HD F-150 or 3/4 ton truck?

[gladehound]

I find all the concern about ride quality funny... my two rides are a '97 F350 (7.3PSD, CC, 4WD, SRW) and a motorcycle.
The F350 gives me a great abs workout on some highways, but I wouldn't trade it for a light-duty truck.
Maybe you should check out a big SUV or something like the VW Touareg TDI if you're looking for a more civilized occasional tower?

SUV doesn't work for me. I want to put 4 bikes in the bed and two tandem kayaks on the roof while pulling our Travel trailer. I need at least 2,000 pounds of payload but would like more. My current vehicle is a Jeep Grand Cherokee (similar to the VW you suggest) and I cannot carry everything I want to take in the vehicle. Plus I'd like a bed for other things.

I didn't see a whole lot of concern about ride quality. It was mentioned but it is not a big factor. The big ones are payload (2000+) tow rating (10,000+), reliability, engine feel (want torque), overall cost effectiveness.

 

[gladehound]

I have an F150, 2016. Ecoboost, supercrew, 4wd... Put 850 lbs of wood flooring in the bed this morning and headed to my cabin 45 minutes away, which has a 2,000 ft elevation difference. Lot's of twisty turns and ups and downs; the truck ran up those hills like it was empty, and handled just as well. I was very impressed. Yes, I had it in tow / haul mode. I used to have the 350 superduty with the 6.7 powerstroke diesel, that was just flat out an animal at towing or hauling.

Why did you go from the 350 with 6.7 to the 150 with EB?

 

[coobie]

I'd be interested to hear more about your experience with your towing with the Ecoboost. A previous poster confirmed that the Ecoboost pulls better than his 7.3 PSD did. I also had a 7.3 PSD so that is my point of reference.

No question that diesel has (or had) more resale. Right now, pre-DPF diesels go for a fortune. 10 years from now, once the manufactures completely solve the emissions issues, do you think today's diesels will be worth much on the used market? If the diesel emissions issues really get solved, you wont be able to give away today's diesels. They will be like early 80's cars!

No need to. You already seem to have made up your mind.Buy the Ford EB.Good luck..

 

[bdog]

I have owned both and the Ecoboost will out pull ten+ year old diesels. It won't hold a candle to the new ones. My problem with the ecoboost was there was nothing eco about it. If the truck is completely stock and empty it gets good mileage. Any load and the turbos spool up and it sucks fuel. My 2012 EB I bought new got horrible mileage especially when towing. I was towing a 18' utility trailer with an ATV and a UTV on it and was getting 4-5 MPG. With a 26 gallon tank if I recall correctly I had to fill up every 100 miles. I went to the dealer multiple times and they could find nothing wrong. They blamed it on my mud tires which were slightly larger (but no lift), my grill guard, and my tool box and air compressor in the bed. I traded the truck. Pretty sad when I was traveling with a 2008 F-250 with the 5.4 gas pulling a trailer that weighed three times what mine did and he was getting double the mileage.

I have a friend with an ecoboost that is bone stock and he drives around with an empty bed all the time. He gets around 20 mpg. I never saw over 14 mpg even without a trailer. I hate the ecoboost. I lost a lot of money buying that truck. I wanted to like it. It was the first brand new truck I ever bought,

 

[Sysop]

When towing, especially at or near capacity, mileage is worse on an ecoboost versus a diesel. If you load an ecoboost down and run it through the mountains, expect 4ish MPG. It is well documented it can do eco, or it can do boost, but not both. Thing is, when less than 25% of your miles are towing, the extra few MPG it gets versus a 3/4 ton are a huge bonus. You're not going to make that difference up in a switch to diesel.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Why did you go from the 350 with 6.7 to the 150 with EB?

The super duty was overkill. I just didn't use it any longer as I did at first. I do a lot of blowing down the highway, and not towing or hauling any longer. The 150 seemed a better fit, and I love it. I do miss that power stroke diesel, though.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

On the mileage... My ecoboost gets around 17.5 hwy, averaging 65 to 70mph. 16.5 city. Pulling my 14 ft enclosed trailer it gets around 12 to 14 mpg. My wifes v8 f 150 stays at 16 mpg no matter what. 20 mpg is a pipe dream...

 

[gladehound]

Listening to all the responses. Certainly haven't made up my mind. I appreciate experience from those who have owned these trucks especially those who have had two or more of the options and can compare them.

It seems the consensus on these trucks is as follows:

Fuel mileage empty mixed driving: EB & diesel (high teens), 3/4 gas (low teens)
Fuel mileage towing: Diesel best (low teens) , 3/4 gas and EB tie (single digits, my Jeep GC 5.7 averages 9mpg towing TT so I know the deal)
Payload: 3/4 gas Best, F150HD middle, Diesel 3/4 ton lowest - strong case for moving to 1 ton SRW diesel for payload but more $$
Towing torque: Obviously the near 1000 ft pound diesels, then EB, then 3/4 ton gas
Price: New F150HD, new 3/4 ton gas, or 1-2 year old diesel (low to mid $40s)
Resale: Diesel wins as long as the engine in question proves reliable over the long run

Now the big one... reliability.

3/4 gas best
ecoboost - Some problems in early years seem to be fixed
Diesel - from what I've found the Ford 6.7 seems fairly solid in recent years, there were some turbo durability problems but seem to be improved now. Ram Cummins 6.7 seems to have a few more regen problems than I'm comfortable with but having trouble getting my arms wrapped around how frequent these are. haven't looked at Duramax. Seems either these engines are more sensitive to water in fuel than the older ones or people are just not checking their fuel bowls - not sure which.

I've always been a sucker for diesel and if a good deal pops up I'll have trouble resisting. If I don't find anything by year end I might be ordering the F150 EB.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

If the Eco-boost is as superior as some make it out to be, I wonder why it isn't offered in a 3/4 ton truck? Serious question. Seems as if they did diesels would soon be virtually obsolete.

 

[Sysop]

Simple, the added weight of a 3/4 ton truck keeps it in boost all of the time and loses any benefit on fuel economy. The 3.5 ecoboost was designed and built to motivate a lightweight F150 day to day, yet provide the "big engine" power on an as-needed basis. It does this very well. My opinion, it does this better than anything else available.