2.7 vs 3.5 ltr Eco-Boost F-150

[Lucky_P]

The time's come for us to get another pickup.
Looking at F-150 4x4s. Will be mainly used for routine stuff around the farm and some light hauling... 2 or 3 horses on occasion, rarely maybe 8-10 calves.
Looking at models with either the 2.7 or 3.5 liter Eco-Boost engine.
Probably 95 days out of 100, the 2.7 liter engine would be plenty of power... but have some concern that we might need the 3.5 if we needed to load as many as a dozen calves into a 16' gooseneck.

Thoughts? Other recommendations?

 

[Silver]

I would go with the bigger one. And get airbags installed. But that's just me.

 

[Craig Miller]

I know a guy that hauls as many calves as he can fit on a 16' gooseneck cattle trailer and as many as 18 rolls hay with the 3.5 ecoboost.

 

[dun]

3.5 L Econoost. I have that in mine and am always surprised at the loads it can haul. Mileage sucks when towing though

 

[Atimm693]

From what I read the 5.0 is the engine to have for power and longevity.

Close friend had both, the 3.5 was giving him problems around 100k, he has a 5.0 now and loves it. Doesn't haul much but drives the wheels off of the thing.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

If you are not going to be running the wheels off of it empty I would have a hard time going with anything besides the 3.5. 375 hp and 475 ft-lbs would be very nice.

 

[tom4018]

From what I read the 5.0 is the engine to have for power and longevity.

Close friend had both, the 3.5 was giving him problems around 100k, he has a 5.0 now and loves it. Doesn't haul much but drives the wheels off of the thing.

Local Ford dealer techs tell me if you have an Eco Boost that you need to keep it under warranty, they say repairs are expensive. My company van has the 3.5 Eco Boost. It gets about 2.5 mpg better than the 5.4 in the previous van and has great power. Currently has 47,000 on it and has had a throttle body issue, which must be common according to the dealer. When it when I was stuck on the side of the road for a couple hours. It has great power as it is pushing around 8,000 pounds every day. Company leases these and will get rid of it around 100,000 so they try to avoid high mileage problems with any of them.

 

[jdg]

I have owned the Ford 3.5 Ltr, 5.0 Ltr., and now have a Dodge 1500 3.0 turbodiesel. The ford 3.5 was quick and sporty, and had good low engine grunt. It got okay gas mileage poking around (15mpg), great gas mileage traveling unloaded at 55-60 mph (19-20mpg), and god-awful if pulling any weight. (7-10mpg). The 5.0 were mostly bullet proof, got better gas mileage pulling things, and were a good bit cheaper. The 3.0 is the first Dodge i've ever owned. Better fuel economy than any of the fords doing everything listed above. As much as 25mpg on road. I've only got 45k on it so far, so jury is still out on longevity. I actually like my Dodge better than the Fords. I got the Ram boxes (toolboxes built into rear panel sides) and the Outdoorsman edition. I wish everyone made toolboxes built into the sides of their bodies, everything is extremely accessible. Haven't owned a chevy yet, my local dealership just carries Ram and Ford. If your set on Ford, I would buy the 5.0. Or if you have $70k laying around, get the 6.7 turbodiesel 2500. Everybody i know loves those, but durn they're expensive.