Just looking for opinions, and personal experiences. I am in the market for a new truck. I currently have a 2012 F150 FX4 with a 5.0. It's been a good truck, but a little lacking on the power side, especially with a trailer behind it.


The two trucks that are with in my price range are the two that I listed. The options on both would include Lariat, 4x4, and crew. The F250 would have a 4.30 gear, and the F150 would have the max tow, so a 3.55.


I like the capability and stance of the F250. I haven't been able to drive on yet, so that might make a big difference. I know the mpg is going to be in the lower teens. Also, the truck I would want pretty much has to be ordered.


I like the power of the ecoboost, and they are a dime a dozen. I know the F150 would initially get better mileage, but it's unclear what the mpg would do after I raised the stance a little, and added some 34" tires.


My ultimate plan is to by a travel trailer. Probable 8000-10,000lbs. I,m a little worried about how the F150, not the ecoboost, would handle this trailer.


Any opinions would be appreciated. Real world experiences are better. Thanks in advance.

 

F250. Might makes right.

 

My wife drives a 2016 F150 lariat crew cab with 6.5' box, and max tow. I drive a 2017 F350 CCLB 6.2 with 4.30's. Her truck will run circles around mine, even accelerate faster towing our 7000lb boat. My 350 is always loaded with about 2500lbs of fuel and tools so that plays a big roll in why hers is faster but even before I loaded mine up with tools hers still felt faster, it sets you back in the seat like mine won't.
As far as pulling heavy loads obviously the 350 will feel better. 8000lbs isn't that much weight and a 150 will pull that just fine. A super duty is overkill for that little weight but if you will be getting over 10,000lbs then that might be the way to go.
Both trucks are great to drive, they share the same cabs so everything is pretty much the same. The 150 definitely rides better but the 350 isn't bad either. The big difference is in the fuel mileage, her truck averages 17.5 over the last 28,000 miles while mine is 9.2 over the last 14,000. The highest I've seen on a single trip on hers was just over 22mpg and mine was just over 14mpg, that was on a 55-60 mph Sunday cruise though. My 2011 6.2 with 3.73's averaged 9.1 mpg' over the 196,000 miles that I drove that truck.

 

I owned a 2011 F250 CC/SWB 4x4 with 3.73 gears for 6 years. Towed a large 5th wheel a small travel trailer, and carried a Lance camper with it.

I then bought a 2016 F350 CC/LWB Dually with 4.30 gears to haul the same Lance.

I now own a 2017 CC/5.5' F150 with 3.5 EB and 3.55 gears. I have not towed with the F150 yet, I only have about 850 miles.

If the primary job of the truck is to haul your 9000lb camper, without a doubt, hands down, get the 6.2 with the 4.30's in the Super Duty. You will get the same mileage with either truck towing, and the 6.2 with the 4.30's is an absolute stud.

If you are like me, and use the truck as a daily driver and rack up a lot of mileage empty, the F150 can get you in the upper teens where the 6.2 will be about 11-12 city. 5mpg empty makes a big difference. Good luck.
Gman

 

Thank you for all the great replies. My wife's expedition has the 3.5, and I love the way that car pulls. Hers has a 3.08
gear, and my 5.0 has a 3.73, but I'd rather pull with hers any day.

think my biggest concern is a large wind sail behind a light truck, but I guess if I get out there and experience that, then I can upgrade trucks. I mean, having to buy a new truck again in a couple years wouldn't break my heart.

 

Do you think going with the 6.5' over the 5.5' bed be a big enough difference to worry about? As far as maintaining control of a trailer. I know I'm probably over thinking this. Just want to keep my family safe.

 

I sense you want a Superduty that's what I'd buy.

 

I really want a 6.7 super duty, but I can't swallow that price tag.

 

The 3.5 ecoboost has plenty of power for those loads, but the f250 is a better towing vehicle for a number of reasons, specifically suspension and payload.
Is this vehicle also going to be your daily driver? If not, f250 all the way. If so, it might be a tough choice.

 

This will be my daily driver. 99% of the time, it will carry only me. I had thought about doing a F250 gasser, and then buying a $6k mustang to scoot around in, but then I'm in diesel territory. We just moved back into the city, so I just went from driving 20-30k/year, down to 10-15k.

I briefly wondered into the used diesel world, but after owning a 2006 F250 with a 6.0, my wife is not interested in used.

I I have faith that the 3.5 will handle anything I throw at it with ease. I just want to be able to tow a trailer 1000 miles over the summer, with the cruise set, and not have to wrestle it the whole way.

Starting to to look like I take the half ton route, or dig up an extra $10k.

 

You will like the power and torque of the 3.5 EB. coming from a 2008 6.8 V10 with 4.30 gears, I can say this has almost the same grunt as the V10 when it comes to pulling. The torque comes on sooner though. I have yet to pull enough weight to test the limit of the suspension.

 

That 3.5 ecoboost has enough power. Don't even let your mind worry about it.
Issue, if there is one, is payload capacity and how much squat you'll get with the F150. If you send your time at the cat scale moving your load around and properly setting up a good quality WDH, you for sure can get it to work great. Setting up the F250 will just be a lot easier, although I'd always suggest a WDH and a trip to the cat scales.

If it was me, I'd be looking for the F150, but I would be extremely picky about which one I got. Probably want Max tow and max payload packages.

 

If the max payload were easier to find, and I could get all the options I want with it, this would be a much easier decision.

 

my wife has a 2012 FX4 with the 3.5 and 3.73 gears, a 2" LK and 33" tires. She averages 16.5 MPG on her 30 mile round trip to work and will get up to 21mpg on a long trip.

My 2013 F250 with the 6.2/4.30 will average between 13-13.5mpg for the same type of local driving but will only get around 14-14.5mpg on long trips. During hunting season my mileage drops to high 11's/low 12s due to all the low speed stop and go driving. Towing I get high 9's.

I think either truck will pull the load just fine but the F250 will be more stable.

ETA. If you like to do your own maintenance the super duty is more user friendly. More clearance underneath makes oil changes easier, the trans, t-case and axles are easy to access and change fluids on and the plug change isn't overly bad. The plug change on the 3.5 is a breeze, along with the rear axle and t-case but the front axle is a pain to service and the trans is different too due to it not having a traditional dip stick. Shocks on the SD are also a breeze at all four corners, not so much for the fronts of the F150.

 

Get the 6.2 super duty. Far less to worry about compared to a maxed out v6. If you look around, you won't find any issues with a 6.2. The v6, not so much.