Kicking around buying an F-250. Not interested in a diesel. Any views on the subject engine?

My brother has one in his F150, no issues with it to date and he is a fussy bugger about his vehicles. I think he has about 40K miles on it. It produces lots of power, he pulls a 32' 8K lb trailer with it and has no issues with the hills.

What year? I know you didn't ask about them, but I have always heard the GM 6.0 is pretty bulletproof, even from non-GM guys. The big Hemi is attractive to me, but it didn't do as well as expected in some towing tests. My dad has a 2500HD Ram with the 5.7 Hemi and I have heard no complaints from him about the motor. It feels pretty quick to me, but I have only driven it unloaded. I don't know about the Ford, but the suspension was pretty weak last time I looked at new trucks (2011). They may have stiffened it up a bit. A pretty good review of the gassers is found below.

Review Here

What year Ed?

Purpose? Hauling loads; trailering?

I ask as the rear suspension is designed more like a sedan than a truck.

eta: on newer models.

2015 and towing a 4000# travel trailer.

Engine is probably just fine. The ford has always been a 'squatter' compared to the other two with a load. Have they stiffened up the frames and suspension on them in any way for 2015? I am sure any of the three will do the job you ask of it.

That's not terrible heavy and you could always use a distributing hitch if it sags too much. Don't know anything about the motor. Have a powerstroke in my '11 SD.

I don't know about longevity, but I test drove one in a crew cab short bed a few weeks ago. Thing ran like a scalded dog! I mean it would move out and right now.

I've driven just about everything ford has put in a pickup in the last 20 years, and this was the most responsive and peppy feeling motor I've seen in a 3/4 ton pickup. Of course I didn't tow anything and the truck I was driving had a 3:78 rear end, but I'd bet it would pull the house down as far as gassers go.

seems like those who have the 6.2 s like them , but gas mileage is on the dismal side at 12 to 14 ish in average farm use

and like alot of newer V8s , the motor likes rpms and will downshift alot with heavy loads , though I am sure it would handle a 4000 lb trailer easily

wouldn't think a 4000 lb trailer would squat a F250 much either

You can tow that with a station wagon. Don't need a 3/4 ton for that unless you just want one. Hell, my 2011 f150was rated for 11k pounds.i pulled 5k pounds of boat and gear all over mn and wi without even knowing it was back there.

Edm,

I have a 2015 F250 with the 6.2 liter that is about 18 months old now. I ordered mine as I wanted a 4.30 rear end. Mine is a Crew Cab 6.5 foot bed 4x4 FX4.

I tow a Primetime Crusader 360BH fifth wheel. Dry weight is right around 12,100 pounds. I have no trouble pulling the fiver. I did install Firestone air bags in the back as the truck did sag. I run around 55 pounds in them when the fiver is hooked up.

I used to live in Kansas City when we bought the truck, but in October last year we moved to New Mexico. I loaded the fiver with 50+ firearms, 5000+ rounds of ammo, all my reloading gear, all my reloading components, food for 5 days, and filled the water tank with 30 gallons of water. It would be safe to say it was probably 13,500-14,000 pounds. I went to left Kansas City and drove N on I29 and then on I80 over to Wyoming. I then left the pavement and drove 8 miles through a ranch to hunt Antelope. No issues. Then I drove down I25 through Colorado to Albuquerque and moved into our new house.



All that weight, the rockies, I80 headwinds, etc... at 65 mph I averaged 10.4 MPG. Handcalculated.

I would buy another one in an instant.

I have owned 2 other F250's, both diesel. I had a 2003 7.3 powerstroke and a 2008 6.4 liter powerstroke.

I pulled our old fiver with the 6.4 liter and it weighed about 10,000 pounds loaded and the best mileage I ever was able to achieve was 12 mpg. That truck ran a clean exhaust ( no DPF or Doc) and a tuner. I pulled the new camper over the same route with the 6.2 liter gasser and I averaged 11.0 mpg, and that was when the truck was new.

Yes the gas does not pull in the hills like a diesel, nothing does. I just drop her into 4th and let the engine and trans do the work.

Unloaded on the highway at 75 mph I get 14-14.5 depending on headwind.

Some Cons:
Throttle response is sluggish. My 6.4 diesel was the same way and did not change until I installed a tuner.
Brakes squeak a bit. My fault coming down the backside of a mountain in northern NM. It was the middle of the night and before I knew it the fiver was pushing me faster and faster. I had to downshift and use the brakes not only on the fiver, but the trucks as well.

Some Pros:
Oil changes are less expensive as is the maintenance. I do all my own work and have done that since I started driving. Only having 7 quarts of oil instead of 16 is nice, and not having to change that under the rail fuel filter ever 10k will be nice as well.

It really is a nice riding truck and with the 4.30 rear end, pulling the trailer is a breeze.

If you expect any better than that out of a 3/4-1 ton gasser you're delusional.

I dont "expect" more ....just stating a fact LOL

but you would think with all of our vast technical advances , engineers could design a 3/4 ton gasser that would get 15+ highway milege

I thought I remembered reading that 3/4 ton and bigger trucks are exempt from EPA ratings so there's no real driver for the car makers to spend the money to improve mpg's....hopefully I didn't just make that up.

might'nt the real "driver" be demand from the customers ?

who migtht need a 3/4 ton but really dont wanna buy any more gas than they have to ?


there would be demand for a 3/4 ton gas that gets milege like a diesel( or at least , closer ) , pulls like a diesel , yet has'nt got the all drawbacks our present smog-choked diesels have

I have the 6.0 in a 2005 Chev 2500HD. So far am really liking it..

pre6422hornet, that's an excellent write up and also excellent mileage with a 250 gasser and 4.30 gears. Well done.

I have a 2014 FX4 with the 6.2 as other have said it likes gas you will not use it everyday as the family grocery getter. It has plenty of power I haven't towed anything with mine yet. This coming November I will have had it for 2yrs and it doesn't even have 11,000 on it yet. My intent is to get trailer eventually that's why I got it. mine is geared 4.10 if I remember correctly.

79s, what is your mileage?

i have a 2015 f250 super crew fx4 with the 6.2. i only tow a ton or so in a trailer and it goes up and down mountains with no problems at all. mileage is about 14 without towing. lots of power and if you take off the traction control it will lay down a patch of rubber like a gto. i like it so far.

Ed-
I don't know if you've looked at them, but I'd go Tundra in a heart beat.

I was shopping for a truck to pull a boat and test drove them all. To me, Tundra was hands down the best of the bunch. Built in the U.S. to boot.

The 5.7 is a hell of an engine.

12.5 to 13.5 mpg But mine isn't even broke in yet. I do not run ethanol in mine either talk about [bleep] mileage 8.5-9.0 mpg makes you remember the glory days of gas guzzling wonders 460 lol.

I'm kind of a sucker for overkill myself. If you've got any plans of running west into the headwinds, it makes sense. My Dakota is rated for somewhere between 4 & 5 k, but I'd rather not pull anything on that leg of the trip.

I like the Tundra and will be trading mt Tacoma this fall to either a Tundra or F150.

Would you consider the smaller Tundra engine offering?

Why would you? The 4.7 was fine in the 1st gen Tundra, but that was a lot smaller truck than the current version. The mpg gains are next to nothing compared to the difference in power.

If you're going to tow anything I'd get a 5.7. I've had my Tundra for 7 years with no issues. I tow a 5K boat effortlessly, and have towed up to 8K with no problems. For the significant extra HP and Torque, with a minimal 1-2 mpg loss, it's kind of a no brainer.

If you never tow, or keep it super light, maybe you could go with the smaller engine.

Thanks for the info. Your point on mileage is well taken.

I have a 2011 F250 with the 6.2. I actually like the engine pretty well. The transmission is really nice. The mileage is the worst of any truck I have ever owned. It gets right at 10 MPG around town unloaded. I don't get it on the highway much. As others have mentioned, it's sags really bad with a load. I really don't like the suspension at all.

I have a 2013 F250 with the 6.2. It's a CC LB 4X4 with 3.73 rear. I get 15.8 - 16.1 on the highway at 70 (hand calculated) running 85 or 87 octane fuel.

It does ride a bit rough but I figure it's a 3/4 ton truck with solid axles. I drive a sedan day to day.

You simply can't accelerate a 6000# truck, with enough power to tow a laod and move all that air out of the way without burning fuel.

The fuel efficiency advances in cars is from making them light weight, aerodynamic and putting small engines in them.

Yep. That said, I don't mind paying for MPG if the power is there. A return drive of the truck convinced me it wan't.

Remarkable mileage, indeed.

my 15 f250 4x4 supercrew with the 6.2 and 3.73 rear just turned over 10k. on a highway trip the other day i got 13.3 mpg. and that was with cruise set at 73 for most of the way. PA hills are tough on gas mileage.

Especially considering I never broke 20 with my 2009 extended cab 4.0 liter Tacoma with the 6 speed manual.

GU, I wasn't poking fun at all if it was taken that way. I, too, have noticed a definite increase in my gas mileage once I get far enough north and west to start using the lower octanes.

2 friends have Tacomas w/V-6 engines, auto trannys and neither gets above 14-15 mpg. Hard to believe,,,sorta.

For the year I lived in WI my mileage in my Frontier never got above 17 and was closer to 15-16 most of the time. Since I've moved back to NM in January I haven't seen a tank under 19

I didn't take it that way at all. What I always figured was the problem with the Tacoma (at least for gas mileage) was that it was geared very low in the axles and consequently cruised at reasonably high RPMs on the highway. I owned it for about 3 years and sold it when it no longer suited my needs but it was a great truck.

FWIW, the 4.7 is gone. It was replaced a few years ago by the then new 4.6. The 4.7 was rated for anywhere from 240-281 HP depending on the year of the truck. The newer 4.6 is rated for 310 HP and reviews when it came out said it didn't give up much to the 5.7, though I'd bet that gas mileage didn't improve all that much, either, likely making the 5.7 the better choice.