F150 honest review

Joined
Aug 10, 2020
Messages
345
Location
Golden Meadow, LA
So for the longest time I was one of those guys who would bash Ford for the sake of bashing Ford, saying they were junk and I’d never own one, the whole time having never owned one. Well that sure was stupid. Two years ago I needed a work truck and bought the truck pictured below, as is no warranty from a local dealer. It had 152k and has the 3.7 V6. Since I bought it and at around 156k when I finally had enough and decided to get it checked out, it had this weird vibration. Brought it to a friend of mine and he discovered that you could grab the output shaft of the tranny and move it up and down by hand. Needless to say Ill never deal with that dealer again. He swapped in a tranny from Autozone and besides a water pump and brakes and basic maintenance, the truck has been flawless. You cant beat the back seat room, the truck just handles and rides great. What Im saying is I went from hating Ford vehicles for no apparent reason to saying Im sticking with a Ford truck from here on out. While a gas guzzler in a crew cab truck, the engine is stone dead reliable, never had any issues. But my next F150 will definitely have a V8 or 3.5 Ecoboost for more towing capacity, 4 wheel drive, the large 36 gallon fuel tank, and a 6.5 foot bed. I wanted to trade it in recently, but with the current prices of vehicles Ill hold onto it for a while. I’ll make someone a great deal when Im ready to sell it. Just wanted to give an honest review on how I went from saying Id never own a Ford to saying Id own one without a doubt.
 

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Most guys are very biased when it comes to trucks.

The best way to buy an F150 is to custom order one. Finding the exact new one you'd want on the lot is rare.
You can equip an F150 with options that would serve many F250 owners better instead.

The heavy duty payload package with the larger 9.75" 3.73:1 gear set as an example. Then there is the Max trailer tow package.

If you want the big tow mirrors on a new F150, they must be ordered as a separate option now.

If I were to tow in the Poconos..., I'd choose a 3.5 Ecoboost. Florida, Louisiana and Texas I'd get the 5.0.


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Most guys are very biased when it comes to trucks.

The best way to buy an F150 is to custom order one. Finding the exact new one you'd want on the lot is rare.
You can equip an F150 with options that would serve many F250 owners better instead.

The heavy duty payload package with the larger 9.75" 3.73:1 gear set as an example. Then there is the Max trailer tow package.

If you want the big tow mirrors on a new F150, they must be ordered as a separate option now.

If I were to tow in the Poconos..., I'd choose a 3.5 Ecoboost. Florida, Louisiana and Texas I'd get the 5.0.
Yup. I've driven/used all the brands. I'm not partial to one brand, but there are definitely models from each I won't buy. Ex: F150 5.4L V8.
 
I used to be a nothing but a GM truck, never considering a Ford or RAM. Well - my current truck is Ram Limited 4x4 and didn't know what I was missing in terms of ride quality and interior luxury over my past trucks with the last one being a Sierra Denali. Ram's middle grade truck trim is better than GM's top level.
 
Yup. I've driven/used all the brands. I'm not partial to one brand, but there are definitely models from each I won't buy. Ex: F150 5.4L V8.
OK, I don't drive these things but I have to ask - what is wrong with the Ford 5.4 liter V8 in their pickup?
 
For years, decades in fact I owned a Ford, and still do. I should never say never, but odds are I will never own another Ford.
 
OK, I don't drive these things but I have to ask - what is wrong with the Ford 5.4 liter V8 in their pickup?
Expensive timing chain issues, and they like to shoot spark plugs out of the head, stripping threads in the process. Local dealerships have a rule - when replacing spark plugs in 5.4L they will fix up to 3 stripped threads, and every additional stripped thread is $30 each to the customer. Needless to say, spark plug service becomes quite pricey. DIY almost always ends up in stripped spark plug threads, and a tow service to the mechanic to install a helicoil.
 
Expensive timing chain issues, and they like to shoot spark plugs out of the head, stripping threads in the process. Local dealerships have a rule - when replacing spark plugs in 5.4L they will fix up to 3 stripped threads, and every additional stripped thread is $30 each to the customer. Needless to say, spark plug service becomes quite pricey. DIY almost always ends up in stripped spark plug threads, and a tow service to the mechanic to install a helicoil.
Is that still an issue? Those spark plug ejection and two-piece plugs were eons ago I thought. Surely to goodness they resolved that issue in the last 10 years.
 
Is that still an issue? Those spark plug ejection and two-piece plugs were eons ago I thought. Surely to goodness they resolved that issue in the last 10 years.
It was supposedly fixed in 2008, but I know a guy with a 2010 who still had that issue with all passenger side plugs, and one driver side plug.
 
Expensive timing chain issues, and they like to shoot spark plugs out of the head, stripping threads in the process. Local dealerships have a rule - when replacing spark plugs in 5.4L they will fix up to 3 stripped threads, and every additional stripped thread is $30 each to the customer. Needless to say, spark plug service becomes quite pricey. DIY almost always ends up in stripped spark plug threads, and a tow service to the mechanic to install a helicoil.
Don't lump 2V 5.4s in with the cam phaser 3V 5.4s
I have a 98 5.4 that I bought new. I've know lots of guys with F150s over the years and I've never personally known any of them to throw a plug. Of the millions of mod motors that are in work vans, f150s and even f250s, I have to wonder how common that failure was. I've known one guy who had to do cam phasers on a 3V but he bought the truck used with no maintenance history.
I know you read about these issues a lot on the internet though.
 
Don't lump 2V 5.4s in with the cam phaser 3V 5.4s
I have a 98 5.4 that I bought new. I've know lots of guys with F150s over the years and I've never personally known any of them to throw a plug. Of the millions of mod motors that are in work vans, f150s and even f250s, I have to wonder how common that failure was. I've known one guy who had to do cam phasers on a 3V but he bought the truck used with no maintenance history.
I know you read about these issues a lot on the internet though.
I was under impression that @FowVay was asking about more recent models. But if pre-2000 F150 is on his radar, then those 2V are a safer bet. But also come with their own set of quirks and issues.
 
Yes, I was curious about newer models or rather why someone would avoid a 5.4 liter vehicle on something new. Apparently the issues that have been brought up were on vehicles 12 - 23 years ago.
 
My son bought a 2013 F150 brand new.
It has had more problems then I can list here.
He still has it and besides all the problems it's a nice truck.
But 2 years ago he bought a 2018 Mustang GT as a toy.
Go figure.
 
Most guys are very biased when it comes to trucks.

The best way to buy an F150 is to custom order one. Finding the exact new one you'd want on the lot is rare.
You can equip an F150 with options that would serve many F250 owners better instead.

The heavy duty payload package with the larger 9.75" 3.73:1 gear set as an example. Then there is the Max trailer tow package.

If you want the big tow mirrors on a new F150, they must be ordered as a separate option now.

If I were to tow in the Poconos..., I'd choose a 3.5 Ecoboost. Florida, Louisiana and Texas I'd get the 5.0.


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I tend to agree. Two weeks ago, I drove from Cincinnati to Brevard, NC in my ‘19 SC 3.5 with the bed & rear seat completely full of luggage & pulling a 24’, ~9500lb trailer averaging roughly 58 mph (slow companions), and the truck averaged 14.6 mpg. Pulling up & down the mountains was flawless, if a bit harrowing seeing tow mode kick the engine up to about 4K on downhill slopes to maintain speed.

Unloaded & with an E30 tune from 5 Star Tuning, my truck in the same physical configuration ran a ~10.65 second 0-100 sprint which can be found on this site.

Try to duplicate that with any other manufacturer’s half-ton with only a cold-air intake & tune!!
 
It's all about finding what you like and what makes you happy. I've owned 4 Ford trucks and none were trouble free but they weren't complete junk either. I didn't have particularly good luck with my last F-150 but it did drive nice, got decent MPG for a pickup, and was very capable. I definitely understand why they're able to sell a boatload of them.
 
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