FORD F-150 AXLE RATIO CHOICE

valhalla360 wrote:

wing_zealot wrote:
I think generally speaking people towing 10K regularly don't buy and F150 Ecoboost. For instance, I bought an Ecoboost because it is my daily driver. I use it 80%± as a daily driver and get great mpg every day doing so (leaps and bounds better then the F250 I got rid of); and yet, when I need it for towing, it's tow beast also (getting nearly the same mpg towing as my F250).

I agree. My point was I think the 10k rating is mostly marketing because Ford knows very few will push that limit while doing a lot of towing miles. If they do it once in a while mostly flat land towing, they will probably get away with it.

Most people towing a lot up near 10k will jump up to the 3/4 ton trucks.

For the 1 in a 10,000 who actually does tow heavy regularly with the ecoboost, it's such a small percentage that it really doesn't impact the reputation if they have issues as it's so rare.

If Ford really trusted the engine to regularly tow heavy like that, you would see them offer it in the 3/4 ton trucks because commercial operators would be salivating over the fuel saving of a 3/4 ton that can get even 17-18 mpg when not towing and yes, you do see a lot of them cruising around empty or with just a light load where boost would be negligible and MPG would be much better.

I agree its mostly marketing however promoting 10k tow rating only adds to the confusion.
Most consumers simply don't understand the tow ratings.
They see an F-150 can tow 10K and they are sold.
They don't realize only a few rare F-150's can tow 10K and those trucks are generally not found on dealer lots.
RV manufactures promote 1/2 ton towing as well.
We are reluctant to state that to tow a big trailer you need a big truck!
Instead we promote a confusing, misleading tale of 1/2 ton towing.

For further comparisons, I have a 2018 F-150 Lariat Super Crew, 4x4, 3.5 Eco engine, 3.55 locking rear with the 10 speed tranny.
I bought it used at a good price.
I came with Max Tow (20" wheels), but no tow mirrors. Cost me over $600.00 to add them and they are aftermarket not OEM!
The GVWR is only 7000 lb.
The Max Payload on this truck is only 1600 lb! So the lbs add up when you start adding options.

I do get 20-22 mpg on the highway and I will let you know what MPG is gets towing our small Sonic out west this weekend.

wing_zealot wrote:
I think generally speaking people towing 10K regularly don't buy and F150 Ecoboost. For instance, I bought an Ecoboost because it is my daily driver. I use it 80%± as a daily driver and get great mpg every day doing so (leaps and bounds better then the F250 I got rid of); and yet, when I need it for towing, it's tow beast also (getting nearly the same mpg towing as my F250).

I agree. My point was I think the 10k rating is mostly marketing because Ford knows very few will push that limit while doing a lot of towing miles. If they do it once in a while mostly flat land towing, they will probably get away with it.

Most people towing a lot up near 10k will jump up to the 3/4 ton trucks.

For the 1 in a 10,000 who actually does tow heavy regularly with the ecoboost, it's such a small percentage that it really doesn't impact the reputation if they have issues as it's so rare.

If Ford really trusted the engine to regularly tow heavy like that, you would see them offer it in the 3/4 ton trucks because commercial operators would be salivating over the fuel saving of a 3/4 ton that can get even 17-18 mpg when not towing and yes, you do see a lot of them cruising around empty or with just a light load where boost would be negligible and MPG would be much better.

valhalla360 wrote:

BarabooBob wrote:
I currently have a 2011 F150 heavy, SCREW, long bed, w/3.5 EB w/3.73 gears. I have over 200,000n miles. I just finished going over Chief Joseph Highway, Beartooth Highway, up the west side of 14A in the Bighorns pulling my TT. I may loose a bit of mpg when not towing but I love the grunt when I am towing. When I reorder, it will be a similar vehicle.
I don't have a problem eating up my brakes. I have never smelled hot brakes on my truck either.
The truck still looks good and runs great, so I don;t plan on a new one soon.

Under 6-7k lb, I think the 3.5 ecoboost is a great option. Of course, the old NA model was rated for that much (all be it with slower acceleration and slower in the mountains). With a trailer clocking in with a GVWR of 3700lb, I would expect it to do great and you really aren't taxing the motor much while towing.

I'm curious to see some of the early year ecoboosts that regularly tow up near the 10k lb range for significant miles (not just an occasional weekend 100 miles away). How are those holding up when pushed to the rating limits. I still suspect, this type of user is so rare that Ford can talk it's way out of failures blaming them on the owner and it really won't hurt the motor's reputation.

I think generally speaking people towing 10K regularly don't buy and F150 Ecoboost. For instance, I bought an Ecoboost because it is my daily driver. I use it 80%± as a daily driver and get great mpg every day doing so (leaps and bounds better then the F250 I got rid of); and yet, when I need it for towing, it's tow beast also (getting nearly the same mpg towing as my F250).

BarabooBob wrote:
I currently have a 2011 F150 heavy, SCREW, long bed, w/3.5 EB w/3.73 gears. I have over 200,000n miles. I just finished going over Chief Joseph Highway, Beartooth Highway, up the west side of 14A in the Bighorns pulling my TT. I may loose a bit of mpg when not towing but I love the grunt when I am towing. When I reorder, it will be a similar vehicle.
I don't have a problem eating up my brakes. I have never smelled hot brakes on my truck either.
The truck still looks good and runs great, so I don;t plan on a new one soon.

Under 6-7k lb, I think the 3.5 ecoboost is a great option. Of course, the old NA model was rated for that much (all be it with slower acceleration and slower in the mountains). With a trailer clocking in with a GVWR of 3700lb, I would expect it to do great and you really aren't taxing the motor much while towing.

I'm curious to see some of the early year ecoboosts that regularly tow up near the 10k lb range for significant miles (not just an occasional weekend 100 miles away). How are those holding up when pushed to the rating limits. I still suspect, this type of user is so rare that Ford can talk it's way out of failures blaming them on the owner and it really won't hurt the motor's reputation.

BarabooBob wrote:
I currently have a 2011 F150 heavy, SCREW, long bed, w/3.5 EB w/3.73 gears. I have over 200,000n miles. I just finished going over Chief Joseph Highway, Beartooth Highway, up the west side of 14A in the Bighorns pulling my TT. I may loose a bit of mpg when not towing but I love the grunt when I am towing. When I reorder, it will be a similar vehicle.
I don't have a problem eating up my brakes. I have never smelled hot brakes on my truck either.
The truck still looks good and runs great, so I don;t plan on a new one soon.

If my fact finding is correct, your pulling less than 4K.
payload is not a big concern at 4K GVW. Lots of 1/2 tons can handle 4K. An Eco boost maybe over kill pulling 4K?

I currently have a 2011 F150 heavy, SCREW, long bed, w/3.5 EB w/3.73 gears. I have over 200,000n miles. I just finished going over Chief Joseph Highway, Beartooth Highway, up the west side of 14A in the Bighorns pulling my TT. I may loose a bit of mpg when not towing but I love the grunt when I am towing. When I reorder, it will be a similar vehicle.
I don't have a problem eating up my brakes. I have never smelled hot brakes on my truck either.
The truck still looks good and runs great, so I don;t plan on a new one soon.

Mike134 wrote:
I think what people fail to notice is how much payload is used up on a F250 diesel because of the weight. The Gas F150 with HD payload package will have a larger payload than a 250 diesel and cost you about $12,000 less. For those non-believers experiment on the Ford build and price site. Now if you get a Gas 250 or diesel 350 you've moved up in towing capacity.

Roflmao. I rest my case. (See my previous post)

Mike134 wrote:
I think what people fail to notice is how much payload is used up on a F250 diesel because of the weight. The Gas F150 with HD payload package will have a larger payload than a 250 diesel and cost you about $12,000 less. For those non-believers experiment on the Ford build and price site. Now if you get a Gas 250 or diesel 350 you've moved up in towing capacity.

What MOST folks are missing is you DON'T "need" F150 Eco.

F250 with 6.2 is actually a much better choice overall for LONGEVITY when it comes to towing or hauling HEAVY LOADS for long periods of time than pushing limits with the lighter built F150 Eco.

When you get into the F250 and higher line, Ford has DERATED the engine and transmission in order to offer a higher MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure).

OP also does not "need" Diesel either which is why I suggested F250 with 6.2 instead of the Eco F150 with max Tow/Payload.

Yes, you won't get head snapping high speed hole shots with the 6.2 but that is not the point of going that route, the point is getting a much more robust long living vehicle that is more suited for the task of heavy or hard use for extended periods of time.

I once had a F150 Heavy half, all was good when I used it for grocery getting on very smooth roads.. When I started towing and put it on less than steller roads it fell flat with constant repair bills.. Rebuilt suspension twice in 140K miles, multiple brake refreshes (like clockwork at 40K miles)..

Replaced the heavy half with F250 Super duty in 2003, that truck was a vast improvement, ball joints at 175K miles no other suspension parts when I sold it at 240K miles.. Brakes well past 120K miles at a time.. I found I spent a lot less of my time working and replacing parts on that truck..

Folks believe you need a Diesel or a turbo boosted V6 to haul a potato chip, you don't, really.. Folks often gravitate to those because they WANT the prestige of saying they have it..

Yes, a plain NA Gas engine does not elicit visions of excitement or boost ones testosterone but Ford HAS done a very good job at making the 6.2 a very dependable and capable engine..

If you want a bit more grunt then perhaps consider the 7.3 Gas engine. But in reality, with the OPs load, a nicely equipped F250 with 6.2 will be a very good match for their trailer.

I have had no issues hauling 6500 lb TT loaded, have also loaded up my 18ft 10K flatbed trailer to the max of 10K and still have a lot of throttle left on 11% grades..

On edit..

For those who doubt me about F250 cost, here is my purchase documentation.. That is for a 2020 F250 Value XLT package, 4x2 Super cab short bed 6.2 gas 3.73 Electronic locking axle. I do not need or want the goofy leaky sun roof, nor do I need or want the heated/cooled leather seats (had a vehicle that came with leather seats, those seats were shot after 100K miles, won't do that again).



That price includes taxes, title and even cost of extended warranty and the bottom line is all in out the door cost to me.

I think what people fail to notice is how much payload is used up on a F250 diesel because of the weight. The Gas F150 with HD payload package will have a larger payload than a 250 diesel and cost you about $12,000 less. For those non-believers experiment on the Ford build and price site. Now if you get a Gas 250 or diesel 350 you've moved up in towing capacity.