Originally Posted by Super 3.5

Great looking truck. Looks alot like my 2022 Lariat except the bed is too short.

Originally Posted by Joe Friday

Hard to take this post seriously....you lost me when you mentioned that nasty 3 letter word: GMC....haha.

All my relatives work at GM....and after 2 successful lemon lawsuits for GM Lemons ( one a Silverado) and 3 more I could have won had the law been in effect back then....I will never own a GM anything again. Employee discount or not.

My 2018 5.0 is gutless in comparison to even the 2.7 liter V8.....until you floor it at higher revs. It is alright, and I didn't mind it....but I am excited to try a 3.5. My buddy has a 2015....which is a 1st Gen and one that mechanics would tell you to avoid, but he has had over 130k of trouble free miles....

RAM is not cheaper anymore. I picked a new 2025 Ram.....it was 3k more than my comparably equipped Lariat....but had less options. They really hiked their prices for the new 2025 model year units now landing on dealership lots....they are actually the MOST expensive trucks out there now. They got rid of the Hemi, which is fine by me...and the new Hurricane 3.0 inline 6 was smooth and powerful and quiet....but I just couldn't pay more to be a guinea pig on a Stallantis engine that has no reliability history behind it.

To each their own, on that front.

Originally Posted by Joe Friday

Hard to take this post seriously....you lost me when you mentioned that nasty 3 letter word: GMC....haha.

All my relatives work at GM....and after 2 successful lemon lawsuits for GM Lemons ( one a Silverado) and 3 more I could have won had the law been in effect back then....I will never own a GM anything again. Employee discount or not.

My 2018 5.0 is gutless in comparison to even the 2.7 liter V8.....until you floor it at higher revs. It is alright, and I didn't mind it....but I am excited to try a 3.5. My buddy has a 2015....which is a 1st Gen and one that mechanics would tell you to avoid, but he has had over 130k of trouble free miles....

RAM is not cheaper anymore. I picked a new 2025 Ram.....it was 3k more than my comparably equipped Lariat....but had less options. They really hiked their prices for the new 2025 model year units now landing on dealership lots....they are actually the MOST expensive trucks out there now. They got rid of the Hemi, which is fine by me...and the new Hurricane 3.0 inline 6 was smooth and powerful and quiet....but I just couldn't pay more to be a guinea pig on a Stallantis engine that has no reliability history behind it.

To each their own, on that front.

Originally Posted by sno1

I started shopping knowing that I wanted the V8. Now I would try the 3.5 turbo. They seem to have ironed out any issues with the 3.5 and the horsepower and torque numbers are impressive. I personally am against cylinder deactivation and that's what killed the V8 choice for me. They always deactivate the same 4 cylinders and I don't believe that's going to be good long term. There are some reports of failures starting to show up. I don't believe there is any real world advantage, just a game with the EPA to look "cleaner" in a mythical test chamber.

Originally Posted by Joe Friday

I have a 2018 Ford F150 Lariat... pretty well loaded. I have generally liked it, and am considering a new 2024 Lariat in the near future.

I am a researcher, and want to make the right decision.... regarding the engine choices available for the Lariat.

I currently have the 5.0 liter in my 2018 Lariat. I like the engine overall, but did have some of the oil consumption issues.... the TSB helped, I think..... but it still uses just shy of 1 qt oil at 3,000 miles. I ALWAYS changed my oil at 3,500 miles, but since the oil consumption thing, I am now doing it at 3K miles. Not too concerned about it.

Anyway....it does lead me to wonder if I should try the 3.5 Ecoboost this next go around... for a couple reasons.

First: The 5.0 has incorporated the dreaded Cylinder Deactivation.... which immediately brings to mind all of the issues that lousy technology has brought to everyone that has employed it: Hondas, Rams, Chevy trucks, etc.... have all had consistent oil burners, lifter issues, etc. So, that kind of worries me with the introduction of Cylinder Deactivation to the 5.0.

I haven't really seen a lot of discussion on the internet about Cylinder Deactivation being an issue with the 5.0 engines utilizing it, however, so am wondering if Ford did it better and has a solid implementation that will last the long haul??? What are your thoughts on that?

The 3.5 intrigues me, but I have read lots of horror stories about timing chain issues, cam phaser issues, oil leaks, etc..... yet, I have seen more current mechanic reviews that discuss how the cam phasers have been redesigned and no longer have the issue, as well as Ford having gone to two shorter timing chains instead of one long one, so stretch is not a problem there either. Is that true??

Looking for feedback from 5.0 owners with the cylinder deactivation and owners of newest gen 3.5 engines - and how reliable they have been?

Thanks a ton, good people. I am about to drop $74k on a new Lariat and want to make the best engine choice I can, knowing that not everything is perfect.

Originally Posted by henfield

I've got the 5.0 and love it.

The 3.5, now in its third generation, has hopefully every gremlin exorcised. It was never a bad engine but those timing chain tensioner issues and cost to fix was enough to push me towards the 5.0.

However, the 3.5 has tons to like, especially if you want to get the 2.4 or 7.3KW set up. If towing, we all like the extra torque it offers over the 5.0 definitely has its attraction.