WOW - Ford Ratings

'01LS1 · October 3, 2014

The thing I noticed more so than the payload or tow ratings was that Ford upped the HP/torque on the 5.0 to 385/387.

Was hoping GM would find another 20 or so to add to the 5.3 for 2015. Do not think a 375hp 5.3 would hurt or affect

sales of a 420 horse 6.2 for those that want that.

j-ten-ner · October 4, 2014

...Was hoping GM would find another 20 or so to add to the 5.3 for 2015...

What for?

so long

j-ten-ner

MikeNH · October 4, 2014

The thing I noticed more so than the payload or tow ratings was that Ford upped the HP/torque on the 5.0 to 385/387.

Was hoping GM would find another 20 or so to add to the 5.3 for 2015. Do not think a 375hp 5.3 would hurt or affect

sales of a 420 horse 6.2 for those that want that.

The 5.0 is flex fuel- I wonder if they're being shady and quoting E85 numbers as I can't find anything that lists both.

'01LS1 · October 4, 2014

What for?

so long

j-ten-ner

Marketing. While GM does have the 420hp 6.2L along with the upcoming 8 speed, it will not be the standard stock at a dealership.

If a buyer rolls into a GM, Ford or Ram lot & the pricing is similar in a mid/upper range configuration, they are going to feel like they are getting more for the same money elsewhere with

the GM trucks at 355 hp vs 385hp Ford & 395hp Ram. You can bet GM would be advertising it if they were smacking the other 2 with a volume selling motor by 30 & 40 HP.

Had not thought about the E85 aspect, hoping they would differentiate that as E85 is not truly available everywhere.

pm26 · October 4, 2014

The thing I noticed driving the ego boost I had for work truck for a week or so is it feels extremely laggy, if youre not in boost it's super weak. Transmission shifts life crazy, seems confused. Sure it makes good power and tows good with your foot to th floor...but if you set cruise at 60-65 it feels laggy and tranny searches around it was annoying to drive IMO

Ego boost? LOL, I could use one of those.

(It is Eco boost BTW)

Prokopchuk_9 · October 4, 2014

Ego boost? LOL, I could use one of those.

(It is Eco boost BTW)

I know, I call ego boost because the owners think they actually have something that's fast...it's hilarious just completely obliterating the old guy at the light in his new "fast" f-150 LOL

Cowpie · October 4, 2014

Ford is doing nothing more than we figured out in commercial trucking. Lighten up the vehicle, tweak a few things, and you can haul more, and you do not have to sacrifice durability. I spec'd aluminum housing axles on my semi as a weight saver. Also wide based single tires instead of duals on the drives. And even a aluminum 5th wheel plate to reduce weight. I can typically haul over 2000 lb more in product than many of the stock company trucks at the carrier I am working with. There are a few other things I could have done to trim even more weight, but this is also a learning curve for me. Meanwhile, I can get roughly 25% better fuel economy than the trucking class 8 national average, At 300,000 miles the drive tires still had 16/32 tread remaining out of 24/32 beginning. The engine, while a 12.7L will walk hills right along with 15L Cats and Cummins with similar loads, and do it on less fuel. And it only uses two quarts of oil in 25,000 mile oil changes.

And the ratio of payload to truck weight far and away exceeds anything that most are doing with pickups. My semi tractor weighs in at 19,000 lb, give or take. Total payload with trailer, 80,000 lb, and that is not even meeting the maximum capabilities of the truck, only the maximum weight based on permit and licensing. A comparison, a typical pickup would be hauling/pullin weights that are 3x the weight of the pickup itself. So, a typical 1500 series pickup would be yanking around 21,000 lb trailers all day long without a sweat. We know that is not going to happen, and this is a bit of hyperbole, but to doubt the OEM capabilities that the new pickups could pull the weights they claim, is a bit extreme also.

And small displacement does not mean weaker engine. The 2.8L diesel in my 2006 Jeep Liberty. More torque than a 5.3L V8, and meets peak torque at 2000 RPM compared to 4200 RPM for the 5.3L. it is a cast iron block, wet sleeved, DOHC, Bosch common rail engine with a designed B20 life of 300,000 miles. That means the engines will go 300,000 miles before 20% of them need major repair or rebuild. The internals on the Ford Ecoboost are not the same components of the traditional naturally aspirated V6 varieties. Internal components are beefier in these turbo charged V6's. Technology has put a big dent in the "there is no replacement for displacement" ideology.

LaserBlueZ71 · October 4, 2014

I am a trucker too and I can tell you now I haul very serious weight behind me.

I am on the heavy haul fleet at my company, which means my truck weighs about 24,000 pounds, but my trailer and load weigh anywhere from 150,000 to 200,000 pounds. The important thing to remember is how they are connected. Having a fifth wheel connection is far safer and more stable then a bumper hitch. The unsafe part about towing 10,000+ with a pickup truck is that the weight is on the very back of the vehicle, actually behind the vehicle because the ball hitch sticks out. At that point your weight transfer is totally out of whack. You have very little weight on your rear axle and it is now a pivot point. Your load on the back will only serve to pull your front end up which will completely undermine your steering capabilities. Pretty hard to steer safely when you have no weight on your steers, especially on snow and ice.

With a 5th wheel setup, you have LOTS of weight pushing directly down on your drive axle or axles. Because you now have weight pushing down on your frame, some of this is carried to the front as well. When the vehicle takes on distributed weight, you take on down-force and stability, which is far safer to handle.

The auto industry has become almost like children IMO. All they care about is numbers, who is bigger, stronger and tougher, on paper. The goal shouldn't be towing wars, those numbers are skewed anyways. Let's face facts, any truck today is very capable, they are very well built. So what if one brand can tow a few hundred pounds more than the other, of course they are going to say that! Simply increasing your vehicles tow numbers by a few hundred pounds per model year makes no sense at all.

If you want to tow over 10,000, I think you should have a 3/4 ton or 1 ton, and buy yourself a fifth wheel trailer.

Jon A · October 5, 2014

Well, hopefully anybody towing more than 10,000 lbs bumper pull for any distance on the highway will have a WDH, which will minimize the steering issues. While everybody agrees that 5th Wheels are much better for heavy loads, as are 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks, I don't agree with a hard litmus test of 10,000 lbs.

There are lots of reasons for bumper pull trailers and there are lots of reasons one might buy a 1/2 ton instead of a 3/4 ton. While I agree with the sentiment, I wouldn't draw the line quite that low for occasional towing. I don't feel towing little over 10,000 lbs a few times a year would justify buying a truck/trailer system that can tow 18,000 lbs. IMHO that's overkill. This isn't 10 years ago--1/2 tons are dramatically more capable now than they were in the past.

And if you aren't springing for the Duramax (huge overkill), at least with GM's right now the best engine only comes in the 1/2 tons. I would not buy a 6.0 gasser with the intention of towing 10-12K lbs throught the mountains. The 6.2 (especially with the upcomming 8-speed) will tow circles around it.

To give Ford some credit--the biggest advantage of the increased payload option on their 1/2 ton is allowing them to tow 5th wheel trailers without exceeding their payload for those who want to strictly obey the sticker. That is a good thing for a lot of people--I see a lot of 1/2 tons with 5th wheel travel trailers on the road, so obviously there's a demand for it.

Prokopchuk_9 · October 5, 2014

Well, hopefully anybody towing more than 10,000 lbs bumper pull for any distance on the highway will have a WDH, which will minimize the steering issues. While everybody agrees that 5th Wheels are much better for heavy loads, as are 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks, I don't agree with a hard litmus test of 10,000 lbs.

There are lots of reasons for bumper pull trailers and there are lots of reasons one might buy a 1/2 ton instead of a 3/4 ton. While I agree with the sentiment, I wouldn't draw the line quite that low for occasional towing. I don't feel towing little over 10,000 lbs a few times a year would justify buying a truck/trailer system that can tow 18,000 lbs. IMHO that's overkill. This isn't 10 years ago--1/2 tons are dramatically more capable now than they were in the past.

And if you aren't springing for the Duramax (huge overkill), at least with GM's right now the best engine only comes in the 1/2 tons. I would not buy a 6.0 gasser with the intention of towing 10-12K lbs throught the mountains. The 6.2 (especially with the upcomming 8-speed) will tow circles around it.

I agree with this, ya it isn't the 90's the 1/2 tons are pretty capable nowadays. But what do you mean the 6.2 will tow circles around 3/4 ton? Do you mean like up a hill? In a straight line? Anything over 8k or so with a 1/2 ton is just too much if you're pulling a lot. I've done it enough to know, it's not safe. The truck is lighter, suspension isn't set up as well, the braking isn't either...sure they'll go like a raped ape in a straight line. Let's throw a quad in th box, hook up 9k to the 1/2 ton send it up a few 7% grades with some heavy side wind. Watxh that poor girl rev and sway around.

Personally I think if you are towing more than 8-10k frequently a 3/4 ton is a must...maybe not a diesel but something more capable. It's hilarious how many half tons I see in the ditch around here in the winter trying to tow stuff "because it's rated for it"

Tow ratings mean nothing when you're sitting in a ditch cuz you couldn't stop cuz the trailer pushed you off the road

Prokopchuk_9 · October 5, 2014

Btw I'm not trying to start another epic jon a vs chevyboy thread argument...just stating my opinion. 1/2 tons are bagged out with 10k

SnakeEyeSS · October 5, 2014

I would rather get the 5.0. So much of a aftermarket for it. People getting over 500HP in the mustang without opening the engine past the intake manifold. I think a manifold, full exhaust, cold air intake, and tune is supposed to get 525HP or something. I believe that is what the Nitro Mustang GT that was given away had done to it.

Are people doing that to the trucks? Don't spend any time on F150 forums.

nards444 · October 5, 2014

impressive numbers, but imo, ram and gm will be better soon enough. Ford had to use tons of aluminum to finally be lighter than at least GM, not sure if the rams were heavier than the fords or not. If GM is headed in the same direction (which it most likely is) with lots of aluminum in the body panels, then GM will be on top soon enough.

GM has been playing catch up for the last 5 years. Ill give you ram, they have been doing some nice things. I bought a 14 Silverado, and I also owned a 07. From that theres nothing GM has put out that revolutionary or special, if anything they have just matched the market.

nards444 · October 5, 2014

Marketing. While GM does have the 420hp 6.2L along with the upcoming 8 speed, it will not be the standard stock at a dealership.

If a buyer rolls into a GM, Ford or Ram lot & the pricing is similar in a mid/upper range configuration, they are going to feel like they are getting more for the same money elsewhere with

the GM trucks at 355 hp vs 385hp Ford & 395hp Ram. You can bet GM would be advertising it if they were smacking the other 2 with a volume selling motor by 30 & 40 HP.

Had not thought about the E85 aspect, hoping they would differentiate that as E85 is not truly available everywhere.

That's a good point and I think that's where GM failed in this new model. Is there anything GM can really say look what we are doing? I agree as buyer become more conscious and the FACT that really all three brands make a nice a truck, when as a buyer in particular a non brand homer or a novice is looking down the brochure and sees more HP, more towing, Better MPG in a particular brand that is where they are going to go.

nards444 · October 5, 2014

The thing I noticed driving the ego boost I had for work truck for a week or so is it feels extremely laggy, if youre not in boost it's super weak. Transmission shifts life crazy, seems confused. Sure it makes good power and tows good with your foot to th floor...but if you set cruise at 60-65 it feels laggy and tranny searches around it was annoying to drive IMO

I actually owned an 11 with max tow and 3.73 gearing and the thing ripped, a lot quicker then my new 5.3 with 3.73 gearing. Although the tranny was a little querky at times like you said. Funny thing isn't Ford using the same tranny as chevy now?

There was some lag, but I don't think it was extreme as you think. Now I will say you had to learn the sweet spots and I do think the truck was programmed to keep people from mashing the pedal and over spooling/heating the turbos.

None the less I was very impressed by that motor I got 17mpg avg and towed that 10k boat I have with about 12-13mpg. And I don't think it was over worked.