15-20 Ford F-150

[JoshTX]

Thinking it's about time for a newer pickup. I have a 09 King Ranch at the moment. Love it, but it's getting some miles and starting to rust and I think it's time to send it down the road.

Anyone having any issues with the 2015+ Fords? They're aluminum so they shouldn't rust, anyone having any corrosion issues with them? Any electrical issues or mechanical issues? I'd probably prefer a 5.0. 6.5ft box and a 36 gal tank is a must.

My 09 has been pretty good. A couple little things here and there but nothing I cant google and then fix. Seems like any problems I've had have been pretty common with a lot of info about them online.

So 2015+ ford or is it time to switch to a Toyota??

View attachment 302871

Just sold my 2015 F150. Put 187,000 miles on it and had not one single issue in six years. Great truck.

 

[shoeshineman]

I have a lease on a 270k acre ranch that is as steep and rough as anywhere. The maintenance crew and guides all drive recent F150s. They’ve been through all the others as fleet vehicles and will tell you the F150s are the only trucks that hold up to long term use.

This is the kind of real world feedback that I appreciate! What environment is this ranch? Hot/dry southern desert? Cold/snow/salt northern latitude?

What kind of mileage are the crews and guides putting on each year? Towing? Slow speed heavy towing ranch use? High speed highway usage? ATV trails?

 

[wapitibob]

My 2020 f-150 3.5 ecoboost has a higher tow rating, more hp and torque than my '99 f-350 7.3 powerstroke did when it was brand new.

 

[wind gypsy]

My employer (contractor) has a lot of fleet pickups. We have 37 currently on my project. Use varies from mostly pavement and gravel roads to getting piss pounded off road all day. The vast majority of our vehicles have always been ford or chevy and they get replaced at 75k miles which usually takes 1.5-3 years.

Anecdotally, it seems we have had fewer issues with fords in my decade doing this. In my 8 or 9 years being assigned a fleet vehicle I only had 1 chevy (2014). It had a computer issue that made it undrivable until fixed. The 6 or so F150s I had never got more than oil changes, tires, and an occasional alignment adjustment.

 

[204guy]

I'm always surprised at the number of guys saying they pull 10k+ with 1/2 tons with no issues. Here in the mountains/rolling desert that just doesn't work if doing it on the regular. They have the power to go forward but after that things go downhill quick. Just interesting how different things can work relative to location.

I should also ammend my statement above that now's probably not a good time to buy new, it just isn't necessarily a bad time. I'm also coming at this from the HD truck world not 1/2 tons.

 

[cobbc03]

I have an '18 2.7L crew cab, I love the truck. Has more balls than any other truck I've every driven. I'm going to be trading it in shortly for either the new tremor series, or a new Lariat with the 3.5L.

 

[nobody]

I'll throw my hat full of experiences into the ring. I grew up in a die hard Ford Family, dad and grandpa both still drive early 2000's low mileage Power Stroke 1 Ton's (dad's has about 120k on the 7.3 and his dad's has about 125, so yes actual low miles). They've held up great and dad's big truck has always been blue oval.

When I graduated college and got a real job in June of 2019, I dumped my Corolla that I drove in college and bought a 2015 3.5 EB with 63k on the clock. It was NICE. It was an XLT package, but it had been dolled up significantly. Crew Cab short box, firestone airbag system, leveling kit, bead lock rims, 10 ply tires, dark window tint, it was clean. I picked it up for 28k and was excited to have a low mileage, reliable, clean title vehicle that I could keep for 10 plus years and own it for awhile. I took it home happy and proud of my purchase. Look at me being a grown up!

About a week later I noticed some oil drips on the concrete underneath. Crawled underneath and it had developed a front timing cover leak. I took it back to the dealer and they had it for a week and got it back to me, good as new (I thought).

3 Weeks later I heard the timing chain rattle for the first time (google it, you'll find thousands of videos depicting what I'm talking about).

I took it hunting and towed a single side by side on a small 14 foot flatbed trailer, darn thing got about 4.5 MPG down the freeway. Granted, I had the cruise set at 80 and was running away from my dad towing the jeep, but come on, 4.5 MPG?!?

While on the mountain, the timing chain rattled EVERY MORNING. At this point, the truck had about 65k on it, and it had only ever been driven back and forth to work in my home town and on the occasional date with my wife. I hadn't towed with it AT ALL when my dad and I went hunting. It hadn't gotten hot, but it did it every day. This was in September.

I took it home after the hunt and started to have some serious buyers' remorse. I had a sinking feeling about the truck, but I couldn't figure out why.

Late October, at 65.5k, the transmission slipped while pulling into traffic onto our local main street. I didn't think much of it, but then it started to happen consistently. In early December, a factory reman'd trans unit was installed to the tune of $6k. Lucky me!

3 Days later, check engine light pops on for a random cylinder misfire. Plugs and coils on all 6 cylinders at $175 each, this truck was getting expensive. Plus I still had that random pesky timing chain rattle.

I decide to dump it and get out of it, and stick it on the local classifieds and start looking for something else. I also started to look into trading it off. I had put over half the money down, so I had good equity and probably wasn't gonna take a huge loss on it. I took it to a dealership who, long story short, toasted the new trans doing brake stands behind the dealership to "check if the trans was reman'd properly." Needless to say, Dastrup Auto in Lindon Utah wrecked the trans.

I ended up trading it in on a 2013 GMC Sierra half ton extended cab. The dealership chain I worked with has many connections to get stuff fixed (huge network of ford, GM, Chev, Ram, Dodge, etc. dealers all together), so they basically said they would ignore the trans and timing chain issues and ended up giving me 25k on trade for it. After the deal was done, they pulled up the Ford work log that tracks repairs done at Ford Authorized facilities. Come to find out that, in 68k total miles since that truck was built in 2015, it had had the following fixed:

1. rebuilt rear end
2. 2 sets of turbos
3. timing chains/cam phasers
4. rebuilt transfer case
5. 1 trans prior to me
6. coolant leaking into combustion chamber
7. plus all my stuff

The lead tech at the shop looked through the list and said "yup, sounds about right for the Ecoboosts. That's what most of them look like that come through our shop." I was dumbfounded.

My dad drives a 2019 with 38k on it and has the timing chain rattle, and just had the trans rebuilt. He drive about 25k a year for work as a salesman and has NEVER towed with it. His company pays for gas so he drives a truck just because.

I now drive a GMC and dad is looking to sell his 7.3 and buy a Duramax. Lots of pattern failures on the Ecoboosts and 5.0's (timing chains and tensioners, cylinders wearing out of round by 100k), and even the new 6.7 power strokes have their share of serious problems. Ford just is not the same company as it was 25 years ago. It's sad to admit as a lifetime Ford man, but we've been burned for sure...

Bottom line, buy with caution.


EDIT: I have an uncle who is a performance gear head and knows how to maintain, work on, and fix vehicles (drove his old 24 valve cummins to just over 800k). He has a landscape business and an oilfield business, and has a whole fleet of trucks, most of them gassers (except for his personal trucks and a couple of his superintendents, they all drive diesels). When I asked him about the Ecoboosts, his words were "they're awesome if you drive them empty. But at the end of the day, you're taking the same size engine as a Honda v6, putting 2 turbos on it, and asking it to do the same work as a V8 in a truck. Would you put your mom's Honda Pilot engine in a truck?" That was kindof the final decision maker for me.

 

[Fatcamp]

My 2020 f-150 3.5 ecoboost has a higher tow rating, more hp and torque than my '99 f-350 7.3 powerstroke did when it was brand new.

What about payload capacity?

 

[wapitibob]

What about payload capacity?

Both will haul 1 Elk, 2 Antelope, and a 4 wheeler...

But, that 7.3 weighed 11,900 with my old lance camper on it and loaded for hunting. It'd probably squish this f-150.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

When I asked him about the Ecoboosts, his words were "they're awesome if you drive them empty. But at the end of the day, you're taking the same size engine as a Honda v6, putting 2 turbos on it, and asking it to do the same work as a V8 in a truck. Would you put your mom's Honda Pilot engine in a truck?" That was kindof the final decision maker for me.

I'm with you. I'm not sold on the trend of adding extra devices (turbos, VCT units, etc) to a small displacement engine to get it to perform like a large displacement engine, especially since that trend is not being driven by consumer demand or true pursuit of an all-around better vehicle but instead by compliance with ever-tightening fuel economy mandates (same driver behind Ford's aluminum frame and 10-speed transmission). CAFE targets for 1/2 ton trucks will be 30+ mpg within the next few years.

 

[SDHNTR]

This is the kind of real world feedback that I appreciate! What environment is this ranch? Hot/dry southern desert? Cold/snow/salt northern latitude?

What kind of mileage are the crews and guides putting on each year? Towing? Slow speed heavy towing ranch use? High speed highway usage? ATV trails?

That’s a huge question to ask since this is a really big and diverse ranch. Valley floor at 1500 feet to Mountain tops nearly 7000 feet. Triple digits in the summer, and teens with snow in the winter. Really steep. The place can be really hard on the transmissions, cooling systems, and especially brakes. I don’t know miles per year, but it’s a lot, and 90% of it on dirt roads.

 

[03mossy]

I have a ‘13 F-150 crew cab with the 3.5 EcoBoost. 155,000 miles and still going strong. Pull a 28’ travel trailer or a utility trailer with a side by side and atv together all the time. Zero issues so far just the normal maintenance.

 

[shoeshineman]

That’s a huge question to ask since this is a really big and diverse ranch. Valley floor at 1500 feet to Mountain tops nearly 7000 feet. Triple digits in the summer, and teens with snow in the winter. Really steep. The place can be really hard on the transmissions, cooling systems, and especially brakes. I don’t know miles per year, but it’s a lot, and 90% of it on dirt roads.

Thanks!

I'm curious if they've used Toyota tacoma/tundra on the ranch? I tend to lean toward toyota simply because they seem to keep the same drivetrain and not change it every 3 years. My uneducated belief is that ford/gm/dodge tends to make relatively significant drivetrain mods every 3-4 years.

 

[satchamo]

This has already been said I'm sure but youd be money ahead to just buy new right now with the market being what it is.... but even the new prices are ridiculous. I was fortunate I just needed a base STX to suit my needs and walked away with it using Xplan for 10%off MSRP. It has the 5.0 and i absolutely love it so far. Its night and day coming from my 08 sierra.

 

[SDHNTR]

Thanks!

I'm curious if they've used Toyota tacoma/tundra on the ranch? I tend to lean toward toyota simply because they seem to keep the same drivetrain and not change it every 3 years. My uneducated belief is that ford/gm/dodge tends to make relatively significant drivetrain mods every 3-4 years.

They tried a few tundras several years ago when they were the mid sized models. The brakes couldn’t hack it. I remember that being the number one complaint. Eat through pads and warped rotors like crazy. Nearly every acre of that ranch is either straight up or straight down. They really wanted to like those trucks because the size was perfect, but they didn’t last a season. I have no idea what the current iteration of tundras would be like there as they’ve been on f150s for the last several years.

 

[shoeshineman]

Maybe wildly obvious, but ive been thinking that the higher prices are a combo of covid supply side shortages on the micro side and old fashioned inflation on the macro side. We get squeezed on both sides.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ropin4gold]

I’ve got a 16 F-150 2.7 and the only issue I have had with it is the drivers side tail light fills up with water. I’ve had it since early 17 and about 90k miles and that is the only issue. I have a 19 with the 5.0 as a company truck, no issues so far with that one (38k miles). Both have the large fuel tank, it’s the only way to go.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I'll throw my hat full of experiences into the ring. I grew up in a die hard Ford Family, dad and grandpa both still drive early 2000's low mileage Power Stroke 1 Ton's (dad's has about 120k on the 7.3 and his dad's has about 125, so yes actual low miles). They've held up great and dad's big truck has always been blue oval.

When I graduated college and got a real job in June of 2019, I dumped my Corolla that I drove in college and bought a 2015 3.5 EB with 63k on the clock. It was NICE. It was an XLT package, but it had been dolled up significantly. Crew Cab short box, firestone airbag system, leveling kit, bead lock rims, 10 ply tires, dark window tint, it was clean. I picked it up for 28k and was excited to have a low mileage, reliable, clean title vehicle that I could keep for 10 plus years and own it for awhile. I took it home happy and proud of my purchase. Look at me being a grown up!

About a week later I noticed some oil drips on the concrete underneath. Crawled underneath and it had developed a front timing cover leak. I took it back to the dealer and they had it for a week and got it back to me, good as new (I thought).

3 Weeks later I heard the timing chain rattle for the first time (google it, you'll find thousands of videos depicting what I'm talking about).

I took it hunting and towed a single side by side on a small 14 foot flatbed trailer, darn thing got about 4.5 MPG down the freeway. Granted, I had the cruise set at 80 and was running away from my dad towing the jeep, but come on, 4.5 MPG?!?

While on the mountain, the timing chain rattled EVERY MORNING. At this point, the truck had about 65k on it, and it had only ever been driven back and forth to work in my home town and on the occasional date with my wife. I hadn't towed with it AT ALL when my dad and I went hunting. It hadn't gotten hot, but it did it every day. This was in September.

I took it home after the hunt and started to have some serious buyers' remorse. I had a sinking feeling about the truck, but I couldn't figure out why.

Late October, at 65.5k, the transmission slipped while pulling into traffic onto our local main street. I didn't think much of it, but then it started to happen consistently. In early December, a factory reman'd trans unit was installed to the tune of $6k. Lucky me!

3 Days later, check engine light pops on for a random cylinder misfire. Plugs and coils on all 6 cylinders at $175 each, this truck was getting expensive. Plus I still had that random pesky timing chain rattle.

I decide to dump it and get out of it, and stick it on the local classifieds and start looking for something else. I also started to look into trading it off. I had put over half the money down, so I had good equity and probably wasn't gonna take a huge loss on it. I took it to a dealership who, long story short, toasted the new trans doing brake stands behind the dealership to "check if the trans was reman'd properly." Needless to say, Dastrup Auto in Lindon Utah wrecked the trans.

I ended up trading it in on a 2013 GMC Sierra half ton extended cab. The dealership chain I worked with has many connections to get stuff fixed (huge network of ford, GM, Chev, Ram, Dodge, etc. dealers all together), so they basically said they would ignore the trans and timing chain issues and ended up giving me 25k on trade for it. After the deal was done, they pulled up the Ford work log that tracks repairs done at Ford Authorized facilities. Come to find out that, in 68k total miles since that truck was built in 2015, it had had the following fixed:

1. rebuilt rear end
2. 2 sets of turbos
3. timing chains/cam phasers
4. rebuilt transfer case
5. 1 trans prior to me
6. coolant leaking into combustion chamber
7. plus all my stuff

The lead tech at the shop looked through the list and said "yup, sounds about right for the Ecoboosts. That's what most of them look like that come through our shop." I was dumbfounded.

My dad drives a 2019 with 38k on it and has the timing chain rattle, and just had the trans rebuilt. He drive about 25k a year for work as a salesman and has NEVER towed with it. His company pays for gas so he drives a truck just because.

I now drive a GMC and dad is looking to sell his 7.3 and buy a Duramax. Lots of pattern failures on the Ecoboosts and 5.0's (timing chains and tensioners, cylinders wearing out of round by 100k), and even the new 6.7 power strokes have their share of serious problems. Ford just is not the same company as it was 25 years ago. It's sad to admit as a lifetime Ford man, but we've been burned for sure...

Bottom line, buy with caution.


EDIT: I have an uncle who is a performance gear head and knows how to maintain, work on, and fix vehicles (drove his old 24 valve cummins to just over 800k). He has a landscape business and an oilfield business, and has a whole fleet of trucks, most of them gassers (except for his personal trucks and a couple of his superintendents, they all drive diesels). When I asked him about the Ecoboosts, his words were "they're awesome if you drive them empty. But at the end of the day, you're taking the same size engine as a Honda v6, putting 2 turbos on it, and asking it to do the same work as a V8 in a truck. Would you put your mom's Honda Pilot engine in a truck?" That was kindof the final decision maker for me.

That’s a horrible experience. I hope the gmc does better.

There are three fords setting in my driveway right now. One has 135,000 miles on it. The other has 200,000 miles on it. The last has a touch over 300,000 miles on it. You’d better believe Ford is making a fine truck. As they always have.

 

[Backyard]

I have a '16 150 with a 5.0.
My only complaint is they still haven't made the oil filter changing any less of a mess than the earlier 5.0's. I change my own oil.
The engineer in charge of that one should be fired IMO.

 

[gunnerblue]

Newer F150s are part of my work pool and my wife drives a '17 Expedition- all with the 3.5L Ecoboost. The only issues I've seen are a few bad throttle body assemblies. Basically at 30-55 mph the motor would simply die in four of the trucks and the Expedition. Simple replacement and afterwards all vehicles have been trouble free for +100k miles.