Thinking about a Ford F 150 Ecoboost

Morgan3820

Morgan3820

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Someday, if the price of trucks come down from something less than totally insane, I was thinking about replacing my 2000 Ford F150 5.4 L V8. A knowledgeable friend suggested to look at the Ford echo boost for the fuel economy. I always felt that a large V8 was what you needed to tow something. But the friend is saying that the forums are actually fairly positive about the echo boost turbo charged 3.5 L six cylinder. I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with them in relationship to towing and does the fuel company hype live up to reality? I’ve always been suspect about the reliability of turbo chargers in a gas engine. My current truck gets about 19 mpg on average, 13 mpg when towing and 10 mpg when towing in the mountains. I would likely never tow more than a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer for the motorcycles. We are planning to do some distance driving with the motorcycles in tow. And also,perhaps a 23 ft boat short distances if they too come off of insane pricing. Currently , my truck is the second vehicle and mostly sits in the driveway
 
I have a 2016 F-150 club cab with the 2.7l twin-turbo ecoboost engine. I was a bit leery of the 2.7 but after 90K on it, it is still running strong with all the horsepower I could ask for. I average 23.8 mpg..average and I do quite a bit of city driving. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.
 
I have two 6x12' trailers I tow behind it around 5k lbs total. One flatbed the other enclosed. Pulls really well.

Now it isn't a GMC Sierra 2500 with the Duramax like my old truck (which my wife now uses to pull her horse trailers) but it fits the bill and from what you said, it would be just fine for you as well.
 
The eco boost engines tow better than just about all the V8 ones. More TQ and down low where you need it. The consensus is you either get eco, or boost. If you ha e a heavy foot you will get terrible mileage. If you can stay out of the boost they are as efficient as the smaller less powerful V8 engines. Reliability is hot if miss. Heard some horror stories and some good stories. My uncle used them on a large farm for years, some good, some bad. I doubt you will be disappointed.
 
After years of V8 engines since 1978 (minus the 5 years I was in Japan where a V8 is almost unheard of) this truck was my first V6, but don't let that fool ya. Put your foot in it and it sounds like a V8. My only disappointment is that I can't hear the turbos like I could in my Sierra. I also had driven 4x4 trucks since 1989. This is my first two wheel drive since I don't hunt here in AZ anymore, plus I can count on one hand the number of times I put my Sierra in 4 wheel drive because I needed it. I didn't need the added wear and tear replacement part bill that a 4x4 brings with it. I also use Mobil 1 synthetic oil after break in with the factory oil in all my vehicles. Don't know if that makes a BIG difference but I get a lot of mileage before I trade them in with no oil related problems.
 
I'm waiting until someone comes up with engine mounts for a 2.7l install in a '65 mustang. I've had this car in my back yard for 10 years waiting to resto-mod it after I'm done upgrading my airplane.
 
I have a 2014 3.5 Eco and I get similar milage to your current truck. However, mine is 4WD and I run all terrain tires on it. With the stock tires I was getting about 20-21 highway. The stock Wrangler SRAs are garbage in wet conditions.

It tows just fine. I've even pulled a skid steer on a big trailer and it had no issues.

However, I will caveat all that with the fact that the turbos are not oil cooled and share the same coolant with the rest of the engine. I was pulling a 6k trailer in North Dakota in the summer time at 85 mph uphill and had to stop as the engine was overheating. The engine couldn't shed heat fast enough with the turbos going non stop. But I don't have any issues if I take it easy on the skinny pedal. I've since towed an RV in the Idaho Backcountry without problems.

As a daily driver I've had zero complaints.
 
I can't speak to the engine at all. I'm popping on because in my experience the thing you need to look out for when towing a trailer with a light truck is the transmission much more than the engine.
 
The transmission, at least on mine (6 speed automatic) isn't serviceable as it is lubricated for life - how much life, remains to be seen.
 
Been driving my wife’s 2015 2.7L ecoboost for a month or so. Is quite sporty to drive if you want it to be, but I drive it pretty easy, I like to see how high I can get the MPG reading to. The onboard MPG reports me averaging about 19.5, but when I fill up and calculate the mileage it is closer to 18.7. This is a mix of highway and in town driving. It did notice when I hooked the 10000lb fork lift up to it, but then it only rated for about 5000lb towing capacity, fortunately was only towing about 3 miles at about 30mph. Also noted that the magnetic flashing light I use when driving around the airport doesn’t stick to it (aluminum body).
I do really like the 6 speed transmission that you can manually shift if you like, or in automatic it reports which gear it is in.
No issues but she has only had it about a year.
Brian
 
I have a 2017 Expedition EL, it has the 3.5L Ecoboost. We tow a 6k lb. travel trailer with it and it has plenty of power. The only issue I’ve had with towing is the transmission will select a higher gear for a lower engine rpm which results in heat building up quicker since the turbos aren’t spinning as quickly as they would with a higher rpm. I just manually downshift and the engine temps come down. This is only on steep grades in high ambient temps, ie 100+ degrees.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I have a 2016 F-150 club cab with the 2.7l twin-turbo ecoboost engine. I was a bit leery of the 2.7 but after 90K on it, it is still running strong with all the horsepower I could ask for. I average 23.8 mpg..average and I do quite a bit of city driving. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.
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I have the same truck but 4WD and with the small rear end tows 7500 pounds easy…also the quickest 0-60 for a non raptor F-150 at the time…20+ miles per gallon on the road and no issues…the 3.5 is a beast but mileage suffers as well…
 
After reading and talking with Ford techs, I went with the 5.0L V8 in my latest truck, paired to the 10 speed trans and 3.55 rear. No regrets.
 
Warlock said:
I have the same truck but 4WD and with the small rear end tows 7500 pounds easy…also the quickest 0-60 for a non raptor F-150 at the time…20+ miles per gallon on the road and no issues…the 3.5 is a beast but mileage suffers as well…
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.

I just love filling it up and the range changes to 540 miles. Well I love the range change, not the filling up part. ;)
 
I bought a 150 ecoboost a couple months ago. Paid 10k over the sticker price and I don't even really regret buying it. Great truck so far.
 
If you are going to do serious towing you want the 3.5 with both the heavy duty towing and heavy duty payload packages.
 
While I don't own one I've read a couple articles that say overall mileage of the Ecoboost will only be about 1mpg better than the V8. The only other downside I can see is that turbochargers and intercoolers have been known to wear out in 60-80K on some vehicles, especially those with a heavy footed driver. TANSTAAFL!:no:
 
My dad had a 2012 with the 3.5. His experience was that mileage was nowhere near as promised, despite him driving fairly conservatively and often with an empty (cargo-wise) truck. Ongoing transmission issues from the first year on. It also had the issue of cutting out (almost like you turned the key off) when you needed power the most, like a short on-ramp. They were never able to fix the issue despite intercooler changes, ECU re-flashes, etc etc. The final straw was when it would start shuddering on the freeway any time it was under an increased load (hills). The only way to stop it was to manually downshift. Then it would do it in that gear. And repeat…until you were in 2nd or 3rd, doing 30-40mph…

I was 99% sure it was the converter lockup clutch going out and the shudder was it chattering under load…but all the dealer would do is keep giving him revised ECU settings through a reflash.

That truck was good for about a year (other than grossly over-promised fuel mileage), then one problem after the next. He unloaded it with 75k.
 
Neighbor has two 150 as work trucks, one the Ecobost and the other the standard V8... loves the Ecoboost but won't using it for heavy loads..
 
I have a 3.5 ecoboost,my friend has the 5.0v8, ecoboost gets better mileage than the v8 when not towing, but the v8 gets better mileage when towing. So, it depends on what you’re looking to do. I have 160,000 miles, haven’t blown a turbo yet.
 
The 3.5 gives you 18% more torque and at 1000 less RPM than the the 5.0. Max HP is the same.
 
Clip4 said:
If you are going to do serious towing you want the 3.5 with both the heavy duty towing and heavy duty payload packages.
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If you are doing serious towing you skip the F-150 and gasser engine altogether lol. If you're towing 8K lbs once or twice a month, the F-150 will do. If you are towing it daily or weekly the diesel will make life and fuel mileage much nicer.
 
The Ford 3.5 EcoBoost has been well-vetted by this point. It's been in every Expedition and a large portion of the F-150 trucks since 2012 or so. It's also been in the Taurus SHO and the Explorer Sports. It's also (in slightly different form) in the Ford GT supercar.

You likely won't have any major problems with that engine. They nicknamed it the EcoBeast for a reason. It's stout and has loads of power. I also believe the EB engines, especially the success of the 3.5L, are what spurred the shift by a large portion of the auto industry to move over to turbocharged, direct injected engines en mass.

As was mentioned, they can tow heavy and have the best power out of all of the F-150 engine options, but long steep grades and mountainous areas with heavy loads will require attention to the coolant temps. Flat land towing will be zero issue.
 
I've got a 2011 3.5 EcoBoost equipped F150, a Lariat SuperCrew with the towing package. Pretty low mileage for its age at about 68K. I've had zero engine or transmission issues with it. I did replace the spark plugs at about 50K miles, and they really needed it -- the ones I pulled out were probably close to .050. My gas mileage is probably not a good indicator of what to expect. I ordered it with a 3.15 gear ratio, going for highway mileage. That was a mistake. I think the stock 3.55 would have been better for everything. I typically see 13-15 MPG in town depending on the type of driving, and 18-20 on the highway at 75. Everyone I know with an EB F-150 gets better gas mileage. Don't order the 3.15s.

I don't tow often. The longest stretch was a 2200 mile round trip, all Interstate, dragging a 6x12 enclosed U-Haul trailer at the posted speed limits (70-75) in the dead of winter with 25-30 MPH crosswinds for most of the trip through SD and MT. I got 10.5 MPG both ways, didn't matter one bit if the trailer was empty or loaded. A less extreme instance was trailering an airplane fuselage back from Kansas City, got about 18 or so on that trip. Aerodynamics determines the gas mileage, not loaded weight if you're not in the mountains.
 
SoonerAviator said:
If you are doing serious towing you skip the F-150 and gasser engine altogether lol. If you're towing 8K lbs once or twice a month, the F-150 will do. If you are towing it daily or weekly the diesel will make life and fuel mileage much nicer.
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True, if you don’t mind the additional costs for purchase, filters, def and fuel, stepping up an addition 6 inches, less acceleration and a rougher ride. Then add Ford suspension is less desirable than Ram and GM for towing and both have better Diesel engines.
 
I have a 2012 with the 5.0. We tow a 2 horse trailer with it frequently and occasionally an equipment trailer. So loads in the 5-8000# range. The 5.0 does a great job with these loads, I think coming from a 5.4 you won’t be disappointed in the power.

The ecoboost does have more power and higher tow ratings but keep in mind with turbos you have added complexity. Really IMO the reason to get the ecoboost is unladen fuel economy. If the 5.0 can’t handle what you want to pull then it’s time to move up to an F-250.
 
SoonerAviator said:
The Ford 3.5 EcoBoost has been well-vetted by this point. It's been in every Expedition and a large portion of the F-150 trucks since 2012 or so. It's also been in the Taurus SHO and the Explorer Sports.
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Also available in the Ford Flex. Ours is a 2011 with about 110,000 miles. 20,000 or so of that towing a 4,500 lb travel trailer. Bought used in 2014 with under 30,000 miles. About 22-24 mpg highway, dropping to 11-14 mpg towing.

Only major repair has been to the AWD transfer case. Our mechanic said it was a fairly common issue, involving o-rings or seals IIRC. Right now ours has an intermittent mild "surging" on acceleration which we've been unable to track down. Overall very happy with the car and the engine.
 
FastEddieB said:
Also available in the Ford Flex. Ours is a 2011 with about 110,000 miles. 20,000 or so of that towing a 4,500 lb travel trailer. Bought used in 2014 with under 30,000 miles. About 22-24 mpg highway, dropping to 11-14 mpg towing.

Only major repair has been to the AWD transfer case. Our mechanic said it was a fairly common issue, involving o-rings or seals IIRC. Right now ours has an intermittent mild "surging" on acceleration which we've been unable to track down. Overall very happy with the car and the engine.
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Yeah I forgot about the Flex. The 3.5EB in the Flex is a fairly rare option. Makes them a real sleeper when there's not much visually that tells you it's got the EB v6. The EcoBoost engine platform isn't without a few problems (intake port carbon built up on the first gens), but it's been a great engine for Ford, possibly on par in overall success as the 5.3L LS-series for GM in terms of the platform. Used across many applications and has proven to be reliable well north of 200K miles.
 
Clip4 said:
True, if you don’t mind the additional costs for purchase, filters, def and fuel, stepping up an addition 6 inches, less acceleration and a rougher ride. Then add Ford suspension is less desirable than Ram and GM for towing and both have better Diesel engines.
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Lol, well if you're towing 8K+ weekly, the stiffer suspension will be welcomed and I guarantee you any modern diesel will walk away from an EB v6 with 8K lbs in tow and get way better fuel mileage to boot. I also never specified going to a Ford diesel, although to claim that Dodge/GM variants are any better than the 6.7L Powerstroke is outright opinion. All 3 make outstanding diesel engines, and the Ford 6.7L is no exception. Choosing a Cummins or Duramax over the Powerstroke is pure preference and nothing more. They all struggle with emissions junk and even more so when used as a short trip daily driver (not a diesels wheelhouse). I know a number guys with newer Ram diesels and many with the Ford variants. I honestly don't know anyone with a newer Duramax, but I don't let that color my opinion that they are another solid option.

If you are towing heavy weekly, a heavy duty truck is needed. If you are a weekend warrior who tows the boat a dozen weekends a year and a few other times sporadically, the F-150 (or similar 1/2 ton series) is perfectly adequate. A truck being capable of towing 10K lbs and being able to do it frequently/comfortably are two different things.. Right tool for the right job.
 
Actually if you are towing using a 1/2 ton tow with anything in the bed, the 150 with the max towing/payload hands down is the way to go because Ram and GM don’t not offer enough payload.
 
I have the baby Duramax in the Colorado. DEF is running about a gallon per thousand miles, fuel filters have been done once at about 40,000. DPF might need to be done someday but with mostly highway driving I'm not expecting it to be any time soon. Now, if you're doing mostly city/traffic/stop and go it's a horrible choice. But for my driving(non-towing) I get a pretty consistent 27-28 MPG, and being in Oregon it's well worth it to be able to pump my own diesel.
 
I've owned 4 of them. For towing, definitely get the 3.5l with upgraded tow capacity. I have pulled as much as 18,000 with it. This one just turned over 100,000 miles, about 1/3 of them towing something. 096B19A9-B429-4A30-852F-C8E44C83D6D4.jpeg

I average about 16mpg and about 9 towing.
 
D8A48CEE-4DA2-4356-95D6-3D447D4E5211.jpeg 44650C76-1683-47E7-8505-C87FD531251D.jpeg One other note. If you are an EAA member you can use their program to save big bucks on a Ford.

I ordered two trucks while at OSH and had them delivered to my local dealer. Even in this market saved about $5,500 off sticker. Just had to wait a few months for them to come in.

Morgan3820 said:
Someday, if the price of trucks come down from something less than totally insane, I was thinking about replacing my 2000 Ford F150 5.4 L V8. A knowledgeable friend suggested to look at the Ford echo boost for the fuel economy. I always felt that a large V8 was what you needed to tow something. But the friend is saying that the forums are actually fairly positive about the echo boost turbo charged 3.5 L six cylinder. I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with them in relationship to towing and does the fuel company hype live up to reality? I’ve always been suspect about the reliability of turbo chargers in a gas engine. My current truck gets about 19 mpg on average, 13 mpg when towing and 10 mpg when towing in the mountains. I would likely never tow more than a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer for the motorcycles. We are planning to do some distance driving with the motorcycles in tow. And also,perhaps a 23 ft boat short distances if they too come off of insane pricing. Currently , my truck is the second vehicle and mostly sits in the driveway
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cowtowner said:
View attachment 101410 View attachment 101411 One other note. If you are an EAA member you can use their program to save big bucks on a Ford.

I ordered two trucks while at OSH and had them delivered to my local dealer. Even in this market saved about $5,500 off sticker. Just had to wait a few months for them to come in.
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Interesting, you have to place the order at Oshkosh?
 
Morgan3820 said:
Interesting, you have to place the order at Oshkosh?
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No. Can order from your local dealer.

I did it because I was there and there was a VP there that explained the program in great detail. To help her numbers, I ordered them there and they transmitted them to the dealer to order through their system.
 
ivegotmoxie said:
I have a 3.5 ecoboost,my friend has the 5.0v8, ecoboost gets better mileage than the v8 when not towing, but the v8 gets better mileage when towing. So, it depends on what you’re looking to do. I have 160,000 miles, haven’t blown a turbo yet.
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Ford (and I'm sure others) have done some interesting things to allow turbos, high boost, and high output on the modern engines while also getting really good fuel economy and running 87. My understanding is it comes to higher compression than what you'd expect, very retarded ignition timing and very rich mixtures under higher boost levels, and I'm sure some other items thrown in like EGR to help. When driving an Ecoboost Mustang it lets you look at the AFR, and towards the top end it gets down in the 10:1 range. I didn't see timing, but I imagine it's retarded a lot. @jesse has a 3.5 EcoBoost that he tows his camper with, and with the ap he has to see what the computer is doing I think it's shown as much as 5-10 degrees ATDC for timing (yes, ATDC not BTDC).

The engine's optimized for around town and the EPA tests as far as mileage goes, so it makes sense the 5.0 will get better mileage while towing. Really, it's a pretty smart way to do things and something I've thought about for a long time. The concept is not unlike what we do on higher powered aircraft engines, too.
 
The 3.5L Powerboost (hybrid) looks like a great choice. We pull a 7000lb travel trailer or ski boat regularly and put the new Powerboost F150 at the top of our list. However, $65K for a new truck is just assinine. As such, I spent $300.00 for new Bilstein shocks on the rear and a new seatbelt pretensioner for the old Armada. Been paid off for years, has just over 100k miles, rides great and now the stupid SRS warning light is off. :) I'd rather throw the $800-$1000/mo in an IRA, earning 10-15%.
 
Dave Arata said:
The 3.5L Powerboost (hybrid) looks like a great choice. We pull a 7000lb travel trailer or ski boat regularly and put the new Powerboost F150 at the top of our list. However, $65K for a new truck is just assinine. As such, I spent $300.00 for new Bilstein shocks on the rear and a new seatbelt pretensioner for the old Armada. Been paid off for years, has just over 100k miles, rides great and now the stupid SRS warning light is off. :) I'd rather throw the $800-$1000/mo in an IRA, earning 10-15%.
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Yup. When I bought a fully loaded F-150 Lariat in '08 for $30K and they now want $60K minimum for that same truck, I don't see the value. I don't care what tech gizmos, engine choices, or revised towing capacities they want to slap on it. It isn't worth twice what I paid for a similar truck 13 years ago, inflation or not. I'll let someone else eat that initial depreciation hit and I'll catch a nice used one a few years later.
 
Ted said:
Ford (and I'm sure others) have done some interesting things to allow turbos, high boost, and high output on the modern engines while also getting really good fuel economy and running 87. My understanding is it comes to higher compression than what you'd expect, very retarded ignition timing and very rich mixtures under higher boost levels, and I'm sure some other items thrown in like EGR to help. When driving an Ecoboost Mustang it lets you look at the AFR, and towards the top end it gets down in the 10:1 range. I didn't see timing, but I imagine it's retarded a lot. @jesse has a 3.5 EcoBoost that he tows his camper with, and with the ap he has to see what the computer is doing I think it's shown as much as 5-10 degrees ATDC for timing (yes, ATDC not BTDC).

The engine's optimized for around town and the EPA tests as far as mileage goes, so it makes sense the 5.0 will get better mileage while towing. Really, it's a pretty smart way to do things and something I've thought about for a long time. The concept is not unlike what we do on higher powered aircraft engines, too.
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The move to direct injection plays a pretty big part in aiding the higher compressions and keeping things cooler on the intake charge. Most of those turbo'd engines from the 90's/00's were around 8.5:1 compression, where the EB v6 is a 10:1 compression setup. Lots of good tech that made its way into the engine platform.
 
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