You know, I've not considered 'sound' in my equation. While I don't like drone, I'm old enough to really like a good sounding V8. I have no idea what a 3.5 sounds like WOT or under load climbing a mountain. Perhaps I should look more into the 5.0 if I travel down the 150 route.

 

with stock exhaust, sounds quiet, distant rumble, what you'll notice is the turbo whistle. I've heard of people doing aftermarket exhausts to make it "sound better" but I like it quiet.

 

I've never considered sound and would not other than if they have too much engine noise in the cab. My '18 fusion sport has a distinct piped in engine sound, particularly in sport mode. I guess it sounds "cool", but I'd love to be able to disable it. I suspect my 3.5EB has it too, though more subtle.

For me, power for towing my boat was a key element in my selection. Retained power at higher elevations was also a factor. Whether or not is sounds cool never crossed my mind.

 

I gave a tech at my local Ford dealer a $20 and he turned off the fake engine noise on my 17 F150 with 3.5EB. It only took him a couple of minutes, most of which was spent getting to the right screen.

 

Not sure about the F-150, but with the Fusion Sport you can do it with Forscan, but it also disables active noise reduction.

 

This exact thought crossed my mind. I've done so much on my 250 with Forscan; it is a terrific program and not as hard as some people make it out to be.

 

With the stock exhaust the 5.0 is quiet unless you dog it. With my mbrp it sounds great until you get cylinder deactivating which is most of the time. Then it sounds like crap. You can run tow or sport which disables deactivation but then you may lose MPG and be down with a 3.5 on the interstate under boost at 70 or more. Damned if you don't damned if you do. I just swap out my oe exhaust when I'm going on a long trip. Get great mileage and don't sound like I'm running a compression brake. Around home I run the MBRP and usually run in tow or sport

ALL 6 cylinders sounds like crap. And ive had everything from a Datsun to a supra. Lol. V10 also sounds bad. Our SD sounds bad and my buddies Viper sounded bad. The only engine I care to hear is a v8. I make all my other engines quiet. I'm not against turbo 4/6 or v10. But I don't want to hear them

If you want to haul or pull much buy more truck. Not a half ton. Even the old v10 Ford and v10 dodge and the big block chevy pulled and hauled better because of the bigger components/ frame etc etc and they were built for it. Even though they had less HP than the 3.5 or 5.0 and a negligible amount more TQ if any. The platform is the limit. Not the engine. The fact that 5 fat passengers will max out the payload on these trucks should tell you something. They are made for hauling trash or groceries and a family.

When you get into a current Duramax with 900 lb ft Tq is a completly different ballgame. And ride isn't all that terrible. Not like our older SD and HD trucks were. If I want to pull ill jump on the super duty, 3500 or l9000. If I want to go shopping or out on Sunday I take my 5.0.

 

These conversations are good and they always end up sending me back to "keep the F250". I don't tow often or heavy (7k), but the comfort level towing is there with the 250. I'm reminded why I stepped up from a 150 to a 250 originally, I prefer to be well below the max capacity as opposed to being right at max capacity with very little margin.

I need to jump off the forum for a while to stop the temptation... lol

 

I am just shy of 5k with my ‘21 F150 with the 5.0 and I love it! The smoothness of the V8, the sound at highway speeds and when I gun it, the horsepower and torque are better than I expected. I’m getting great mileage at 19.5. Everything points to this motor being reliable on my end. The transmission is so smooth and I’ve just started to use the different driving modes and tow a bit. I think the 5.0 is the way to go.

 

I've owned basically every gas truck out there. Each has their place.

 

307? 351/400. Dodge powertech 4.7.... lol. I think the world would be a better place without some gas truck engines.

 

Well, not every one ever in history. for myself I really mean most of the Ford and GM options from 2000's and newer either owned, or rented/borrowed multiple times.
GM 5.3, 6.0, 6.2
Ford 5.4 (three times), 5.0, 3.5 EcoBoost and 6.2L, 6.88L and 2.7L EcoBoost multiple times.

Even the Dodge 5.7 and 6.4 a few times.

 

Yeah. I was just picking. Except for few powertech. I despise those. Seen those too often at the shop. The 400 and 307 were decent engines just had v8 gas mileage and 4 cylinder HP. Ive actually owned several pre 00 and only a couple newer gas. I see them all in my shop though. We still use an 04 v10 ford. Had an older dodge v10. Both got over 300k work miles. Niether impressed us nor disappointed with power. Just ho
hum work trucks but both lasted. Both miserable to ride in for more than a short trip. Both pulled great. We just parked a 2000 454 5 speed 3500 that the frame finally rotted into. All three of those got 9-14 mpg. Depending on use.

I have a 400 now in my wood hauling flat bed. I like the truck but that 400 is a dog no matter what. Even after a good bit of money is only ALMOST as stout as a bad 390. Lol. even my 66 352 will run circles around it.

I bought my 21 5.0 as a beach trip truck and a backup for my wife's suv. Of my 7 other vehicles not one can legally haul all 5 of us. I used that for my excuse to get the 2021. Lol. But either way I had absolutely no intention of pulling with it or even hauling more than I could in our Highlander.

If any real work is being performed or over 1k of feed is being hauled....we use a ton or bigger. If anything other than a small car needs hauling on a trailer I wouldn't use my f150. But that would be the case regardless of 3.5/PB/5.0/2.7 or the elusive 3.3. I don't regret my engine choice though.

 

I guess there's the old 360, 390, 400 and 460's I had, but those are hardly relevant to the conversation....

 

We have had all those and then some in our farm and work trucks..... it's really a slap in the face to put the 400 in the same sentence. Lol.

I love all the "which engine to pull my lawn mower trailer" threads you see online. 40 years ago everyone was pulling trackhoe and tractors and camper with 200 hp small block Chevy and LA block Mopar and the truly pathetic 351/400. They didn't know they couldn't do that. Plenty of Fords big dump trucks had a 300 straight 6 and gm had the terrible 366. Even up until the mid 00s you could get Chevy 6500 with the 6.0 and a 10 speed

Nowadays it's takes a 900 ft lb duramax to pull your pontoon boat.

Maybe people are just in a bigger hurry.