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Old 04-13-2019, 10:19 AM   #57
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Correction - the 2017 and newer Gen 2 3.5 Eco-Boost has 470 ft. lbs. of torque, up from 420 of the Gen 1.

Now between 2017 and 2018 Ford added the 10 speed automatic. In 2017, I may be wrong, but I think the 10 speed was in the nose bleed higher trim levels.

Just an FYI - I stopped at my local Chevy dealer. All the 2019 Chevy 1500 trucks have a cargo capacity of approx. 1,850lbs with 2 WD trucks having 2,050 lbs. I think all the Chevy 2WD also have a rear locking diff.
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Old 04-13-2019, 11:22 AM   #58
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OP-Be sure to do your homework, and if buying a used newer truck I would explore all options. The Dec. Consumer Reports was not all that favorable on the F150. Yes, they tow at lower rpms, but the heat and stress is greater than a naturally aspirated V8. Cooling, turbo sensors, exhaust manifolds, and some blown turbos at low mileage are the issues I hear about most often.
Not saying you should buy one, but for me if I was buying used I would want to know how that engine was treated. Who was the previous owner, how was it treated, and for what use. Buying used from somebody who rode that 3.5 hard would not be a good investment.
Just my .02
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Old 04-13-2019, 11:49 AM   #59
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OP-Be sure to do your homework, and if buying a used newer truck I would explore all options. The Dec. Consumer Reports was not all that favorable on the F150. Yes, they tow at lower rpms, but the heat and stress is greater than a naturally aspirated V8. Cooling, turbo sensors, exhaust manifolds, and some blown turbos at low mileage are the issues I hear about most often.
Not saying you should buy one, but for me if I was buying used I would want to know how that engine was treated. Who was the previous owner, how was it treated, and for what use. Buying used from somebody who rode that 3.5 hard would not be a good investment.
Just my .02
Even if it was used as a tow vehicle most of the time...

And not allowed to cool down before shutdown, allowing the turbos to cool off and stop spinning at 12zillion RPM before the oil pump stops turning with the crankshaft.

It only takes about 30secs, but so many people don't wait after working the engine.
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Old 04-13-2019, 01:06 PM   #60
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I find it interesting the the 3.5 Eco-Boost will tow a trailer up hill and run about 800 -1,200 RPM less than the V8's. That is my favorite towing characteristic. Tows with fewer RPM's.

Seems it tows up hill at 3,200 - 3,500 RPM's and while a V8 uses 4,000 to 4,500 RPM's.
Yes but they are putting out a fair amount of boost to achieve this. That's the main reason EcoBoosts suck as much or more fuel than a comparable 5.0l Ford or 5.3 GM under load.

To be fair I am not certain on the latest generation EcoBoost.
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Old 04-13-2019, 01:08 PM   #61
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Correction - the 2017 and newer Gen 2 3.5 Eco-Boost has 470 ft. lbs. of torque, up from 420 of the Gen 1.

Now between 2017 and 2018 Ford added the 10 speed automatic. In 2017, I may be wrong, but I think the 10 speed was in the nose bleed higher trim levels.

Just an FYI - I stopped at my local Chevy dealer. All the 2019 Chevy 1500 trucks have a cargo capacity of approx. 1,850lbs with 2 WD trucks having 2,050 lbs. I think all the Chevy 2WD also have a rear locking diff.
I haven't seen any GM or Chevy truck without an Eaton locker in over 2 decades. They are very effective to boot and very few issues with them.

I believe the Ford and GM 1/2 tons share the same transmission now. Gearing may be different but they are from the same maker.
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Old 04-13-2019, 01:16 PM   #62
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True, but at a cost of about 100#, a WDH will put about 25percent onto the trailer axles.

They do help the cause... You get the balance of a high hitch weight with less weight on the TV axles.
Definitely! A weight distributing hitch is a must for anything over 4000 lbs in my opinion. As soon as the trailer weight exceeds 1/2 the tow vehicle weight it can do funny things to the steer axle. My neighbour found out last December when he was leaving to snowbird in Florida. He has an enclosed trailer, maybe 16 to 18 feet, that he hauls crapp in and had 1 Bombardier 3 wheeler. He now had 2 of those and more crap in the trailer and found the front wheels of his QX56 where lifting off the ground on bumps. He got a bigger WDH installed before leaving.
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Old 04-13-2019, 02:29 PM   #63
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Well, I'm here to stir the pot, with my usual contrarian opinion. If our OP has new truck fever, then I can't help with that.

But, if it's really the fuel mileage complaint on his F-250, well let's take a look at what Grandma might say about the subject.

His F-250 with the 6.8L V10 is arguably one of the best gas towing rigs in history, we'll assume it's paid for by now, and he's probably taken really good care of it, and it looks pretty good for it's age.

His trailer, Jayco Jay Flight 28BHBE is HUGE...9,250 LB GVWR, 33' 5", "HUGE". Few of us here would ever advise someone to use a 1/2 ton truck to pull that trailer, even if it was loaded light.

If fuel mileage is the concern let's do a hypothetical, with some rounded numbers to keep it easy.

Gas at $ 2.50/gallon

6.8L V10, 10 mpg, cost per mile ~ $ 0.25.
-15,000 miles per year, rounds up to $ 3,800.00 in fuel

3.5L V6 Ecoboost, (often more "Boost", than "Eco"), ~ 18 mpg, cost per mile $ 0.14.
-15,000 miles per year, rounds up to $2,100 in fuel.

So in 3 years, if we just looked at fuel, he could save about $ 5,100 going to the F-150. Pretty good idea eh?

But, wait, don't we have to buy the truck too? $ 30,000 used over 3 years, cash buy, of course is $ 10,000 per year, plus the $ 2,100 in fuel, so now $ 12,100 per year operating cost. (not to mention insurance, taxes, tag, maintenance).

So back to our $ 2.50 gas and 3 years example. $ 36,300 will buy 14,520 gallons of gas, and push that terrible V10 to the tune of about another 150K miles before even getting close to breaking even. All the while he'll struggle even with the mighty F-150 3.5L Ecoboost, (properly equipped with the rare as hen's teeth HDPP) and his existing trailer.

Several suggested just buy a low cost daily driver. I bet you could find something pretty decent and get much better mileage for half of our $ 36,300 cost exercise, and still enjoy the features and benefits of that legendary F-250 V10.

Well, that didn't come out very politely, but Grandma's kind of direct and has that way about her.

Good Luck whatever path you choose, but it sure is nice not having all those extra payments just to be able to go camping.
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Old 04-13-2019, 08:30 PM   #64
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You could do all right with any of the popular 1/2 ton trucks if they had the Max Tow package. Unfortunately, the Max Tow trucks are very hard to find on the used truck market because relatively so many trucks sold are Max Tow due to the pricing. I have seldom ever even seen them on new dealer lots.

But with a 3/4 ton truck, you would automatically have the guts to tow 6k lbs. They'll all do the job, and they're easy to find on the used market. Go 3/4 ton.
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Old 04-14-2019, 02:14 AM   #65
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Bamaman makes a very good point. Looking for very specific 1/2 ton trucks or just buy any 3/4 ton truck. Kinda where I was a year ago. I was looking at 2018 trucks, before the Ram and Chevy redesigned trucks were available. I was looking at a lot of half ton trucks with just 1,450 - 1,650 lbs. cargo capacity. When I added color of white and the packages I wanted and engine seems it was not as easy to find as any white 3/4 ton.

But on the flip side, as a daily driver a 3/4 ton truck will not be nearly as good as a 1/2 ton truck. My 2WD F-250 will get 17 highway where a 2WD F-150 will get 23 - 25.

Normal Dave and a few others make a very good counter point. Let me expand. You already have the beast of a truck. Buy a nice Toyota Corolla/Camry or Honda Civic/Accord as your daily driver.

Fyi - as nice as newer trucks are cars and SUVs also got nicer. For example a new Toyota Corolla is as big as an older Toyota Camry. Oh, the newest cars like the Nissan Altima have emergency braking (both forward and reverse) as standard equipment. Toyota makes adaptive cruise standard. Back up cameras, rear traffic alert, apple car play/android auto, lane keep assit, etc. are all nice features IMHO.
I used to thumb my nose at Hyundai but not anymore as the Elanta and Sonata are nice cars.

You can buy a brand new redesigned 2019 Nissan Altima SV for $25,000 plus tax/title for example.

If you buck the U.S. trend of buying a car, SUVs have the same cool features but will only get 30 - 33mpg highway vs 35 - 40mpg for the cars.

A cool new(ish) feature is the key FOB and push button start. With the key FOB in your pocket you can unlock and start the vehicle without ever fumbling for the keys.

Ford is the only manufacturer with a key pad to unlock the vehicle. That means you can leave the keys in the vehicle and lock it. You do not need to lug the keys with you when you go into a store. If you have a dog you can leave the vehicle running with A/C on and lock the vehicle.

Nissan has had push button start standard on cars since 2004(ish). Now a lot of cars/trucks/SUVs have push button start.

If you can get 4 or 5 more years out of the 2003 beast, buy a car as the daily driver. There is no telling what vehicles will be available when the Beast gives up the ghost, say in 5 years.

Good luck
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Old 04-14-2019, 07:49 AM   #66
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That truck sold overnight it looks like and that link takes you to that $52,000 one. My budget is more around $35,000.

My local lot has a 2016 3.5L Max Tow Package coming in on Monday that I am going to look at. 48,000 miles for $33k.
Why not just order a 2019 F-150 with HDPP and Max Tow? For 5K more you can have it on a new 2019. I priced one out on a XL with power windows, cruise, reverse sensing and big mirrors and it listed around 45K... with a little shopping you should be able to get out the door around 39K or less and you have a NEW truck with HDPP and MAX TOW and a NEW TRUCK WARRANTY.....I thought about the HDPP but only planning to tow a max of 5,000 lbs and only 10% of the time, ordering one with Max Tow and a few extras made more sense to me than the HDPP....

Enclosed is the window sticker for the one I ordered... Had I ordered the HDPP($1695) it would have been a little less because you can't get the STX package. I paid just over 39K + SC sales tax ($500).

(I had the dealer search for a HDPP before I ordered and NONE existed.)
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Old 04-14-2019, 09:21 AM   #67
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Why not just order a 2019 F-150 with HDPP and Max Tow? For 5K more you can have it on a new 2019. I priced one out on a XL with power windows, cruise, reverse sensing and big mirrors and it listed around 45K... with a little shopping you should be able to get out the door around 39K or less and you have a NEW truck with HDPP and MAX TOW and a NEW TRUCK WARRANTY.....I thought about the HDPP but only planning to tow a max of 5,000 lbs and only 10% of the time, ordering one with Max Tow and a few extras made more sense to me than the HDPP....

Enclosed is the window sticker for the one I ordered... Had I ordered the HDPP($1695) it would have been a little less because you can't get the STX package. I paid just over 39K + SC sales tax ($500).

(I had the dealer search for a HDPP before I ordered and NONE existed.)
Plus, if you're looking to borrow money to buy the truck, there aren't any better rates than vendor financing...

(Yes, if you have a HELOC, you can get cheaper, maybe. But that involve placing a lien on your house, not just the vehicle)
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Old 04-14-2019, 11:28 AM   #68
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Plus, if you're looking to borrow money to buy the truck, there aren't any better rates than vendor financing...

(Yes, if you have a HELOC, you can get cheaper, maybe. But that involve placing a lien on your house, not just the vehicle)
I'm following the Dave Ramsey approach.... pay cash and staying in my budget. I was very happy with my last 2010 STX so I decided to stay in my 40K budget....
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Old 04-14-2019, 02:20 PM   #69
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Stick with a 3/4 ton.
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Old 04-15-2019, 03:49 AM   #70
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A F-150 with HDPP is as much different from a normal F-150 as ordering a F-150 with the Raptor package.

HDPP is built as a bragging right for towing. When Ford says it can carry 3,000 plus pounds in a F-150, this is the truck they are talking about.

Like the Raptor it is built on a different, frame. In this case a much heavier frame, longer wheelbase (like 160"), and a lot more of the towing goodies like 'E' rated tires, wheels with more lug nuts, towing mirrors etc. The truck looks more like a F-250 than a F-150.

There are at least two people on this forum that have them. Both say the same thing. Yes, it can tow 10,000lbs comfortably.

But again, HDPP is like a Raptor. It is really a very special truck even more rare than the Raptor.
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