T_R

I'm getting 3.73.

I did notice it needs to rev up a bit up a bit to get up hills in the one I drove.

KEVININCHICAGO

once you get used to this engine it works really well. You just can't expect it to pull like a big block or v10 or 5.4 -- it is just different. It will seem slow if you are afraid to let it run. Let it run and you will be surprised at what it can do. Running hard does not seem to hurt the mileage any either.

KEVININCHICAGO

ethanol was $1.75 this morning so $50 got me almost 29 gallons. Getting 19mpg on ethanol now. Another benefit of the "little" engine. My tailpipe has no black soot either. It is perfectly clean inside. I also run 5w-30 full synthetic and have seen no mileage drop compared to 5w-20. With 5000 miles on this oil change, oil life still says 59%. Needs more rear spring capacity for what I carry. Probably have nearly 1000lbs of tools and equipment under a leer cover all the time. Add 750 lbs spring capacity with add a leaf soon. Next shocks, then BFG KO2 and get rid of car tires. Only regret is not getting FX4 for the upgraded rear axle

KEVININCHICAGO

7000 miles now. May steer clear of ethanol for now. Mileage dropped into 15's as the tank had almost all E-85 and range had dropped from 790 to 625 while running on it. Burned the tank down as far as I could and filled back up with gas. After a few miles range was showing 750 again. Was getting 21mpg on the way to work this morning. Not bad since I switched to BFG-AT2 tires 275-70-17 and expected some decrease in mileage and I carry a lot of extra weight on top of that. Hard working little engine. Not real fast but not much slower than my 5.4 with 3.73 gears and empty. Will add front and rear sway bars soon and switch at least the rear shocks to something heavier duty to go with the add a leaf that I already added to the rear. I may still put a snowplow on it for the winter yet. I just do my own warehouse. The 3.5 was and experiment for me and the more I drive it, the more I like this truck. I still can't get over the range this truck gets on a tank of gas. Will soon see how it pulls a fully loaded U-haul as my child heads back to college far away. I should rack up miles very fast on this truck

KEVININCHICAGO

8500 miles now no issues or regrets. The red headed step child engine nobody wants is working just fine for me. 21-22 mpg highway, drops to 17-18 in the ghetto city driving. Lots of extra room in the engine bay. Still hoping that this will be the most trouble free, durable engine out of the 4 available. Looks like snow plowing will be in it's future. I know only 5.0 trucks have Ford's blessing but I know what I am doing. Warranty barely covers me for more than a year the way I put miles on. Truck is already paid off. I break, I buy, then break it again. Will run 85mph all day long turning BFG ko tires, extra weight, extra leaf spring and new sway bars. It won't get there as fast as a 5.0 or 3.5tt but it still gets there. Pokes along in Chicago traffic 3 hours a day sipping fuel with cold A/C and Sirius radio. Not much demand for high power engines here. Picked the 3.5na as a what the hell, let's see what it can do attitude. Got it fairly cheap because of low demand for it. It sat alone in the lot for several weeks as all the other trucks were sold around it. Still love this truck. It hasn't seen dealer service yet. Hoping I make it out of warranty without a single claim on a 1st year truck with an A series VIN.

NumberCruncher

Some have pointed out the 3.5 NA has quite a bit more HP than 70's and 80's and even early 90's era trucks did. That is correct but you are missing a fair amount of torque.

Glad to see folks are happy with this engine and its capabilities. It does make all the Eco-Boost vs. 5.0 talk seem laughable.

NC

T_R

Not really.

The last pickup I owned was a 78 Chevy C10. I sold it when I moved to Maine because it would be useless in the snow. It had a 350 V8 160 HP 260 TQ.

The 3.5 has 282 HP 253 TQ.

The 15 also has 3.73 gears where my old Chevy had 3.08.

The smaller 305 Chevy and the 302 Ford had less TQ than the 3.5 has.

NumberCruncher

Well that V8 was particularly low output but point taken.

When people ask my why I bought the 5.0 instead of one of the ecoboost engines I use your same basic argument. The early 90's 5.0 from Ford yielded 185 hp and 275 lb/ft torque. The new 5.0 puts out 385 hp and 387 lb/ft torque. That is simply an astonishing improvement. Yeah the torque peak is at 3,850 rpm instead of 2,850 but you get over 100 more lb/ft. Very cool. Even cooler is that hp is twice what is used to be. Yes you have to rev the engine but we all know that HP = (Torque X RPM)/5252 so naturally you have to bring the engine up higher to make the hp but man does that DOHC Coyote like to howl!

NC

papa tiger

It would seem the 3.5L NA is only available in the White XL fleet trucks around here for now.

KEVININCHICAGO

10,000 miles now. Just pulled a 5x8 U-Haul loaded to my daughter's college and back 900 miles with the trailer on in 2 days. Pulled the trailer fine. Tow/Haul nearly reads your mind as to what you are trying to do. It holds the tach when you want it and downshifts while braking perfectly. In tow/haul, it rarely goes into 6th gear. Tried normal mode for a while but Tow/haul is much better. Now this engine is no screamer when it comes to towing but it did perfectly fine at speeds a bit over 80 on all of the hills encountered. Pulled some hills at 4000 rpm and would keep accelerating if I needed. Takes a little longer on entrance ramps to get up to speed but gets there fine. Best way to do it is to rev to 3000, let off just a bit to upshift, then accelerate again to 3000 rpm without winding it to 5000 which doesn't seem to make a big difference. At times I found myself on 2 lane and having to pass from 55mph starting speed. Even with the trailer and extra load, just punch it, wind it, and it really stars to pull harder than you may expect. Passing I just let it do it's thing wound out to redline without any drama. Long grades it will keep 3500 to 4000 rpm and still has power to accelerate. Truck really trailers nice now with Hellwig sway bars front and rear, 5100 Bilsteins on the rear, add a leaf installed and BFG's -- Great truck. Lost the front window to a rock, will replace it tomorrow. I got 17mpg with a loaded trailer running 70 to 75mph. Return trip with an unloaded trailer got 14 mpg running 80 to 85+ mph. I run 5w-30 full synthetic in this one not 5-20. If it wasn't broken in before, it damn sure is now after this trip. Trans temp stayed at 205 deg. I think I have pulled trailer 2000 miles in the 10,000 miles I have on this truck. I do have the trailer tow package with 3.73 gears. With the trailer, 4 people, and not taking any of my tools and things out of the bed, this motor got a pretty good workout in 2 days. 3rd oil change tomorrow. Oil still yellow after 5000 miles. Inside exhaust pipe clean as can be, looks new, no soot or color at all. I put my money on the little runt engine and so far has not disappointed me. I read about the effortless acceleration of the other engines but I still like the underdog motor. I'm in it to 300,000 miles again just like my '06 gave me.