I think that's way too broad of a statement. I've seen lots of pickups around here pulling light trailers and small mowers around town to do yard work, and the 2.7L should be perfect for that. Plus, many of the various contractors I've been dealing with drive a truck w/o pulling a trailer, and the 2.7L would be perfect for that as well. However, I do agree that if you are pulling a large and/or heavy trailer then you should step up to the 3.5L EB as it isn't good to expect a truck to live long when constantly asked to work outside of its design parameters.

 

If the 3.5 EB equipped truck got 13 mpg towing that would be awesome Too bad it's more like 8-9 at best and that's on flat climbing ground at 65-70 mph.
Buy what you like. I'm just giving you the facts. You can use them as you like. If you think the 2.7 will work for you as a tow vehicle jump right in.

I'll be waiting to say I told you so.

 

We will have to agree to disagree as I have facts that contradict yours - facts that came when people I know and trust towed 1,500 miles and calculated the MPG by the amount of fuel they bought divided into the miles driven.

If you'd read this thread you'd know that I've ordered a 3.5L EB, not the 2.7. Somehow you remind me of Moriarty:

 

Congrat's, Gary, on the new ride! But 2 month's to get it? Ford must really be selling a LOT of trucks!

 

Actually, the guesstimate is 8 - 12 weeks, although most have been coming in at 8 weeks. So, I'm not expecting it very soon.

Anyway, thanks!

 

Heh Gary, this is the bricker. I goofed up and sent you a mes. But it went under bricker where you had sent me a congrats. Ck it out so I don't have to retype it. Haha

 

Done and responded. No prob.

 

It always makes me laugh when people talk mpg and towing. For most it has no impact on the other 98% + of their driving. I still the the 5.0 for the best truck, so for me that is a no-brainer...

 

Yep. I expect to be into the boost frequently when towing, but that's what it is there for - power when you need it. But, when running light I probably won't be into it very often, so I expect to get about the same MPG as my Murano and still be able to tow. What's wrong with that picture? Nada.

 

Ordered on 3/24 and as of 4/1 I have a VIN.

 

That's cool. Hopefully it wasn't an April's fool joke--just kidding. From then, mine only took 2 weeks, but it goes by. You are gonna love that new ride...

 

Only two weeks to see the window sticker or get the truck? The system is telling me it'll be another 45 days.

Yes, I think I'll love it. Took the boat to the lake a couple of days ago and the long climb out of town had Rusty all out of breath. I had it on the floor in Drive and it gradually bogged down to 45 MPH. I could have pulled it down into Second, and I know that it would pull then, but wanted to see what it'd do w/o shifting. Not well was the answer, so I'm ready for something with more grunt.