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In the 50-65mph range you can easily crack 20mpg with a 5.0. Drive both and see what you like. I wouldn't put too much weight on the difference in fuel economy. At 15,000 miles per year and $2.50/gallon, a difference as large as 5mpg will only save you a few hundred bucks.
have (3) 2.7L trucks lined up. I'm getting 3.55E axle, is the $300 adder for the FX4 with skid plates cause any issue with draining oil underneath? I already know have to remove the diaper. With the heavier tires I found the stiffer shocks to be better but don't want to add at the cost of dealing with extra crap underneath. Thx!
One year update - just wanted to share my experience based on my original criteria. I test drove both a 5.0L and 2.7L, loved both of them and for a DD I would be more than happy with either of them. When I started looking at my original priorities, I chose and ordered the 2.7L and here is what I've found:
My original criteria in priority 1 - Business of shifting, noise while towing - After fishing all day, I really don't like dealing with a truck that requires alot of shifting, noises etc. I'm wore out and simply want to get home peacefully. This is where my decision came down and the 2.7L witih the low end torque made more sense. I have towed my boat for over 2200 miles in one year's time. Very simply, it holds 6th gear on just about all of the overpasses, decent head winds and hills. My last truck, every overpass, hill or headwind it would always downshift and sometimes down to 4th. I could only keep the '09 in cruise if I had a tail wind. This truck, I put in cruise and it only downshifts only a couple large hills or overpasses. With it in cruse, I can relax alot more and decompress from a day on the water. It is exactly what I needed. If I had a >5Klbs boat, I think both the 2.7/5.0L would have more similiar behaviors and nearer 7500lbs and over, I believe the 5.0L would make more sense. I did have to take into account if I ever upgraded to a larger boat and chosing the 2.7L I've basically happily stay with my paid off current rig. Compared with the 5.0L, for lighter setups, the 2.7L simply outshines its V8 brother.
2 - MPG only while in DD mode - My driving habits haven't changed from my '09 to the '16. I hand calculated my fuel mileage and generally at best stayed around 18mpg or worse for the previous truck. Now it had E rated tires and a 1.5" level. Before these changes, I was tracking closer to 18.5mpg non-towing. Because my driving style is really light footed, I likely lost 1mpg at worst with those mods. On my '16, it is still basically stock. I've been tracking on fuelly since day one, my lifetime average is 22.8mpg. Fuelly stats:
Non-towing - 23.9mpg
Summer (May - Oct) = 25.2mpg
Winter (Nov - Apr) = 22.8mpg
compared to the 5.0L, my gut feel is I would expect 2 - 3mpg less than what I'm getting now say around 21mpg non-towing. It is all hearsay as I won't be able to compare realistically. What I've seen/heard is that the 5.0L can get impressive mpg and If I could get 2 - 3 more mpg over my '09, I would have been very happy just with those results. If was more heavy footed, I believe the 2.7L mpg would tank much more than the 5.0L, and the mpg gap would likely shrink.
I've never reset Trip 2 on the truck and is 1.5mpg higher than Fuelly.
Off those two points the rest are much more insignificant: 3 - Performance - I was happy with the performance with either 2.7L & 5.0L. I think the 5.0L with 3.73 gears, it holds it's own. But, the 2.7L just gets off the line faster during normal DD events. Compared to my '16, the 5.4L 3v 3.73, it isn't really fair. Hundreds of pounds lighter, stock tires, all the new gen trucks simply have better performance and it is even more noticeable with the 5.0L/2.7L
4 - Towing mpg. Though my payload is not significant, it is still added weight. My '09 got below 13mpg towing, closer to 12mpg still noting tires/level. The new truck, 15.6mpg and if take out one flyer which I knew was in a heavy headwind, 16.1mpg. Staying in 6th gear for nearly all conditions, the 2.7L torque delivers impressive fuel economy. It is getting the same economy as my '97 5.4L did non-towing. I believe the 5.0L would be very similar, maybe slightly less than my 2.7L. But, it in my mind it would be basically the same for comparison sake.
5 - Muffler sound - what is there to say. When I remote started my '09, I absolutely loved the sound it produced when walking up to it. I felt like I was getting into a real truck. It is actually making my decision to not level or put bigger tires on the new truck. I'm no longer of the beast mode mindset, but now accepting the modern way of advancement I guess. It still sucks and one could say the performance/mpg makes up for it. Bull crap, I want my cake and ice cream.
I'm tracking my towing mpg via Fuelly by making those fillups as "city_percentage = 100%" if anybody asks. My overall best mpg for a tank was 27.4mpg over 700 miles, 9 days of commuting to work. Link below for more details: https://www.f150forum.com/f118/999-389084/
I currently have over 23K miles, purchased in middle of the Oil usage TSB and can say have no issues. I don't get too excited over it, it is a machine put together by humans, it is going to have issues sooner or later and deal with it when it happens. Overall impressions on the truck, won't get into much detail as there are plenty of other threads going over the same, but it is impressive. It should be for the price. From the S/S, cabin noise, performance, fit/finish, stereo (had custom stereo in '09), seat comfort have been very happy. The one area I've been working on is lighting but I had retrofit projector HID's in my '09. I'm still trying to adjust to it.
The halogens are good until bad weather. With my eyesight and driving, it did not have good enough foreground lighting. I also loathed for the LED C ring on the more expensive trim levels and have since added Morimoto fogs and Anzo with XHP70 led's. I'm still not 100% satisfied, but there are threads already for that.
06-27-2016, 08:18 AM
