I used to hang out here a lot way back when and I had a 93 F250 HD and LOVED it except the mpg. Then a Toyota T100 and I liked it, sold it and wound up with a 12 GMC 1500. Im disappointed. It only has seriously a 2" lift and 1 size up (285s vs 265's) and it stinks. It has power, but even with front and rear swaybars it handles worse than my old trucks and the mpg at best is 15mpg. The dang toyota got that and was 20 years older and the F250 still got 12 with a 351 and weighing at least 1000lbs more!

Anyways friend has a 16 Screw ecoboost and after driving it I like it alot. Ive been looking for a 13-16 F150 (cant afford new)

My main questions are:

-Ecoboost 3.5L longevity. I buy my vehicles and usually keep them a LONG time. Is the 5.0 a better option for that reason? Looking at the numbers it cant touch the low end grunt of the ecoboost it seems
-I regularly tow and haul. Might be atv's, gravel, rocks, a car occasionally, etc. The GMC stinks, it cried towing 3 damn atvs and a small trailer in the mountains. how is the 5.0, I know base don numbers the ecoboost seems to blow it away lol. But do the turbos roll in or is it like power all around.
-I hear the ecoboost is a real sweet rig to tow b/c of the insane low end torque?
-I REALLY like an Screw as I only ever had single/extended cabs before-but the stupid 5.5Ft bed really irks me. I literally found 3 within 100 miles of me on auto trader.. I guess I could live with it, but I always put a 18-20" toolbox in the bed. Will a smaller toolbox like this fit in the bed? I regularly haul a 6ft atv in there and it fit fine in all my prev 6.5ft bed trucks.
-What the heck is the difference between stx, xlt and fx4? On other makes usually the 4x4 special editions come with upgraded shocks and a few skid plates oyu can just buy or get a junkyard anyways..not worth it
-I plan on lifting it 2" with bilstiens and running 33's or 35's..
-Oh one last thing: Does the headrest come off the fold down console seat? I HATE the the full plastic center console and I REALLY hate a center console shifter so the flip down console is what Im after

Anyways, thanks for all the help

 

First of all, it's been my personal experience that GM trucks get superior MPGs compared to Ford or Ram or Toyota trucks of the same V8 configuration. So if the MPGs is your main complaint, you'll be really sad when you buy something else.

As far as EcoBust vs. Coyote engine options:

The Coyote is a FAR more likely engine to go the distance. I've got 120,000 on mine and it's flawless. My buddy has 222,000 on his and it's flawless. And I saw a picture of one with 375,000 on it last week all original. The 5.0 Coyote engine is rock solid. They had a few issues with the 2011 and 2012 models, but overall it's a rock solid engine. The early 3.5 EcoBoost engines were littered with issues and Ford scrapped that design and started over again from the ground up with zero shared parts. The one you drove is a generation 2 design.

The EcoBoost does make more low end torque, that's true. It'll also drive slightly better with larger tires because of that.

Fuel economy while hauling and towing is miserable in the EcoBoost because the engine has to force feed fuel into the cylinders to keep up with all that air that's being pushed in by the turbos. I've seen people with single digit MPGs while towing. While running empty, the Coyote V8 is equal to and sometimes slightly better than the EcoBoost.

The FX4 typically has more body color exterior features and a rear locking differential which is nice offroad. The XLT is your middle of the line truck with nice features inside but affordable. The STX is a low end model with a sporty appearance. All depends on what you like. The center console depends on model you choose. Mine is a full console with huge storage space and cup holders. But I have seen some with fold down center seats that double as cup holders.

Good luck!

 

Hmm, food for thought for sure about the eco vs 5.0.

As for my GMC,I shut off that cylinder deactivation crap with a tuner b/c it causes the truck to burn oil badly. I get 15mpg with a lead foot. I mean I drove a 16 5.0 for 2 weeks while at a work function in Ohio and it seemed ok, but after driving my friends 3.5 eco I was surprised the power.

The towing wouldnt be all the time, most of it would be atv's or smaller lighter loads and occasionally a car.

Anyone else have opinions? Specially on my other questions? Thanks in advance.

 

I own a 2012 F150 Supercrew long bed (6.5) with a 5.0 and 3.55 gears my son has a 2015 F150 supercrew short bed (5.5) with a 3.5 and 3.31 gears.

For starters, don't settle on the short bed if you really want the extra length. Either way the trucks are fairly large and not as easy to park as say a VW bug. My son and I trade of trucks depending on what we are doing so I do drive both and I see no significant difference in maneuverability and driving or parking either. I will ALWAYS have the long bed truck!
Now for gas mileage...we just came back from fishing in Canada, a 2200 mile trip and the 3.5 averaged right at 22 mpg while the same trip last year we averaged just under 18 mpg with the 5.0. so there is a pretty substantial difference in mileage. I tow a fair amount...over 15% of my miles are towing. It is true the 5.0 does not have the towing capacity as the 3.5 but I'm probably going to get the 5.0 in my next truck. Either truck usually gets about 13-14 mpg (highway) towing my dump trailer and compact tractor ( about 5 to 6 thousand pounds). The 3.5 has more power and is better merging but the 5.0 does just fine. The 3.5 looses a bit more on mileage towing but it gets better mileage to start with. Towing a lighter load the 3.5 does even better on mileage where as my 5.0 drops down to the 13-14 territory no matter which trailer I hood on to.
For longevity, I would go with the 5.0...just plain and simple there is less to go wrong but I don't know of any problems with the 3.5. The 5.0 is smother but not as peppy as the 3.5. I have a hard time staying out of the turbos on his but part of that may be the gears. If you find a 3.5 I would suggest you try to find one with the 3.55 or 3.73 gears.
I hope this is relevant.

 

Before taking any advice from anyone figure out which engine they prefer and then understand that thier advice is just a justification of that preference.

I have never seen any reliable data that would indicate either engine being more likely to last longer. Lots of folks have a gut feel that the coyote "should" last longer but can they prove it?

When thinking about the Ecoboost it's helpful to think of it as Eco OR Boost. With a light foot it gets good mileage unloaded on the highway. When using all that power that we love so much it drinks the fuel pretty rapidly.

I've never seen a true apples to apples comparison of towing mileage between the 3.5EB and the 5.0V8, but it makes sense that the lower power engine would use less fuel. Probably gets up the hills slower too, but maybe we all just need to slow down and relax when towing anyway. It's certainly no slouch no matter what.

I know my 3.5 Ecoboost got similar fuel economy towing my 7000lb travel trailer to the two 5.4LV8 engines I've used on the same trailer. Slight better than the one with the old 4-speed trans actually, but that's not really a fair comparison either.

My advice is that you can't really go wrong here. If you like the feel of a V8, get a V8. If you want a more diesel-like experience, get the turbocharged engine.

 

100% not true since most of us like myself test drove both extensively and then picked one engine over the other one for a specific reason. Also, how much evidence do you need that the coyote is more reliable? All you have to do is look up the countless TSB and recalls on the EcoBoost engines not to mention the fact that they scrapped it after just five years in the F150 and started all over from scratch. This isn't an opinion this is fact.

A person can buy whatever they want but since he specifically asked about reliability the 5.0 is the obvious choice.

 

I disagree with you.

 

Well Im still searching. The thing I like about the 5.0 is although it lacks a bit of power and power comes on later on in the rpm range-it doesnt have two turbos that eventually will break, nor does it have a complicated setup vs the 3.5.

IDK Im pretty torn right now. Cause the power is nice. I mean I dont mind mpg either, 17mpg on the highway would be nice. Does the 5.0 use cylinder deactivation?

On a related note:
-The flip down seat console-how do you remove the head rest? Or does it not come off?-So the available gear sets are generally 3.55 or 3.73? How can I tell? tried a vin decoder but it kept saying even a clearly 6.5ft bed (pic and all) vin was a 5.5ft bed lol-several times.

 

I bought a 2011 SC 6.5 bed about two years ago. I was interested in the 5.0 only. I drove a couple and I was impressed. My buddy at the dealership said I should at least drive the ecoboost to see what I thought. Wow..... This thing is basically a diesel with spark plugs. I've been extremely happy with it. I tow a lot. Either a 4500 lb boat or an 8200 lb travel trailer. Hills, desert, doesn't matter the truck just cruises. Seems like it's barely off idle at 60 mph on a flat road with the trailer. Yes....the early ones did have bugs to work out. I believe the second generation ones are better. In fact we just bought two 2018's at work and they are beasts as well. But for my money, I'm extremely impressed by the 3.5 eco.

 

^ Its stories liek yours that make me want an ecoboost. Now, sigh if only I can get a damn 6.5ft bed. I wonder if I was just to take the financing offer (usually its 0%), trade my GMC in and see what sorta deal a new truck would get with a good bit of cash down. For that Id just order the dang thing the way I want it.

IDK I lean towards the eco only b/c its powerful as heck. But a V8 is always nice to have. Sigh.. decisions decisions.

 

The headrest stays on, the seatback just folds down to become the armrest. I'm with you on that seat shifter combo, I had it on my 98 and now on my 14, it has worked well for me. It's nice to fit 6 passengers when needed.
There are a couple people on here who like the 5.0 and to justify their choice they try to bring down the ecoboost. All the engines have advantages you will do fine with either choice. The eco is designed for towing and it does it well. I'm impartial I have a 3.7L.
I bought my 14 end of year, 15's were out, it was cheaper than the used ones after the rebates and low interest rates, it's a good idea to look new.

 

So headrest is stuck on there huh? I saw a pic of one where it was removed and thought it was possible. I found this video Is that not the case?

 

I leave the headrest on, no need to remove, but if you want to remove it, it's like the other headrest. Just push 2 buttons, one per side, and pull up.

 

I really prefer the column shifter. Not sure why but that fits my brain so much better than console shifter. Depending on trim level you usually get forced into one or the other.

 

Wrong form