LA F150XL

Update on my 3.5 na: I just reached 30,000 miles today and am very satisfied with my truck and engine choice! Engine is very quiet, has very good acceleration in this configuration, and gets great fuel economy. I'm averaging 18.5-20 in town, 25-26.5 on longer "two lane road" trips, and 21-24 on the interstate depending on hills, traffic, wind tunnel effect, etc. Lifetime fuel economy is 23.3 While I haven't driven an F150 with the 5.0 or either Ecoboost engine, I have never felt the want or need for more power in this particular truck. It's plenty quick from a standstill, and I can absolutely blow by people when passing in sport mode. I've had 1,000 pounds in the bed on several occasions, and towed 1,500-2,000 pounds of weight between a small trailer and some appliances--I could never tell from the engine that there was any extra weight. For the highway driving I do and light hauling, this engine has been great. My only "mods" are a bed mat and cover, Firestone tires that I put on the truck at 12,000 miles (which handle great, are much better in the rain and muck than the stock Michelins, and are wearing like iron), and a K&N air filter (I know they don't tickle everyone's fancy, but I like them and they work for me). My father has a bare bones 2015 XL Supercab with the 6.5 bed and the same engine, and he loves his as well. Just hit 35,000 miles in his truck, and aside from slight ticking (maybe an exhaust tick?), hasn't had any issues whatsoever. I am very happy with the 3.5 na!

As an aside, when I bought this truck, I was looking for a particular configuration--RCSB, XL, upgraded wheels, SYNC/bluetooth, upgraded instrument cluster. I was never concerned with the particular engine of the truck--just the best deal on a truck with that configuration. I got $8K off sticker price, and when I asked the dealer "how on earth do ya'll still have that truck on your lot at that price," they told me that everyone other than fleet buyers wanted the upgraded engines on the nicer XL and base XLT models. Their loss was really my gain! Same thing happened when I bought my 2013 with the 3.7, and that was a great engine too. The dealer had my same truck in white with the 5.0 for $2K more, and while i'm sure i'd have loved that truck too, I didn't need the power. Ford really did a great job with this engine. I'll keep it until 100,000 miles and then see what's next!

KEVININCHICAGO

My 3.5na now has 105,000 trouble free miles. Trying to find time to take it in for plugs and all fluids at the 100k mark that I already passed. Other than the frozen locks and warped rotors, this truck has been trouble free.

bjohnson989

I'm surprised I haven't heard anyone talk much about the Livernois tunes for this truck. They offer a tune on 93 octane that puts the torque and horsepower numbers close to stock 3.5 EcoBoost output. Even the 87 octane tune gives you somewhere around 24 hp and 27 ft-lbs to the wheels.

motsco

bjohnson989

This is for an explorer, but the F-150 apparently was one of the first applications. I've been reading reviews from people with explorers and Taurus's who say it is a whole new machine not just because of power and torque but because it really helps the transmission do what it's supposed to. The odd thing is I can't find any reviews on this tune from F150 owners. Which is how I came to find this thread.

bjohnson989

Originally my wife and I were sold on buying a Ford Flex with the 3.5 tivct. Then I found out that Ford put the water pump inside the crankcase so that put an end to that idea. We then decided that a pickup would serve our needs better anyway. Well I still wasn't going to have anything to do with the 3.5 so that narrowed the engine options down to the 2.7 or 5.0. I still didn't like choosing between those two because of cost, maintenance, and fuel mileage. Then I found out the water pump issue is only on transverse-mounted applications 😁. That combined with the testimonies on this thread and I'm sold. In about a month my wife and I will be buying a SCSB 4x4 with the 3.5.

KEVININCHICAGO

I think in the end you will like the 3.5na, at times when you need some decent power, just let it run to 4000rpm and you will be impressed. You just have to let it wind up sometimes and not care. This is one bulletproof little engine. Right now I have a 2014 Explorer Sport, it is very fast, but now I am fixing turbo oil line leaks. It has been in the shop 5 times for engine related issues. My truck on the other hand - never. It has 105,000 miles on it now.

bjohnson989

Yeah I'm not afraid to let engines rev to get what I need out of them. I've had plenty of 4 and 6 cylinder NA engines. My Dad had a 98' f-150 with the 5 speed manual. It would have been a real dog without being able to let each gear wind out. We didn't ever tow much with it, but it always had an 8ft bed full of tools and lumber. That truck made it over 320k without any major engine repairs and on the original clutch. He sold it a couple years ago for $1200; it still ran, but it was half rusted away.

KEVININCHICAGO

Just ran 500 miles today at speeds 80 ++ down to Missouri and back, mileage with headwind and speed dropped to 16mpg and made it on the 1 tank of gas with the 36 gal tank. I try to keep it around 80 in the 70 mph highways, but this truck will hit 100 if it is needed. This engine will do the job, just not as fast as the other choices. I think longevity will be this engine's strong point in the end.

jetjoe

I have 48k on my 16 so far and I am totally please with this engine. (And truck) When shopping for this truck, it was the lightweight aluminum that I was mostly interested in as it had to be a breakthrough. Coming from the aviation industry, aluminum didn't scare me a bit. Turbo's do however as by regulation to this day the time between mandatory replacement of turbocharged aircraft engines (TBO) is half. Usually 1700 hours for NA, 800 for Turbocharged. And the turbo's seldom make it to TBO.

At the dealer I drove everything Ford had to offer. And I quickly discovered my retired style of driving just didn't require the power the Eco's provided. On top of that, the salesman commented that if it was mileage I was looking for, the Eco's were good at lower speeds but above 60? Forget it. Well, I average over 20k per year and yes it was mileage so the choice was simple for me. So far, so good. It still runs like a watch. Gets around 25 MPG on average as a lot of my driving is at or around 50 MPH back and forth from our rural home. On the longer interstate trips it drops to around 23 MPG running 75 plus. But what an improvement over my last F150 which struggled to hit 16 with the V8. My last Super Duty with diesel only ground out around 15 on a good day depending on fuel quality and season. I recently pulled a UHaul trailer with some equipment down I75 with a 30 - 35 MPH headwind and the mileage did drop to 18 but the little engine held it's own at 75 MPH. Dropped out of OD maybe three or four times. My last V8 pulling the same trailer usually made around 12 MPG.

I can see Turbocharging having a benefit at higher altitudes but for many of us, at least in my opinion is a lot of extra hardware to do bad. I hope Ford comes to their senses and provide more options. They seem to have Turbo fever these days.

One last thing, mine is an XLT with the basics. I really missed some of the Lariat features, so I decided to do some upgrades. I installed a Sync 3 with Nav, upgrades to the full auto climate control. It made a real difference in comfort. I bought all the parts at a "recycler" for around a grand and with the help of a couple of fine folks on these blogs sites, it works perfectly. I hated the hot leather seats in the Lariat and swore I would never again buy leather or plastic. These days that's a little hard to do as it seems all the higher packages have it.