Ford F150 3.0 Diesel

D

Discovery

Active member
Has anyone bought, or test-driven the Ford F150 3.0 diesel truck? I am thinking of giving the F150 a look. It has a tow rating to up to 11,700# This would be close to the weight of the TomCat. I haven't used the TomCat in almost 2 years and keep thinking we should sell it. My F350 is a 2012, but has only 51,000 miles on it. I have offers of $33,023 cash for the '12 F350. New 2019 F150's are on sale for $45,000 and 2020's are not much more. If I can go from 2012 to 2020 for $15,000 and still have a tow vehicle for the TomCat, it's attractive.

Opinions? Do any TomCat owners want to chime in?
 
$15,000 buys a lot of gas, tires, and maintenance for the F350. And it is my understanding the 3.0 was dropped for 2020, but I don't know anything. I have found the newer F150s to tow heavy things extremely well and I have a 2015 4x4 crew cab with a 5.0. The most I have towed with it is a small skidsteer - probably 9-10k on the trailer and it was no issue at all and towed this load very well. The 3.5 ecoboost is a beast, but I know you're not looking in that direction, that is until you drive one. The 3.0 diesel has some history you should research. A nice review:

https://news.pickuptrucks.com/2018/04/2 ... grunt.html
 
I have a 3.0 f-150. Have not towed my 25 with it yet but intend to this fall. Tows my 21 ft travel trailer just fine at 14. Mph. Gets 25-27 hiway about 23 in town
 
I was looking at the F150 diesel and was impressed with the test drive. The deal killer for me was the low payload numbers
 
Brent, After having 5 replacement turbos in my F350 (I bought one, Ford bought the other 4), I can understand the itch to replace a truck with something newer. I’m just not comfortable with a F150 pulling and stopping a load that is so close to the the tow numbers of the smaller truck.

 
Wandering Sagebrush":1p67km0p said:
Brent, After having 5 replacement turbos in my F350 (I bought one, Ford bought the other 4), I can understand the itch to replace a truck with something newer. I’m just not comfortable with a F150 pulling and stopping a load that is so close to the the tow numbers of the smaller truck.

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Steve, If I don't use the TomCat any more that I have in the last two years, the tow capacity doesn't matter. I still have a 24' box trailer to haul my vintage vehicles, but I think the F150 would be OK there.
 
We test drove all of the major brands pickups In both 150 and 250 series in Nov. 2019. We ended up choosing the F 250 with heavy duty towing package (Class V 2 1/2" receiver) and the 6.7L diesel.

We didn't feel that the 10 speed transmission was necessary (there were no 2020's available locally then in the 250).

We felt the ride in the 250 and 150 were comparable.

The kicker was that the limit that most pickups put on pulling with "bumper" (vs goose neck or 5th wheel towing) is that a weight distribution hitch was required at over 5,000 lb tow weight. I realize that many most do not use the weight distribution hitch. We had gone to it with our first C Dory 25, and found it definitely made a difference. The F 250 with HD tow package allows full tow capacity without weight distribution hitch. There is minimal "sag" with the 800# of hitch weight we run on the C Dory 25.

No question that you would probably get better fuel economy with the 3 Liter. But the torque is far less, and I believe the engine would be running faster (reason for 10 speed--most of the gears are at higher end and closely spaced for fuel economy). We are averaging about 16 mpg in our "city driving", 22 mpg on the highway empty and about 12-13 on the highway towing (depends on speed).
 
Wandering Sagebrush":22paqri4 said:
Brent, After having 5 replacement turbos in my F350 (I bought one, Ford bought the other 4), I can understand the itch to replace a truck with something newer. I’m just not comfortable with a F150 pulling and stopping a load that is so close to the the tow numbers of the smaller truck.

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Is yours a 2011?
 
T.R. Bauer":32fr3qr2 said:
Wandering Sagebrush":32fr3qr2 said:
Brent, After having 5 replacement turbos in my F350 (I bought one, Ford bought the other 4), I can understand the itch to replace a truck with something newer. I’m just not comfortable with a F150 pulling and stopping a load that is so close to the the tow numbers of the smaller truck.

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Is yours a 2011?
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No, it’s a 2014. Problems started at roughly 74,000 miles. The first 4 turbos were remanufactured. The last was factory fresh.
 
I just wondered - I heard that year has some concerns. Replacing a turbo is no fun, but happens. They sure area expensive! And like you I have had a terrible time getting good quality remanufactured/rebuilt parts the first time around. Just for example, I went through 3 NAPA starters for a 6.2 diesel in a period of about a week last winter. They weren't cheap parts - just not any good! I finally got a decent one, but I'm not really confident in it either as it doesn't spin the engine over that fast even with my fresh new batteries.
 
I appreciate everyone's input on the F150 with a 3.0 diesel. I'm going to keep the F350.

My 2012 F350 has only 51,00 miles and I only use it for towing, or when I need to haul something. Otherwise, it sits. We have a 2017 Chrysler 300S and a 2017 Jeep Sahara JKU that get used. With this Covid-19 we can't go anywhere anyway.

We planned to be on the TomCat in the Broughtons in BC now if the world was normal.
 
jkidd":2pdnlw0t said:
Brent bring the Tomcat up to Yellowstone next week there will be a few of us up there.
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Jody, I sent you an email.

Well on second look, I sent myself an email.

Can you fill in the details on Yellowstone? When, where and who? also Mussel requirements. PM me.
 
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