deserteagle56
Adventurer
When I was truck shopping in 2015 I tried out a lot of different trucks and finally narrowed it down to either Toyota or Ford. The Toyota mainly because of its reputation for dependability. But I went with the F150 because it just "fit" me better. I detest having a big console on my right, forcing me to sit in a tunnel which all Toyotas - Tundra or Tacoma - have. I want the gearshift up on the steering column, out of the way. Plus, I prefer to sit upright and up high - just as I would sit in a kitchen chair. That's the way my F150 allows me to sit. The Toyotas made me feel as though I was sitting on the floor with my feet out in front of me.
I was all convinced I needed the 5.0. The company I worked for had a lot of F150s - and talking with the guys who drove them, and more importantly, the mechanics who worked on them - they convinced me to go with the 3.5 Ecoboost. "Like driving a diesel with its low-end torque but without the diesel emissions crap" is about the best way to summarize the opinions. So I spec'd out just the truck I wanted, placed an order with the local dealer, and picked up my new truck in May of 2016.
So I've had the truck just shy of 3 years now - and just about to turn 32,000 miles. It has been flawless - never been back to the dealer for any reason. Routine maintenance only, that I do myself. The guys were right about the low end torque - the way this thing will go up over an 11,000 foot elevation mountain pass without needing to shift down is amazing. Of course, at high elevation is where the turbos, packing in all that air, really shine. Someone up above complained about turbo lag - I have to say I never experienced it with the Ecoboost. And don't let anyone try to tell you that turbos compromise dependability...I've owned several turbodiesel pickups (my current heavy hauler is a Dodge/Cummins dually) and the one thing I NEVER had problems with was the turbo. I spec'd the truck with the 36 gallon gas tank and that's a real benefit because of where I live (lots of wide open spaces and few places to fuel). I enter my fuel into an Excel spreadsheet so I can tell you with absolute accuracy that since new this truck has averaged 20.9 mpg (the lie-o-meter in the dash is always reading up to 2 mpg optimistic); most of the time I put around 600 miles on the odometer in between fuelings. The truck also has the rear locker which I've found pretty darn handy when crossing washouts where one front and one rear tire are pretty much hanging in the air!
To sum up - if today I wrecked this truck, tomorrow I'd order another one just like it.
The truck in use...this time of year some of our roads are also stream beds due to snowmelt:
The Yamaha Kodiak fits in the bed (6.5') with the tailgate shut, big plus for me:
Over 300 miles on the odometer since the last fillup - and the gauge is still above half a tank!
I was all convinced I needed the 5.0. The company I worked for had a lot of F150s - and talking with the guys who drove them, and more importantly, the mechanics who worked on them - they convinced me to go with the 3.5 Ecoboost. "Like driving a diesel with its low-end torque but without the diesel emissions crap" is about the best way to summarize the opinions. So I spec'd out just the truck I wanted, placed an order with the local dealer, and picked up my new truck in May of 2016.
So I've had the truck just shy of 3 years now - and just about to turn 32,000 miles. It has been flawless - never been back to the dealer for any reason. Routine maintenance only, that I do myself. The guys were right about the low end torque - the way this thing will go up over an 11,000 foot elevation mountain pass without needing to shift down is amazing. Of course, at high elevation is where the turbos, packing in all that air, really shine. Someone up above complained about turbo lag - I have to say I never experienced it with the Ecoboost. And don't let anyone try to tell you that turbos compromise dependability...I've owned several turbodiesel pickups (my current heavy hauler is a Dodge/Cummins dually) and the one thing I NEVER had problems with was the turbo. I spec'd the truck with the 36 gallon gas tank and that's a real benefit because of where I live (lots of wide open spaces and few places to fuel). I enter my fuel into an Excel spreadsheet so I can tell you with absolute accuracy that since new this truck has averaged 20.9 mpg (the lie-o-meter in the dash is always reading up to 2 mpg optimistic); most of the time I put around 600 miles on the odometer in between fuelings. The truck also has the rear locker which I've found pretty darn handy when crossing washouts where one front and one rear tire are pretty much hanging in the air!
To sum up - if today I wrecked this truck, tomorrow I'd order another one just like it.
The truck in use...this time of year some of our roads are also stream beds due to snowmelt:
The Yamaha Kodiak fits in the bed (6.5') with the tailgate shut, big plus for me:
Over 300 miles on the odometer since the last fillup - and the gauge is still above half a tank!
