2019 F150 5.0 - Another Truck Rental Review

Had a 2018 F-150 with 5.0 and 10 speed, 3.55 gears. Not a fan of the engine or transmission calibration (supposedly the software is better now). Had several problems with the Coyote, including it drinking oil until a PCM update two years into ownership. Now I am in a RAM, build quality much better and the powertrain is better IMO.

Does the F-150 and Mustang have the same horsepower or is F-150 detuned ?
 
Had a 2018 F-150 with 5.0 and 10 speed, 3.55 gears. Not a fan of the engine or transmission calibration (supposedly the software is better now).

This did have a few hiccups where it got "stuck" in 3rd gear with the torque converter locked. From almost a dead stop. Took a second to figure itself out, then shifted harsh and quickly into 1st gear and barked the tires even with a trailer! It seemed to only happen when I coasted to a nearstop on a steep hill. I think because the truck slowed down quicker than the computer was expecting without any brake usage.
 
I miss traveling a little because I got to drive all the different trucks. I always rented through National so I could pick what I wanted to drive. I had driven 4-5 rams including two 2019+ trucks. One of those 2019's was a Rebel. I drove one Silverado 5.3L and a 2.7L Ecoboost F150 with the 10 speed.

The 3.31's feel ok in the truck because the 10 speed's first gear is so short. Even with 3.31's you have the same overall gear reduction as the old 6 speed with 3.73's.

I think the 5.0 with the 10-speed is the perfect combination, honestly. The EcoBoost has such a wide flat torque curve it really doesn't benefit from having all those gears. The V8, however, is perfectly paired with it.

I really enjoy how snappy the shifts in the 10 speed feel. No idea how it holds up long term but it has to be the best truck transmission out there right now.
Agree. The 10 speed was not as big of a deal for the 3.5L. It helped, but it was not a game changer. I think the 10 speed benefits diesels and the NA V8's the most.
Had a 2018 F-150 with 5.0 and 10 speed, 3.55 gears. Not a fan of the engine or transmission calibration (supposedly the software is better now). Had several problems with the Coyote, including it drinking oil until a PCM update two years into ownership. Now I am in a RAM, build quality much better and the powertrain is better IMO.
The Hemi/8 speed is a great combo and always seems to be in the right gear. I have had a bunch as rentals and was always really pleased. And the rams ride so much better than an F150 I have driven. The F150's stock shock tuning is abysmal. Even a set of $350 Bilsteins is a massive improvement.
 
No way! The 5.0 in the F150 I had was like a rocketship empty! Granted , the 2wd single cab aluminum F150 is pretty light. An extra 60 horses in a Mustang would be a lot of fun!
Supposedly the 2018+ 5.0 is identical between the Mustang and F150 in terms of the physical parts. In the past the manifolds and cams were different.

The difference is in the tuning. The Mustang 5.0 is allowed to rev to 7500 rpm I believe where the F150 is capped at 6000 rpm? The Mustang makes its peak power at 7000 rpm above where the F150 is even allowed to rev. An aftermarket tune will open the F150 up to mustang power levels and more.
 
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The Hemi/8 speed is a great combo and always seems to be in the right gear. I have had a bunch as rentals and was always really pleased. And the rams ride so much better than an F150 I have driven.
Agreed. The 1/2 ton Ram is an excellent sedan with a box. Great ride quality, solid NA motor/trans combo. I own one.

But they are not very fuel efficient, especially during towing. There are also a lot of complaints about how poorly they perform as a tow vehicle - both from a power and from a chassis standpoint.

If I was doing any >5K lb towing or "real truck duties," the F250 7.3 gas trucks are the only realistic option IMO.
 
Agreed. The 1/2 ton Ram is an excellent sedan with a box. Great ride quality, solid NA motor/trans combo. I own one.

But they are not very fuel efficient, especially during towing. There are also a lot of complaints about how poorly they perform as a tow vehicle - both from a power and from a chassis standpoint.

If I was doing any >5K lb towing or "real truck duties," the F250 7.3 gas trucks are the only realistic option IMO.
My F150 tows a 5500 lb travel trailer and chassis and power wise its very solid, but the cooling system is not up to the task. I have to be really careful pulling grades here in Utah once it gets up above 80*F outside.

The 7.3L though, is a sweet motor. If truck prices ever come back down to earth I will look into one. My Mother-in-law bought an E450 Class C motorhome in the fall with the 7.3L(detuned chassis cab version with "only" 350hp and 6 speed transmission) and it was a beast. I had the cruise control set to 75mph in Wyoming and it just chugged along with almost zero drama. i bet its amazing with the 10 speed and 430hp in the Superduty.
 
My F150 tows a 5500 lb travel trailer and chassis and power wise its very solid, but the cooling system is not up to the task. I have to be really careful pulling grades here in Utah once it gets up above 80*F outside.

The 7.3L though, is a sweet motor. If truck prices ever come back down to earth I will look into one. My Mother-in-law bought an E450 Class C motorhome in the fall with the 7.3L(detuned chassis cab version with "only" 350hp and 6 speed transmission) and it was a beast. I had the cruise control set to 75mph in Wyoming and it just chugged along with almost zero drama. i bet its amazing with the 10 speed and 430hp in the Superduty.
Something like this would be a great tow vehicle:

It would be even better if it had the 4.30's, but I'm sure it is good enough even with the 3.55's. Low $50K for a rig like this buys you a lot more capability than the heavily-optioned 1/2 tons that I see people towing with.
 
If you want the max towing package on the F150, you cannot get the 5.0, you have to get the 3.5 EB.

Not anymore. 2021+ has max tow on all engines except the base 3.3 and 2.7L EB

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Supposedly the 2018+ 5.0 is identical between the Mustang and F150 in terms of the physical parts. In the past the manifolds and cams were different.

The difference is in the tuning. The Mustang 5.0 is allowed to rev to 7500 rpm I believe where the F150 is capped at 6000 rpm? The Mustang makes its peak power at 7000 rpm above where the F150 is even allowed to rev. An aftermarket tune will open the F150 up to mustang power levels and more.
I read that they tune the power curve of the F-150 engine for the work a truck would do like towing and hauling, but like you said they are the same engine. I think in the past they might have had a different intake configuration on the Mustang.
 
My F150 tows a 5500 lb travel trailer and chassis and power wise its very solid, but the cooling system is not up to the task. I have to be really careful pulling grades here in Utah once it gets up above 80*F outside.
What temps do you see that are concerning?
 
My 10spd just always seems to get it right with the 7.3L
I never liked the Ford 6 speed- it always put me into a throttle dead zone when just cruising along
and hunted far more than the 10spd
Zee, what year is your 6spd? I've been very happy with my 2015 f150/5.0 6spd. I don't tow anything so that could matter.
 
First off, WOW that coyote can run!!

Had another PA trip this weekend. Unfortunately the Jeep made it about 3/4 of the way through the first day before breaking.

The Air BnB we were staying at was a 20 minute drive from the off road park and required us to go from 1500 feet, down to 860, back up to 1400 feet, down to 650 then up to 1400. Getting off of 81, I also had to go up and down about 1000 feet 2 or 3 times. My truck would have done it, but it would have been a lot of time at 4000 RPM in 2nd gear going 23 MPH.

This was pretty similarly equipped to the C1500 I rented back in October. V8, no factory towing package, 4x2, vinyl floor. I have surge brakes on my trailer. Trans code came back as 3.31 so it definitely didn't have any sort of towing package.

I wouldn't say this was a particurlarly engaging vehicle to drive; automatic transmission, severely overboosted electric power steering but it was probably the most nimble pickup I have driven. Maybe the aluminum body?

The powertrain in this truck impressed me the most! The 5.0 and 10 speed, even with crappy 3.31 gearing was just an awesome combination. The engine was always in it's power band. It did seem to like to go back and forth between 7th and 8th gear towing in the flat and small hills but didn't seem to shift excessively when towing. It held gears longer than I thought it would, but this 5.0 modular makes more than enough power below 2000 RPM. Quite surprised there for how much it loves to wind out.

Ford has the grade logic really figured out on this. One thing the 6 speed in the chevy I had before was lacking. I had a very hard time getting the Chevy to hold itself back without activating the surge brakes on my trailer. With the F150, it would automatically drop a gear on its own if it detected I was off the throttle but starting to point downhill. If i lightly touched the brake pedal it would drop 2-4 gears as needed. While it would shift quick, it would do it without a large jerking motion -- probably because it's such a close ratio -- and the truck would hold itself back. If I needed additional breaking (and I did a lot!), I could use the truck brakes and surge brakes. This was on a lot of 12-14% grades on PA 125 and I was going up and down them. It did a good job without smoking my trailer brakes! Unfortunately, that's one thing I couldn't say about the 5.3 / 6 speed.

The power was fantastic. I was impressed with the 5.3 /6 speed, but this 5.0 / 10 speed is something completely different. The "death hill" as we call it, where my truck will only go 24 in 2nd gear was not even a challenge for this. The 1500 5.3 topped out at 48 or so. This truck far exceeded that ;) I had to let off because I caught the person ahead of me. But same as the other truck, I didn't have it matted. The 10 speed just has the right gear at the right time and keeps the engine right in the powerband. The engine was 2 quarts low on oil (better than the chevy at 4 quarts low!) but honestly at 19000 miles and being a Uhaul truck, I'm willing to bet this truck has never seen an oil change either. It did have some rattle at part throttle at 2500 RPM, probably from being run low on oil for so long. While it isn't a "modular", it's an evolution of it. I was really surprised with how similar it sounded to any of the 4.6/5.4 engines over the years. Same exhaust note, same whistle under light throttle and same "whine" around 2500-3500 under hard throttle.

A lot of people complain about it shifting too much. It does skip around in regular mode, using 6 or 7 gears normally. In tow/haul mode it does use all 10 but I never got it above 9th towing. I followed a friend back with a 5.7 hemi 9 speed 1500 with 3.92 gears and that was always shifting up and down a few gears even on the smallest hills. But this 10 speed with 3.31s held 7th and 8th gear most of the time.

This truck seemed to handle the trailer better than the 1500. I always load my Jeep in the same spot on the trailer. Except this time I had more stuff in my toolbox on the tongue. Where the Chevy 1500 was sitting on the bump stops and required me to move the Jeep back further than I cared, the F150 wasn't anywhere near the bump stop. In fact, I was able to use the hitch as a 2'' drop instead of a 2'' raise. And I didn't max out my trailer jack trying to account for the suspension squat this time! It did rice more firm than the Chevy, which is fine I really prefer trucks that ride a bit more firm. I'm sure that is related to handling the trailer better.

Fuel economy was worse on this trip. A lot of it was the additional 45 miles of constant 10%+ grades that I didn't get in the last truck. On the highway I hand calculated between 11.8 and 13.5 MPG towing my Jeep. Pretty close to the chevy!

The interior is subjective. I have always liked Ford interiors and this is no exception. The seats sat like a truck should. I could see over the hood. The design language, buttons were all easy to use and just felt like "home". I'll give the split bench seat in the F150 points for being much more comfortable to sleep on than the chevys.

A truck like this really would fit my needs perfect! But, it doesn't matter how I run the numbers, it's significantly cheaper to stick with my current fleet and just rent a truck for longer trips.
Yes-new trucks cost money. The truck you were driving probably is 50 grand. Trucks for some is a WANT and not a NEED. They hardly ever pencil out. Most could get the utility they need from a minivan-and we know how those things sell.
 
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