They are starting to interest me.
I drive a 2003 F150, and I like the new Aluminum body trucks and in the Spring 2018 the diesel will be available in a F150.
They might be able to get my business.
whelennut

Why a diesel in a half ton truck?
All the hassles of a diesel but none of the benefits.

Diesels don't get good enough mileage to justify the added expense just for driving plus the price of diesel is higher than gas. They're made for heavy hauling. If you don't do that, they're a loser.

I didn't want to say, but I agree with the above two. No way I would want a light duty diesel.

The main reason I'd maybe want a diesel in a half-ton or even compact truck would be crazy-good MPG. If it can't offer that, then you guys are right, it won't be worth it.

My 2016 Ram 3500 CC 6.7 deisel gets 18-19 around town and has gotten up to 22 on highway while having a 4400# pound payload and towing cap of 17k.....unless the ford is going to get up to that 28-30mph no reason IMO to own a Half Ton diesel......

As a side note as other have said - having a deisel isnt cheap....I use the dealer for oil and fuel filter changes and thats about $300 everytime i need both of those services done which for me is about twice a year, plus the cost of filling up a a 32 gallon tank with $3 deisel and around $20 in def every 3-4k miles...something to consider. However, once you have towed with a deisel, you will never want a gasser again.

New diesels have gotten ridiculous. Ford is probably the last one I’d want too.

Paying off a diesel and having it still have tons of life left at 200,000 miles is nothing to sneeze at the way truck prices are escalating.

Also, just went quail hunting today and spent some time on some sporty, semi-washed out mountain trails, where the torque of a diesel ROCKS. Drive it like a tractor at a steady 1500 RPMs and nothing fazes it.

I only tow occassionally, but I have zero regrets about splurging for a diesel in 2003 for a hunting truck. Almost guaranteed I would have had to replace a 2003 gasser by this time, with the way i use my hunting trucks. Instead, I have a LOT of truck left, all would indicate (oil analysis, etc.)

If you're going to swap it out every few years, I agree. Go gasser.

For me, buying a diesel hunting truck with the long view in mind was unquestionably the correct decision.

BTW, my truck uses 10 quarts of oil as from the factory. I have a secondary bypass filter which ups the capacity by a quart. 3 gallons of Mobil 1 TurboDiesel 5W/40 run me roughly $70, plus $10 for a Mobil1 oil filter is $80. I usually send Blackstone $25 for an oil analysis when the oil has 12K on it, and have been dropping it at 20,000 miles just on principle, as both times I sent it in at 20,000 miles the lab said it was good for another 5-10,000 miles.

I do the work myself, which I realize not everyone wants to do, but my oil and lube costs me $100 and about an hour of labor, including hitting the zerks with a grease gun, every 20,000 miles or so.

I ain't complainin'. Truck purrs like a kitten still.

And yes, new diesels have gotten ridiculous price-wise, and all that emissions horsesh!t is something I am glad my Duramax predates. Circa 2003 California emissions is bad enough.

Diesels really do excell in tooling around the back country at idle, burning half a gallon an hour. When running into town for fuel takes four or five hours, that's a big deal.

As far as longevity, my Tacos do 300K miles a heck of a lot cheaper.

Now, if Ford actually makes a truck with a decent payload (say, more than the redhead's minivan, unlike Dodge's diesel), I might be curious enough to take a look and see if they make it in a trim level a farmer can use....

If they put a Cummins in it and beefed it up slightly , I’d be interested. A compact Tractor would fling the back end of my 2104 f150 around like a rag doll when loading on trailer.

I have a 2016 Colorado 2.8 d max diesel. Put 35k on it so far and love it. 28 mpg running 75-80 with ac on. Can change oil with full sun and ac delco filter for $45. Oil filter goes in from the top. Very easy. Fuel filters every 25k. They are cheap and stupid easy to change. Will pull my 30 hp compact kubota b7800 with feel and 5' bush hog on a 18' equip trailer or my 20' center console much better than my previous 1500 z-71 crew cabs. 7700 towing capacity ain't bad for a 4 cyl. What's not to like? Mine is a "long bed" which is 5'11" I believe.

Ford already mfg's the little diesel for Range Rover and RR has already jumped through a bunch of hoops for emissions. The RR's are getting 28 mpg and weight the same as the aluminum f-150's. Speculation is that Ford will tune it for better fuel economy than the Dodge Eco Diesel, so upwards of 30 mpg possibly? Might be cool, other than the DEF and regen crap.

I'd want to wait at least 5 years to see if the light duty diesels have any where near the reliability and durability of the diesels in the 3/4 and 1 tons. Ford has put out some dud diesels in the full size trucks, I'd not want to be their guinea pig for the light duty diesels.

Unless Ford has worked some aerodynamic magic, color me highly skeptical of a 30 mpg truck.

That sounds like you had too much weight behind the trailer axle making it too light on the hitch. That can cause a jackknife.

Dodge is seeing 28 with the Eco Diesel.

I know guys with 4bt's in old Ford's that are close to that 30 mpg's without being housed in an aluminum truck with a 10 speed trans.

The motor has been in the Range Rover for a while, but yeah, they've screwed the pooch on several diesels.

Ford has been selling a diesel Ranger (new one built in Thailand) in Australia for years now, and they have a pretty good reputation with the Aussies. A lot of them have been buying the Ranger as opposed to the new HiLuxes from Toyota. I read their comments now and then, and the one thing I've figured out is that they do NOT like the common-rail small diesels, though I have no idea WTF a common-rail diesel is.

Australia is now importing ALL their vehicles, since GM closed the Holden plant, and everyone else has pulled out, too.

Common rail direct fuel injection is a direct fuel injection system for diesel engines. On diesel engines, it features a high-pressure (over 100 bar or 10 MPa or 1,500 psi) fuel rail feeding individual solenoid valves, as opposed to a low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors (or pump nozzles).

Exactly, for a daily driver things just don't add up. When they build a Diesel truck, a Colorado or half ton that will get about 35 MPG or more they might just get my attention.

Was in the newspaper this AM. Ford has been doctoring the emissions results of their diesels. Sounded a little like Volkswagons

Ought ole, Houston we have a problem.

Alleged to have been doctoring, alleged by the law firm of Hagens Berman who is the biggest ambulance chaser in the nation. Take a look at their outstanding lawsuits, including claims against both GM and Ram diesel engines - Click Here.

Here is Ford's responds to the complaint -

“All Ford vehicles, including those with diesel engines, comply with all U.S. EPA and CARB emissions regulations,” Ford spokesman Daniel Barbosa said in an emailed statement. “Ford vehicles do not have defeat devices. We will defend ourselves against these baseless claims.”

Click Here

Speaking of half ton Diesel trucks, you guys seen where Chevy is going to offer an inline 6 Cylinder Diesel in 2019. Yelp they said an Inline 3 Liter 6 Cylinder Diesel. That should be very interesting to see which brand gets the better fuel mileage.

Only way I will buy another Diesel truck is, its fuel mileage on the road would have to be in the mid 30's. Already got a 2006 Chevy 2500HD D/A with 82,000 miles sitting in the garage, it covers the heavy towing, but I would like to have a smaller daily driver to replace my old S-10 that has 135,000 miles on it.