Thoughts on 2015 F-150

[MoRogers]

Thanks for your input. My garage goes to my gf's Escape and is also my "workshop" if you will. I have a parking spot in the garage at work but that shouldn't be a problem. Ever have any problems or inconveniences with the shorter bed in regards to fitting anything in it and not being able to put the tail gate up? i.e. plywood, kayaks, etc.

I'm on the F150online forum and some guys with the EB from 2010ish have complaints that the MPG is very low and is about equal to what the guys with the V8 engines are getting. Any input on this?

Thanks!

Yup. the Eco is very sensitive to load, when talking about MPGs, compared to a non-turbo motor. unloaded today I get 17.5 combined 50/50 highway/city. fully loaded with a fuel tank I get maybe 15 combined. that's with 35's on 20"s, 3.55 gears, and a superchips 87 tune. plus I always run 89 gas. The fact is that if the engine has to work harder to pull load, its going to boost more to compensate. more boost = more fuel + air consumed, that's just what it is. I don't cry about it because the drivability shadows all of that, for me anyway.


Regardless of the margins, the eco is going to get you better MPGs pound-for-pound over a 5.0 that you 'will' notice. its just NOT going to be a huge difference, which I think a lot of people, including myself, expected. I would say I get another ~100 miles or so out of my fuel tanks now over my 5.0, loaded. unloaded highway I can easily peak over 20MPGs. Unless you've owned or driven both the Eco and 5.0 extensively its difficult to understand the difference in engine operation. my eco rarely breaks 3k RPMs regardless of my load, the torque curve is crazy impressive. my 5.0 has to jump to almost 5k RPMs for its power with the same load, and it would shift all the time on inclines, same 3.55 gears. I laughed out-load when I got my eco and drove from PHX to Flagstaff without leaving 6th gear on cruise. This is all up hills and mountains for about 130 miles with ~5k foot change in elevation.


As far as fitting things in the bed I have a Yakima rack over the truck bed which lets me carry my mountain bikes, RTT, snowboards, ladders for work, etc. Only time I have to leave my tailgate open for anything is for my KTM bikes (if I'm carrying more than 1). other than that, I personally never had a problem carrying or loading anything of any size to date with the 5.5 bed.


Albeit subjective, hope this info helps.

 

[SDDiver5]

Yup. the Eco is very sensitive to load, when talking about MPGs, compared to a non-turbo motor. unloaded today I get 17.5 combined 50/50 highway/city. fully loaded with a fuel tank I get maybe 15 combined. that's with 35's on 20"s, 3.55 gears, and a superchips 87 tune. plus I always run 89 gas. The fact is that if the engine has to work harder to pull load, its going to boost more to compensate. more boost = more fuel + air consumed, that's just what it is. I don't cry about it because the drivability shadows all of that, for me anyway.


Regardless of the margins, the eco is going to get you better MPGs pound-for-pound over a 5.0 that you 'will' notice. its just NOT going to be a huge difference, which I think a lot of people, including myself, expected. I would say I get another ~100 miles or so out of my fuel tanks now over my 5.0, loaded. unloaded highway I can easily peak over 20MPGs. Unless you've owned or driven both the Eco and 5.0 extensively its difficult to understand the difference in engine operation. my eco rarely breaks 3k RPMs regardless of my load, the torque curve is crazy impressive. my 5.0 has to jump to almost 5k RPMs for its power with the same load, and it would shift all the time on inclines, same 3.55 gears. I laughed out-load when I got my eco and drove from PHX to Flagstaff without leaving 6th gear on cruise. This is all up hills and mountains for about 130 miles with ~5k foot change in elevation.


As far as fitting things in the bed I have a Yakima rack over the truck bed which lets me carry my mountain bikes, RTT, snowboards, ladders for work, etc. Only time I have to leave my tailgate open for anything is for my KTM bikes (if I'm carrying more than 1). other than that, I personally never had a problem carrying or loading anything of any size to date with the 5.5 bed.


Albeit subjective, hope this info helps.

Awesome info. I appreciate all your feedback.

I used to go to NAU and driving from PHX to Flag my truck was screaming up the steep grades. I think it was in the 4800-5000 RPM range.

In the long run I think an EB would be better for me. Honestly, I don't do THAT MUCH offroading and if I do its pretty mellow.

Anyways thanks again!

 

[NitroExpress]

I have a 2012 F-150 3.5 Ecoboost with 80k miles and have used it for quite a bit of towing and a fair bit of off road use in Texas. If you purchase the 3.5 Litre (as opposed to the new 2.7) with high hopes of great fuel mileage, you are apt to be disappointed. I was. However, the amount of power and especially how it is delivered, is what makes this a great power plant. It seems to work in much better harmony with the transmission compared to the 5.0, although I don't have extensive experience driving the 5.0. I am not here to dissuade a 5.0 purchase as I do think it seems to be a good reliable engine that will serve well and deliver fuel mileage on par with the 3.5 Ecoboost, and just the exhaust note makes it worth having.
I am not sure of the comment on dust affecting the Turbocharger, as no dust would be entering the forced induction system unless you have a serious problem. I have a ton of off road miles in turbo-diesel pickups without a failure. There is a known issue with the 3.5 Ecoboost getting water in the system from the Air-Air intercooler condensing under specific conditions. I'm not sure if this has been remedied by the '15 model year or not. Google can certainly answer. From an aluminum body standpoint, I would not hesitate a bit. Any amount of weight savings goes into fuel economy or payload. They make aircraft out of aluminum!
Over all, I have been happy with the F-150 and the 3.5 Ecoboost. It's had a few small items that have been repaired under extended warranty, but nothing major. It performs well as a stock pickup in off road conditions and is comfortable. Hoping I can get a lot more miles out of it as all these pickups are EXPENSIVE!!

 

[GDSQDCR]

Recently purchased a 2011 EB f150. I am averaging 16+ in my day to day heavy commute. Ran her up to Tahoe with my family of 5, and enough stuff in the bed to clothe us for a month! Manage to get 19.3 on that trip.

Towed my 9000lb trailer like it was not there.


Mine is a 2011, with 3.73 (max tow) and is a FX4 Supercrew with a 5.5 bed.

 

[Sock Puppet]

My only regret on the 2012 F-150 SC 4X4 5.0 I had was the 5.5' bed. Never again will I have a bed that short. Listen to your gut and go with the 6.5'.

 

[SDDiver5]

My only regret on the 2012 F-150 SC 4X4 5.0 I had was the 5.5' bed. Never again will I have a bed that short. Listen to your gut and go with the 6.5'.

I'm really on the fence about the bed length. Like I've said before, my current truck is the 6.5 bed. I have a shell, sleeping platform and storage area and I can lat down flat and sleep in it. It fits my surfboard, bikes, snowboards, etc. to where I can close the shell. Do I need the 6.5 bed? Prob not for a day to day use, but, it would be nice when I do need to use it. My only drawback about a SC and 6.5 bed is how akwardly long it is. It looks disproportionate. But then again, how useful is a 5.5 ft bed and not having that extra foot?

I'll just have to test drive both of them back to back and see how it goes.

 

[SDDiver5]

Here's another thing to think about. Aluminum corrodes right? I live about 100 yards from the beach and about 50 yards from Mission Bay in San Diego. With all the salt water in the air do you think I will have any problems 5-10 years down the road? I remember reading that the aluminum they use is aircraft grade aluminum so I imagine there wont be any problems.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the Aluminum will corrode when it was attached to something steel right? So if there is an aluminum body panel connected to a steel bracket or frame plus salt water...what would that mean?

I wonder if there are any of those Zinc blocks on the truck somewhere like there would be on a boat?

I'm going to put some faith in Ford and assume they did their homework on this considering they invested quite a bit of money into the new generations F-150

 

[155mm]

Aluminum does oxidize, but nothing like the rate that steel does. A sheet of aluminum sprayed daily with salt water will still be there long after a sheet of steel rusts away. I like the fact that the body will be more resistant to corrosion.

The biggest risk area would be, as you noted, where the aluminum interacts with steel components. But this is a relatively old problem that military manufacturers and other vehicle manufacturers have dealt with before, so I don't think it should be that much of an issue.

Another anecdotal benefit is that the aluminum used seems a bit more resistant to dings and dents. When I had the 2015 F-150, I was parked next to a bunch of other cars in a hail storm (about dime to nickel sized hail). I was the only one that didn't have any noticeable damage afterwards.