Howdy.
So I commute 40 miles to work, 80ish miles per day total. I also work my father’s hobby farm on the weekends. I currently use my ‘88 f250 for the farm work and have a wrangler I make the drive to work in, and play off-road with when I have free time. My old truck is getting pretty long in the tooth, love my idi diesel but the work never gets easier and days never shorter. I just got done putting a new transmission in my old truck and am yet to replace the injection pump, which it has needed for a while, or fix the dozens of oil leaks. I think it is time to retire the old truck to back up duty and the wrangler into a toy. I usually have about 5,000lbs in the bed most days and when I tow it is about 12,000lbs, also immediately getting a set of Goodyear duratracs as farm work is mostly off road and I put them on everything. I was thinking about a superduty but want that nice IFS ride for my long drive to my main job. I am pretty set on a xl trim regular cab and it can’t be any less than an 8’ bed so that leaves me engine choice between a 3.5 and a 5.0. I am more familiar with the 5.0 as up until my current job, I was a mechanic and have worked on many mustangs and trucks with the 5.0, not many ecoboosts where I live. I know the 3.5’s get better mpg and technically make more torque, but I am working some heavier loads and don’t really need them moved fast just reliably. Above all I need my truck to be as reliable as my old one and last me for at least 10 years, I have had my ‘88 for 10 years so that is my bench mark, and not kill me for maintenance and repair all of which I do myself. What engine should I choose? What kind of mpg should I expect? How many lottery tickets should I buy? Should I give up and buy an f250, and if so what engine should I look at there?

 

"5,000 lbs in the bed" makes me think no F-150 will do. You'd have to check payload ratings. Sounds like you need a Super Duty 250 or 350.

As far as engine, I'd say you're leaning towards the Coyote V8 (if you can get one in the SD, not sure). Great engine. Can't say they're as simple to work on as Ford's venerable 302s -- but they're probably more dependable than the Ecoboost engines.

My 2 cents.

 

Little radio said it right, no F-150 made that has a 5000 lb. payload rating and that is even challenging for a F250. Matter of fact, I think you need to get into a dually F-350 rear wheel drive to get that kind of payload capability.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles...pacity-ever/5/

 

Even if a 150 could meet your payload, it certainly wouldn't be able to tow 12,000lbs. If your numbers are correct then you should definitely be looking at a 250 or 350. When I compared the 150 and 250 in 2021 there was not that much of a price difference between the two depending on the packages and what was available at the time. I would hope availability has improved since then.

 

Hate to say it but an F-150 in any configuration will not meet your stated needs. You need to go with a Superduty and I would recommend an F-350.

 

Hell 5000lbs of payload equals a dually!

 

I have a '21 F150 Supercab 8' bed with HDPP and Max Tow packages and my payload sticker is 2700 lbs. I agree with everyone else in that you really need a Super Duty. The new "Godzilla" 7.3 gas engine in those trucks sound really good, but you really could use the Powerstroke diesel.

 

Welcome to FTE Dusty_Roads,

5,000 lbs in the bed? You are talking F650/750 territory. Maybe you meant 500?

 

With 5,000 lbs in the bed I would be looking at one of the F-450 trucks. You are actually very lucky if you put 5,000 lbs in the bed of a F-250 as most would have a cracked frame by now.

The F-150 is going to have a payload of less than 2,000 lbs unless you order one with the heavy duty payload package that takes it up to 3,000 lbs and with the 3.5L engine and 3.55 gears you can get the electronic locking rear differential and have a tow capacity of 13,800 lbs with the Max Tow package.

When you put 5,000 lbs in the bed the tires become the limiting factor as the tires need to support roughly 7,500 lbs or 3,750 on each side. Easy to do with DRW and 4 tires but only a few Grade E tires will provide that load capacity (Nitto, Toyo, Goodyear). And E tires are going to result in a much harsher ride.

 

A 5.0 correctly equipped will do 13k and a 3.5 eco**** will do 14k.

 

Assuming you mean 500 lbs in the bed, not 5,000 lbs- I suggest you go with the 3.5 ecoboost for efficiency. If you're driving on highways at reasonable speeds you can expect 21-22 mpg. Use 89 octane for the right balance between fuel cost and efficiency.
I've been very happy with mine ('18 and now '21), and as I understand it, 3.5 ecoboosts are generally reliable for over 200,000 miles with regular maintenance.
The 12,000 lbs is technically within the capacity of properly equipped 3.5 ecoboost; I don't have any experience towing that much weight though.

 

3.5 because the '21+ 5.0s have cylinder deactivation and from what I've read GM and RAM have had issues with the cylinder deactivation since they started using it years ago. I have read that the insides of the new 5.0 are beefed up to handle the cylinder deactivation and if you disable it you should have a pretty stout motor.

If your payload numbers are correct no F150 will handle that kind of weight in the bed, hopefully it's was a misprint and you meant 500. As for towing a properly equipped F150 can handle 12000lbs but I don't think I'd want to tow that kind of weight regularly with a half ton.

 

I don't like cylinder deactivation period, but the way Ford accomplishes it is completely different than GM. the lifters are not being affected by it and the valves are disabled via the rocker arm having a pivot in it. Hopefully there's a tune or something besides livernois that can disable it soon, but outside of uneven wear it doesn't bother me so much.

 

Hello Dusty??? 1 post and you're out?

 

Looks like it, last time Dusty_Roads_ was on was 07/14/22 at 0800.