Having scoured seemingly all the dealers within 500+ miles of me in North Carolina, my dealer & I cannot find a loaded 2011 2wd EB with nav.

I'm going to go price getting a 2012 built for what I want in it. I'm coming out of an '05 4wd Frontier Nismo, tow a light 20' boat (might grow eventually), and do a ~340 mile roundtrip to a beach house 22-25 times a year (mostly 63mph cruise w/ frequent stop lights). I'm solid on the decision for 2wd, haven't made good use of 4WD in the past two vehicles with it and only used it back when I owned Jeeps. Sort of split on Lariat vs FX2 at the moment.

Any suggestions, prior experience, or negotiated price history you might share would help.


F150 Screw, FX2, 2wd
Ignot Silver - to least show the granite dust on gravel roads i frequent.
Black leather interior - assuming it stays cleaner easier/longer than beige.
V6 3.5 Ecoboost
Max-tow package: mirrors, brake controller
Luxury Package: rear camera, garage door opener, dual zone a/c for wife.
Navigation (mainly b/c it makes hitching the boat a breeze, iPhone+Sync)

The things I'm really looking for advice on are:

18" or 20" aluminum wheels?
Do real LT truck tires come on any of these packages? I'm more concerned about avoiding curb rash and inexpensive highway tires suitable for towing being available.

Full coverage rubber mats.
$95 Ford option available on FX2? Better 3rd party option?

How much difference in rpm/mpg with 3.55 / 3.31
Having read some neverending mpg debate threads between the 5.0 and EB engines, does the axle ratio really make any difference? I.e. more than 1.5 mpg at 65mph? If it'll save a noticable amount of gas, I'd forego the max tow package for a 3.55 or 3.31 rear-end, but if it's 1mpg or less I'll opt for towing room for a future toy.

And then it's the weight tag or regular plate decision which I haven't read-up on yet.

Anyone had success getting tow-hooks from the factory on a 2WD?

FX2 vs Lariat - seem pretty much the same to me except less chrome and tighter seats on the FX2 which I prefer.

 

at least 3.55, if not 3.73.

Fx2 over lariat.

20"s instaed of 18s.

get weathertech mats instead of factory.

 

What scrappy too said, except I like the 18's better, just because I think more sidewall looks better than more wheel, just personal opinion...I don't like the ford factory mats, any aftermarket ones should be better in my opinion...

 

I just bought my 2011 lariat earlier this year and they couldn't find the fx2 EB with everything I wanted.. So instead I got the lariat 2wd with 20's black floors but has tan seats.. I get greasy and oily working and It wipes away pretty easily..

 

I have the 5.0 engine and with stock 20's and tires I get around 15 mpgs tho I get on it a little... With trailer around 10mpgs 20ft enclosed

 

Thanks.

What's the consensus on 3.55 vs 3.73 gearing at cruising speed? 1/4 mpg difference?

And on the 18 vs 20s, are load rated tires essentially the same between the two? A quick check of 1 model tire on tirerack-com showed the 20's a bit cheaper although I don't think i'd ever recoup the upcharge on wheels.

 

After doing the math on even a full 1.5mpg difference, $200/yr or so won't make any difference. Very little of my driving is over 70mph so I'm not concerned about higher cruise rpms the 3.73 might bring either.

Just sent off my build list to the dealer for a quote. 3.73's and 18's for now.