User-One

In short what is more cost effective with maintenance and reliability, buying a f150 ecoboost towing 10-11k pounds on a regular basis (80% of the time). Or a f250 6.7 diesel towing 13-14k pounds. This truck is going to be going cross-country 60-80k miles a year.

The f250 is almost twice with cost, will it go twice the distance in its life compared to the f150?
I've seen some horror stories with the ford's diesels self destructing and totalling the engine. Also maintance seems to cost an arm and a leg, 5k there 7k here, etc.
Will the f150 suck more fuel and work harder but be more reliable and not cost near as much to repair nearing 250k miles.

Thanks for your insight guys.

custm2500

The 6.0 is what you are probably hearing the horor stories about.

To simply answer your question. Yes. The diesel will go twice the distance. It will pull better and out perform the 150 in everyway. Maitinance is a little higher but you only change the oil on the diesel every 10,000. You better pulling fuel ecconemy should more then offset any extra maintinance cost.

brulaz

If you're going 60-80K miles a year, I would say diesel.

Any gasser will need a block overhaul long before the diesel. But there's a lot of other things in modern engines that will go wrong in both diesels and gassers: turbo's, injectors, electronics, plumbing. These are similar, but it's more expensive to repair the diesel.

And towing 10-11K regularly (60-80K per year) with the Ecoboost? That would be pushing it.


By the way, the Ecoboost has an oil service monitor and, for me at least, it's only been coming on every 10,000mi of mostly highway driving. At that interval I use full synthetic.

DaveCaver

Hi, my question is very similar to User-One's question, but my load and mileage will be different (I can start a new thread if needed - let me know). I plan to haul a 7300# trailer (that's the loaded weight) with a tongue weight of 1200#. Trailer is 24' v-nose bumper-pull. I plan to tow the trailer about 4k to 6k miles per year (and another 4k to 6k without the trailer), but I live in Colorado, so I'll have to go over mountain passes on occasion. So, like User-One asked, should I choose f250 or f150 (I'm thinking ecoboost)? Also, is the 1200# tongue weight too heavy, or heavy enough that I should do something like airbags? Thanks in advance for your help!
Dave

brulaz

If you're only doing 12K/year max, and only 7300#, I would say ecoboost. Especially in Colorado, the turbos will keep your power up at elevation.

As for the 1200# tongue weight, that's a lot, ~16.5%, more than the recommended 15% max. With a good WDH you might be able to put 200# back on to your trailer. But that would still leave 1000# cutting into the truck's payload. I could do it with my truck, but I've got a 2050# payload. Not all F150's come that high, most are around 1500# or less.

To increase your truck's payload, for sure you would want the MaxTow option, and HD Payload option would be good if you can get it. The HD Payload would also stiffen your suspension and increase the rear axle GAWR. Otherwise just be really careful with your models and options so you don't end up with a truck with only 1200# payload.

atvtinker

custm2500, I don't know where you get that 10,000 mile oil change figure from. Ford recommends that if you tow as much as the OP states it would be in the 7500 mile range. The F-250 will be way more suited to do this kind of towing even though it will cost you more as far as fuel and regular oil changes would go. The 6.7L is a beast when it comes to power and you would likely not have as maintenance issues as you would think. In fact, if you figure the difference in fuel mileage towing with the diesel compared to the gas you might even save money in fuel costs depending on the mileage over the long run. I was getting 13 mpg towing my 33' travel trailer with my F-250, but I'm hearing I won't get but about 8 to 10 mpg with this Ecoboost I have in the F-150. Haven't had a chance to tow with the F-150 yet, but since I don't tow it but a couple times a year I save more on the daily driving. If you are going to be towing with it that much you will save more with the diesel in the long run.

custm2500

If I had a 6.7 diesel I would change the millage every 10,000 miles unless condtions were very dusty.

smokeywren

They will both be overloaded, so they will both have a shorter than normal lifespan.

If the F-150 has both the HD Payload package and the max tow pkg with the EcoBoost engine, around 9,000 pounds gross trailer weight is the maximum for day-after-day towing. It can pull the 11,000 pound trailer Ford advertises, but it will be maxed out if not overloaded over the GVWR and probably the rear GAWR of the truck.

The F-250 diesel is limited by the scrawny GVWR. Forget about trying to tow a trailer that grosses anywhere near 14k. With 10,000 GVWR and a tow vehicle that weighs over 8,000 pounds, you'll have less than 2000 pounds available payload for hitch weight. And 2000 pounds hitch weigh on a gooseneck trailer is a gross trailer weight of about 10,000 pounds.

Then you're not comparing apples to apples.

I'm working on a new tow vehicle for my daughter. F-150 SuperCab with 8' bed, power everything, cruise control, EcoBoost engine, HD Payload Pkg and max tow pkg with GVWR 8200 pounds and GCWR over 17,000 pounds, MSRP 34,260 before rebates/incentives

F-250 SuperCab with 8' bed, 25k 5er hitch, power everything, cruise control, diesel engine, trailer brake controller to match the one in the F-150 max tow pkg, GVWR 10,000 pounds and GCWR 23,500 pounds, MSRP 44,905 before rebates/incentives.

So that's only a bit over 10,000 difference, and 8,000 of that is for the diesel engine and $1,600 is for the 5er hitch in the F-250 that is not also in the F-150. The F-250 with 6.2L gas engine and without the 5er hitch would be only a few hundred dollars more than the F-150 EcoBoost with similar equipment.

That's more of a diesel vs, gas question than F-150 vs. F-250.

Pulling the same load, the gasser will drink more fuel and last about half as long as the diesel before the first major overhaul. Overloaded the way you plan to overload both of them, they will both have a short life.

If you stay within all the Ford weight limits, you can expect the gasser to last around 200k miles and the diesel to last around 400k miles. Some will last longer, and some will die an earlier death, depending on how much TLC you give them.

willieboy

1200lbs exceeds the rating for tongue weight on the hitch of the F150 (1130lbs). AS close as you are, I would really think the F250 is the better choice.

smokeywren

Hi, Dave, and welcome to F150forum.

If you special-order a new F-150, you can get one that will handle that 7,300-pound trailer. But you probably won't find it in stock anywhere.

The F-150 must have EcoBoost engine, 3.73 limited slip axle, HD payload package and max tow package. You probably won't find any with the HD Payload package in stock at any dealer, so you'll probably have to order. It doesn't have to have the EcoBoost engine if you prefer the 5.0L V8, but the max tow pkg is not available without the EcoBoost engine. With the 5.0L engine, You'll have to order the brake controller, and you'll have to change out the dinky little outside mirrors with tow mirrors from the F-150 Accessories catalog.

That F-150 EcoBoost will then have 8,200 GVWR and 17,100 GCWR. If your wet and loaded hitch weight is 1,200 pounds, that would leave you with a max of 7000 pounds for pickup weight before you tie onto the trailer. So you can order a heavy CrewCab 4x4, if that's what you wanted, haul some weight in the pickup, and still have enough payload capacity to handle that trailer hitch weight without being overloaded.

If your wet and loaded trailer weighs 7,300 pounds, that 17,100 GCWR would leave you more than enough pulling power to handle that trailer without overheating anything in the drivetrain, even over the high mountain passes. If you opt for the 5.0L engine with HD Payload package, the GCWR drops to 15,300 - still plenty for your needs but not as much reserve torque and power for dragging a heavy trailer over a high mountain pass.

The F-250 with 6.2L V8 engine will give you at least the payload for hitch weight and pulling capacity of that very special F-150 that probably has to be ordered. With similar trim and aminities , the F-250 gasser will cost you a few hundred dollars more than the F-150, and you'll be much more likely to find it in stock. Of course, if you jump way up to the diesel engine, add at least $8000 to the cost of the F-250.

My 2012 EcoBoost has a factory receiver with a max hitch weight of 1,050 pounds with a weight-distributing hitch. You do NOT want to overload your receiver. But the factory receiver can be replaced with a receiver that has more tongue weight capacity. Here's one that will work for your 1,200 pound tongue weight:
http://www.reese-hitches.com/product...er_Hitch,75691

So the stock receiver weight capacity is not a problem that a few hundred dollars and a couple of skinned knuckles won't fix.

1,200 pounds of hitch weight out behind the truck is a bunch. I don't know how well the F-150 with the HD Payload package will handle that hitch weight. I would wait until your first road trip with the wet and loaded trailer before you decide. If the rear end of the truck is obviously scrunched down too much, or if oncoming traffic at night often flashes their headlights at you, then you'll need to add air bags to the rear suspension to bring the headlights back down to earth.

Darling Daughter is looking for a tow vehicle to drag a 7,000-pound horse trailer without being overloaded over any of the Ford weight limits. Her budget is limited, so here's what we came up with to order for her:

2013 F-150 XL, SuperCab, 8' box, EcoBoost engine, 4x2,
3.73 LS axle required for HD Payload pkg
Heavy duty payload package for 8,200 pounds GVWR,
Max tow package includes the regular tow package plus tow mirrors and trailer brake controller,

That's the minimum required, but it's a plain ole work truck without a few nice options, so

101A trim package includes power everything and cruise control and SYNC so her I-phone will work via Bluetooth,
box side steps because she's short,
fog lamps because she needs them where she lives.
Net sticker price $33,760.

F-250 XL SuperCab 6.2L with similar aminities but short bed was less than $1000 higher than the very special F-150 above.
Net sticker price $34,540.
She prefers the looks of the short bed, but it's not available on the F-150 SuperCab with HD Payload Package. So she's still deciding which to order - the good looking SuperCab shorty pickup that "High School Harry" would kill for, or the practical look of the long bed F-150 SuperCab. It's really for my 16-year-old granddaughter, so I suspect they will wind up with the shorty.