Thinking of Purchasing Ford F-150 - Some Questions

[NWOH_Grizz]

It's almost unbelievable, the mis-information being put out there on the EB engine. It DOES NOT require any more maintenance. Read the manufacturers suggested maintenance intervals. It DOES NOT require a cool-down period, the EB uses an innovative reverse-flow coolant scheme that works very well when the engine is shut off. It DOES NOT get poor fuel mileage -unless you dangle your toes in the turbo, then you're going to pay for using that 365 HP and 420LbFt torque. Its easy to get 22 mpg on the highway and 18 combined. It DOES NOT require premium fuel.

What it does do is provide very good fuel mileage -for a full-size truck- and at the same time provide surprising power. In a EB vs hemi contest, its all about the driver, its that close. EB vs Chevy, sorry, no contest. The responsiveness of that engine at partial-throttle is also extremely good. 90% of the torque is available at only 1700 rpm. The reliability of the engine is proving to be very good, its been out in the public for over 3 years now (March 2009 in the Flex).

Concerning the 3.7 in the F-150, take one for a drive. The power is pitiful. Nowhere close to the 5.0, and certainly not the 3.5 EB. The trade-in on that vehicle in the future will be greatly reduced if it has that 3.7. You'll do fine at trade-in time with the 5.0 or 3.5 EB, or even the 6.2, but that engine drinks a lot of fuel.

I see a difference in power between the 20" wheels and the 18". After test-driving a bunch of F-150's before ordering mine, the 20" trucks are noticeably more sluggish on acceleration than the 18" equipped trucks. Try it and see if you notice it too.

The 5.0, even though it is a new engine, should be good for most people. If you don't need the slight increase in power that the 3.5 EB provides, and if you don't want to spend the extra $700 for the EB, you should be happy with the 5.0.

 

[Fossil Farm]

Uses: Daily driver (most likely for my mom)

Also,
Before your Mom calls you all panicky about a missing gas cap when
she goes to fill it up, you might want to show her that it doesn't
have one. Different at first, but pretty nice not to have a gas cap
to lose or twist on.

 

[Dmace]

It's almost unbelievable, the mis-information being put out there on the EB engine. It DOES NOT require any more maintenance. Read the manufacturers suggested maintenance intervals.

Ok, call the maintenance a draw between the two. The EB still cost more and has TWO expensive turbos and SIX expensive direct injectors that the 5.0 doesn't. This extra cost and added hardware gets you 1-2mpg more EMPTY if you baby it but poorer fuel mileage when towing as well as a more crampt engine bay...

 

[patrick_g]

F-150 highest volume seller. Nice truck. You will like it. Shortbed 4x4 with crew cab (4 doors) is extremely popular and for good reason. Be sure to think what it will tow, not how often it will tow it as safety is important every time.

If the rating on the F-150 covers your use then whoopee. Otherwise F-250.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

Not with a trailer ball mount on and without you would still need a laser assist parking guide without. I couldn't imagine an extra foot in a parking lot. One thing that helps a lot is the rear view camera in parking lots and parallel parking. Just wish I had a front camera as well.

I have an F-250 SuperDuty 4x4 crew cab (4 door) short bed and leave the draw bar and ball on all the time. I park within about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of the drywall in front and have room to carefully walk between hitch and garage door. I designed the garage to be 24 ft. This truck would not fit in a 20 ft garage without a hich and probably without bumpers.

I installed a little wheel positioner made of plastic. I screwed it to the floor slab. It is a flat mat with two humps (rounded wheel chocks.) You carefully drive over the first one and let the "captured wheel" come to rest between them. It is easy to use and positions your vehicle within an inch or so of the same place (front to back) every time. It was easy to train my wife with it. She just lines up the windshield washer nozzle with the light switch on the wall and creeps forward till over the first hump. That's it, your done, shut 'er down you are precision parked.

The parking device worked so well I park within an inch or so of the drywall but don't hit it. It worked so well I made one out of wood for her car and used a ball on a string dangling from the overhead for her to use to aim with. She lines up the gas gauge on her dash with the ball on the string and drives forward till over the first hump. Excellent repeatable results from a driver who has no clue where her wheels are or how close the front bumper is to a set of storage shelves.

Pat

 

[jejeosborne]

I have an F-250 SuperDuty 4x4 crew cab (4 door) short bed and leave the draw bar and ball on all the time. I park within about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of the drywall in front and have room to carefully walk between hitch and garage door. I designed the garage to be 24 ft. This truck would not fit in a 20 ft garage without a hich and probably without bumpers.

I installed a little wheel positioner made of plastic. I screwed it to the floor slab. It is a flat mat with two humps (rounded wheel chocks.) You carefully drive over the first one and let the "captured wheel" come to rest between them. It is easy to use and positions your vehicle within an inch or so of the same place (front to back) every time. It was easy to train my wife with it. She just lines up the windshield washer nozzle with the light switch on the wall and creeps forward till over the first hump. That's it, your done, shut 'er down you are precision parked.

The parking device worked so well I park within an inch or so of the drywall but don't hit it. It worked so well I made one out of wood for her car and used a ball on a string dangling from the overhead for her to use to aim with. She lines up the gas gauge on her dash with the ball on the string and drives forward till over the first hump. Excellent repeatable results from a driver who has no clue where her wheels are or how close the front bumper is to a set of storage shelves.

Pat

Nice setup. I use the old tennis ball routine in my garage but it is plenty deep. My daughter just started driving and our new opener had a laser guide option for $20 that I put in for her. Out in the barn. It broadcast a dot she lines up on her steering wheel. Much more important thing in the barn she shouldn't hit. Lol

 

[dieselscout80]

Oil cooled turbos burn up the engine oil much faster than normal, the Ecoboost uses water cooling, that "water" is your engine coolant. Typical engine coolant runs at about 180-210 degrees, now that coolant is running through two turbos that will heat up to over 1200 degrees under even moderate use (over 1700 in severe use). What do you think that will do to your coolant?
Turbo charged vehicles "typically" require premium fuel, the Ecoboost doesn't but that means it's MUCH more sucseptable to knock if you get some bad fuel. Turbo charged vehicles also run higher effective compression ratios which can lead to premature head gasket failure, push that engine too hard and you could be out a major repair. Yes it can happen to any engine but its MUCH more common in turbo engines.

The Ecoboost uses direct injection which uses VERY expensive injectors that do not have the reliability of port injectors as they are directly in the combustion chamber instead of the intake manifold. I just bought a car with a direct injected engine so I'm not against it but would prefer not to have it.
Turbo charged vehicles are MUCH more complicated under the hood due to all the extra hardware, many online are complaining about the lack of space for normal maintenance and repairs in the Ecoboost. There's already a kit to relocate the oil filter to make it easier.

Point being, a turbo charged vehicle will require more careful maintenance and more expensive repairs vs a normally aspirated engine. For a slight power increase and neglible fuel savings, the Ecoboost just isn't worth the risk or premium...

The oil in a turbo is not for cooling the turbo it's for lubing it thats why you idle them so the exhaust temps cool down.

Water cooled turbos have oil in it too.

 

[jejeosborne]

The oil in a turbo is not for cooling the turbo it's for lubing it thats why you idle them so the exhaust temps cool down.

Water cooled turbos have oil in it too.

Oil even in a water cooled turbo does aid in cooling. Oil in a turbo without water cooling, is the only source of cooling. A sealed bearing would not tolerate the heat. Yes, the oil is also need for lubrication. You idle a while before shutting down a non water cooled turbos for two reasons. First letting the turbo spool down and second to cool the bearing prior to shutdown before oil supplied by the pump goes away. Some engines have an electric pump on a timer that keeps oil flowing after shutdown so you don't have to wait.

EGT's are only driven by combustion and has nothing to do with oil flow through turbo.

Jeff

 

[jejeosborne]

Ok, call the maintenance a draw between the two. The EB still cost more and has TWO expensive turbos and SIX expensive direct injectors that the 5.0 doesn't. This extra cost and added hardware gets you 1-2mpg more EMPTY if you baby it but poorer fuel mileage when towing as well as a more crampt engine bay...

Here is my formula:

[(50,000 miles/21 mpg x $4 gas) - 50,000 miles/19 mpg x $4 gas)] + [(50,000/18 mpg x $4 gas) - (50,000/16 mpg x $4 gas)]= approx $2400.

$2400 fuel savings - $700 = $1700 for possible increased maintenance cost.

The added "fun factor" is a big number not included in that formula.

I again would like to express that the comparison between the 5.0 and the EB isn't fair. I bought the EB for towing capacity so my comparison was between the 6.2 liter vs the EB in which they are both 11,300 lbs. Rerun the above formula comparing these two engines and hopefully you understand my justification.

Jeff

 

[s219]

The parking device worked so well I park within an inch or so of the drywall but don't hit it. It worked so well I made one out of wood for her car and used a ball on a string dangling from the overhead for her to use to aim with. She lines up the gas gauge on her dash with the ball on the string and drives forward till over the first hump. Excellent repeatable results from a driver who has no clue where her wheels are or how close the front bumper is to a set of storage shelves.

Pat

Sounds like you have her trained well

I use the tennis ball on a string trick for my wife, and it works great except for that one time she drove into the garage during a downpour with windshield wipers going on high, and launched (served?) the tennis ball. It was pretty funny to see.