I have a 2020 F150 King Ranch with the 3.5 eco and the full blown trailer package, it has the dual port motor compared to the older single port design. I pull a 3500lb boat fairly easily and so far no issues. Did a road trip to Nebraska and back and averaged 16.9 going and 18.2 running mostly 82mph. Others talk in the 21+mph range. With my tow package I doubt I'll ever see that. Otherwise the dealer and truck has been good. Definitely a nicer more comfortable ride than my 2013 Ram Laramie with the 6.7, but then again I'm no longer towing a 5th wheel.

I have a 2018 3.5 ecoboost and pull my 16 ft cabinet trailer full and my 20ft sled boat not at the same time of course but never have had any issues.

The ecoboost motor is fast as hell it will set you back in the seat when you stick your foot in it. I had my choice between the two and took the ecoboost. If you do a side by side comparison the v8 has little to no advantage over it. way better gas mileage on the boost.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I have said it before. The 5.0. I got a chuckle out of the shop mechanics choice overwhelmingly

That's because most of those mechanics want to pump up the v/8. I could understand that but for the the people who don't want to mess with them the ecoboost is a great way to go imo.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
If it matters at all there is nothing ECO about Ecoboost engines. I get 16 mpg in my car that has the 2.7TT engine in it. It's all city driving and short trips (work is 5.3mi away and dozens of shopping centers within 5mi). It will do low 20's on road trips though. Don't let the name fool you.

Since you're mentioning ecoboost engines in general, I'm going to have to disagree.

I've got a Ford Ranger with an Ecoboost. In its first tankfull of gas I did 50% city driving and 50% freeway at around 80 MPH. I got 25 MPG and this was on a car that's not even broken in, it's only got around 500 miles on it now.

And I have fairly extensive experience driving a 1968 Bronco with the V8 289 engine and my current ranger is substantially faster. Not just a little, but a lot. The 1968 got around 18 MPG.

Once again, I don't drive much and it's all local, plus I always warm it up before I drive it, so that burns some gas. On a full tank and all highway miles I can get 25, but it has to be a road trip or something with no traffic.

It's nearly two years old and only at 7,700mi or so.

The 5.0

What year truck are we talking? A new one? or a used one? For the load involved it matters not on towing (for current trucks you can see the towing guide at https://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/).
Me personally I would get the V8 all day long. Because I maintain a fleet of fire trucks and Ford based ambulances I end up in my local Ford dealer a lot. And the number of 3.5 turbo engines you see in pieces is disconcerting. And in this case you can have the choice of not having the turbos (which in the end is an unnecessary maintenance nightmare).

Have owned both a 16 5 liter and 20 3.5 liter.

The V-8 pretty much requires >3000 rpms to produce good power. Keep it around 1800 and you get decent mileage. Look for a truck with 3.55 gears or better yet 3.73 if towing power is a concern or larger tires are in the plans

The Ecoboost (you can have one or the other, eco or boost but not both) acts more like a big block of olden days. The power comes on early and stays around till 5500 rpms. I may be mistaken but 3.55 is the highest gear offered and is part of the max tow pkg. Get one with both direct injection and port injection, it solves the valve coking issue. These engines have been a work in progress so to speak. Ford has done a few updates over the years to address valvetrain, cam phasers, direct injection issues.

My advice is the latest edition Ecoboost ‘19^, or a ‘16-‘17 Coyote later versions were prone to oil usage issues (my ‘16 would use a quart in 10,000 miles) they may have that figured out. I’d have no troubles using the V-8 especially for local type towing. If long hauls are in the cards the lower rpm Ecoboost just seems like it ain’t trying as hard.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:

Me personally I would get the V8 all day long. Because I maintain a fleet of fire trucks and Ford based ambulances I end up in my local Ford dealer a lot. And the number of 3.5 turbo engines you see in pieces is disconcerting. And in this case you can have the choice of not having the turbos (which in the end is an unnecessary maintenance nightmare).

Yep.

I have a 2014 Supercrew 3.5 EcoBoost (why they didn’t just call it a turbo?) and I get 18.5 mpg mixed driving it like my BMW. I haven’t had any problems with it, but I don’t tow, just haul what will easily fit in the bed.

Turbochargers do have more things to go wrong long term, but I’m over 60k miles with no issues, knock on wood.

I'm not sure about long term reliability but I probably couldn't resist the new 2021 3.5 with its 500ftlbs of torque at 3000 rpm.