oceanluvr30

Looking at replacing my current tow vehicle with a used F150 to tow my 20' CC and wonder which engine and set up you Ford guys prefer? 3.5 v 3.5 etc...

Konrad

How much weight will you be towing? I have an F250 that has been in the shop and my loaner vehicle was a F150 with 2.7 Ecoboost. That is a very peppy motor and gets great mpg.

Bamaman

I recently bought a new 2020 F150 STX with a bunch of options for $31K. Its 2.7 Ecoboost engine is remarkably quick when it's in Sport Mode--running the quarter mile in the 14's. I usually get 20.5 mpg towing around town, but have got 25.5 mpg on a 55 mph highway run. We love the truck.

I towed my 4500 pound 24' tritoon with it, and it's got plenty of pulling power for it's rated capacity. Over 7000 lbs.towing,, the 3.5 Ecoboost is the way to go.

Last year, I rented a F150 5.0 to tow a utility trailer. I found it pretty lethargic towing around town. But when you rev that engine over 3500 rpms, it suddenly gets strong. I was getting 20 mpg with it.

autobaun70

Define towing, as it applies to you? What are the rest of your needs?

iFishMD

How long do you keep a truck? How frequently do you tow?

Milehog

With a 20' CC the 2.7 is the hot ticket.

dcgator

Get the 3.5 or power boost. You never know when you will want a bigger boat.

RickC137

This is a 2.7 towing a near 5,000 pound rig. It's adequate. I don't tow enough to justify anything bigger, and my truck is only rated to tow 5k pounds anyway. You can see the truck is fairly level, and that 2.7L engine is a beast.

oceanluvr30

I basically use my truck to tow my 20" CC local from storage to boat ramp 10-20 miles at a clip and a few trips a year to the keys, a 5 - 6 hour drive. Boat is probably in the 4500 lb range fully loaded. Not interested in any GM products, had a Dodge Ram and currently a Nissan Frontier which is under powered for trips to the keys.

Triton220

3.5 EB all day. My dad Just picked up this 2020 Sport 4x4 with the 3.5, great combo pulls the 2410 like it not back there. You can never have too much power!

oceanluvr30

I don't mind keeping a truck for a long time as I take care of my equipment. I had a Dodge Ram with the tow package and I liked it a lot until some punks stole it and totaled it. I now have my son's Nissan Frontier which I use now. He got married and moved to Denmark so that's my current tow vehicle and just miss a bit more power.

weems

You want the 3.5.

Parthery

Ok - I’ll be the contrarian. My F-150 has the 5.0. The key is to lock out the top 3 gears when towing. Maxing out in 7th gear puts the RPMs right in the sweet spot for torque.

Love mine....

38P6

I have the 2.7 and love it, it has more power then I need. Test drive all 3 motors and you will want the 3.5, then in second place is the 2.7. You can usually get a much better deal on the 2.7 and thats why I bought mine, but, I would rather have the 3.5.

nicecast

Another vote for 3.5. Just bought a FX4 and I get around 20 blended MPG driving in eco mode; 23 or so on the highway.

Also, fun as hell to drive. The truck feels so light and quick compared to my prior Silverado with the 5.3.

mikefloyd

Ford only uses the 3.5 EB in their max tow package; that should answer your question.

NCfire

2021 models can have either 3.5 EB or 5.0 from my understanding.

oceanluvr30

3.5 it is...thanks, guys! Now the problem is to find a good deal on a gently used one...

BACKTOTHESEA

One point of consideration is the fuel. While both are rated for 87 octane, peak performance is using premium. The HP loss for the two engines is pretty similar but with the 3.5 your starting at quite a bit higher HP figures. The difference in cost of premium vs regular by me is 40 cents plus. Could easily see annual fuel cost savings of $4-500 which may help justify the cost differential.

just something to consider IMO.

eman6501

You're better off buying new instead of a 1 or 2 year old new. Factory's are pretty aggressive with rebates and cheap money to loan. Son just got a 0% loan along with a $2k rebate on his Titan.