Head scratcher about EPA mileage...

[JB400]

Please be more specific. What are you comparisons?

Ford F150  Your Ecoboost cost $45k.  V8 costs in the $20's.  Like I said, there is only 1-3 mpg diff.  I can buy a heck of a lot more gas for $20k and still have all the options as the Ecoboost without the heat of the turbos or the maintence.

[Steve P.]

Well, from what I have seen the Eco-boost in equal trucks has a $1000.00 up charge. Now if you try to find out prices online as I did, you will be handed a million answers that are all over the place...

I have been on some other site asking those that own them and so far all love the truck but one. He says he tows 4-5 days per week and it gets lousy mileage while towing. I figured that was a given, myself!!  Otherwise he loves the truck but misses the V-8 sound...

I don't want to hear the motor of a factory anything truck and I only tow now and then. The truck is comfortable for me and even the mileage he gets towing what he says is about 5K pounds in a closed trailer, he gets better mileage than I do unloaded with my 250 now!!

So again, I am open for more info, but so far the F-150 with Eco-boost is on top of the list.  The Ram with 5.7 is what I want to look at next..

I wish Ram would drop a diesel in a 1/2 ton mega cab.. Throw in some air bags and a very short bed and we might just have something....   

[JB400]

I agree. Everyone I talked to enjoys their Ecoboost as well.  Ford definitely has a winner there, but I don't see much benefit in the way of cost though.  I'm also looking at parts as well.  None of the turbos that I know of, thier manifolds crack.  Dunno about the Ecoboost, time will tell.
I have heard great things about the voice commands as well.  No problems yet.  Navigation is one of the best out there.

I haven't heard anything on the Rams yet.  I just wish they still had the leaf springs in the rear.  It's the only truck in half ton that doesn't have them.  3/4 Rams do though.  I do prefer the Ram simply because it's a Mopar.

[Cooter]

Turbo + small V6 in Heavy truck +; Gov. wanting more MPG while public wanting more power while towing = Warranty engines out the ass. No way that little V6 is gonna last. I see it going the way of the 6.0 Liter Diesel in Ford's line up. Boy, I'd like to meet the complete dumbass that designed that turd.

[Steve P.]

There is no telling till they have been out for a while, but I do not tow on a regular basis and don't haul big load often either. I wish I could afford to keep my present truck and add to it some little shit box that I could use around town and running to all these doctors, but Florida sucks for car insurance. My insurance would double if I put a second vehicle on the road.. I pay 1200 bucks a year now... Honestly I would be better off selling my truck and both trailers and just using taxi's..

Also for those looking at the 5.0L it is NOT the 5.0 they have been making for years.. This is a completely new motor.

[JB400]

There is no telling till they have been out for a while, but I do not tow on a regular basis and don't haul big load often either. I wish I could afford to keep my present truck and add to it some little shit box that I could use around town and running to all these doctors, but Florida sucks for car insurance. My insurance would double if I put a second vehicle on the road.. I pay 1200 bucks a year now... Honestly I would be better off selling my truck and both trailers and just using taxi's..

Also for those looking at the 5.0L it is NOT the 5.0 they have been making for years.. This is a completely new motor.

You just now figured that out?  Ford hasn't made a pushrod V8 in a production vehicle almost 2 decades now.

[Ghoste]

Trust me, Steve knows whats going on in the engine world.

[Steve P.]

Well Stroker, yes. I did just figure that out.. I have not spent much time under the hood of anything in 15 years. Since I broke my back. I do not work on them anymore and I do not study Fords.. These days I am more worried about comfort and being able to drive distance than anything else.

And TY Ghoste. I damn sure could build in my day, but honestly I don't stay up on today's motors as I just don't care about them.. But I still know some tricks!!!   

[Ghoste]

Well now you can color me surprised, I thought you were still building engines in spite of the other thing.

[Steve P.]

Well, the mind is going with the drugs I take, so I am getting to where I don't trust myself.. It use to be I didn't trust anyone else and now I have to depend on others.. Some things in life suck!! But thanks again for your faith.. I can always tell who has been around for a long time... hahahaha...

[JB400]

Sorry on my part.  It caught me by surprise as well.  I figured car guys pick up a Motortrend or HotRod everyonce in a while.  I guess not.  All is cool

[Mike DC]

   
The situation with vehicles and MPG is just like low-flowing toilets, low-energy using light bulbs, etc.  The American public expects cheap energy as a God-given right.  When we are using so much that this cannot be maintained, the govt starts rationing energy usage at the device instead of letting the price of the gasoline/water/electricity climb up (which would provoke a lot of screaming and yelling and people getting voted out of office.) 



Want less restricted vehicles, high-flowing toilets, and regular light bulbs? 

Then all we have to do is stop crying like a baby every time the fuel/utility prices themselves go up another penny.  We still have this stuff very cheap by worldwide standards.


 
But good luck getting the US public to go along with that. 

[mauve66]

i could see where for Steve's use the ecotech would make sense, he wouldn't be pushing the trk to its limit everyday so it would last longer, same reason someone wouldn't buy a 3500 when a 1500 or dakota would do what they want.  i think duallies are still cool, 1 ton trks with single wheels just don't do it for me, but the amount of towing i would do doesn't justify the cost fo the bigger trk when i KNOW a 1500 would take care of anything i will ever need to do.  I wish an older ramcharger would do it but everyone says it's not a good feeling going down the road at 70 mph.

change for the sake of change isn't always good, but we do have to evolve in life................. that's why i want a 540 instead of this little 383............

[rebby]

i could see where for Steve's use the ecotech would make sense, he wouldn't be pushing the trk to its limit everyday so it would last longer, same reason someone wouldn't buy a 3500 when a 1500 or dakota would do what they want.  i think duallies are still cool, 1 ton trks with single wheels just don't do it for me, but the amount of towing i would do doesn't justify the cost fo the bigger trk when i KNOW a 1500 would take care of anything i will ever need to do.  I wish an older ramcharger would do it but everyone says it's not a good feeling going down the road at 70 mph.

change for the sake of change isn't always good, but we do have to evolve in life................. that's why i want a 540 instead of this little 383............

They make trucks smaller than 1 tons? Why?









Lots of changes since then but no new pics. I'll get new ones done once my "deer killer" bumpers get installed. 

If it has spark plugs, it's not a truck. 

[Tilar]

Just like the new "Urea" "Cat converter" on the new Diesels. When the light on dash comes on for "Perform Re-Gen now", it means you drive at around 30 MPH (Which the computer limits the throttle so you CANNOT drive any faster), for over 1/2 hour.


This is to "Clean" the "Urea" (Yes, it litterally means Urine), filter. Good one Ford/EPA/GOV. Lemme know how this works out for you trying to sell $65K Diesel Trucks....

Damdest thing happened to my 2012 Cummins, the entire exhaust from the turbo back (including the DPF) and the entire EGR system feel off my truck at roughly 1500 miles. I had to replace the entire exhaust system as well as a great deal of the intake. Because I couldn't afford to reinvest in the factory components, I even had to add a tuner to the truck to disable all the DPF/EGR stuff. You'd think that a big expensive truck like this would have been built a little better. My mileage when up about 5 miles per gallon over night!

Hang on to all the stuff that disabled the DPF/EGR stuff, because you will eventually have to put it back on. The gooberment has already passed that one. http://www.hsperformance.com/press-release/ These guys have already pulled all their products off the shelves. It is now illegal to modify DPF and EGR systems and is being enforced with big fines. Fines also extend to the aftermarket installers, and may be applicable to prior installs.

Now, for those that don't know, the urea that Cooter mentioned, while urine does have urea in it, it's actually more in line with nitrogen and is highly corrosive. It's actually a fertilizer and we are burning it and putting it out into the air that we breath. It's only purpose in life when used as a "Diesel Exhaust Fluid" (DEF) is to do nothing more than fool exhaust testing equipment into believing the exhaust is cleaner than it actually is.

[rebby]

Wow! Thanks for pointing out that H&S press release. Time to dig a little deeper. DPF/EGR is long gone...

[Ghoste]

Hasn't it been illegal to modify or disable emission control systems for a very long time already?

[Cooter]

Hasn't it been illegal to modify or disable emission control systems for a very long time already?

Yeah, but you missed the point, now these newer cars/trucks KNOW WHEN you did it anyway...Unlike the older ones that you could "modify" the converter and still get away with it. The newer ones cause you all kinda of heartache if you do it now.

The days of the local idiot trying to repair/modify his truck/car/vehicle are almost gone. Anything you do now usually has an adverse effect on something else. Mainly down to "Bolt-on" Bullsh*t "Cold air" intakes and tuners kits. Good thing too, cause you haven't lived till you've put the same set of head gaskets on the same truck 5 times because the owner is a dumbass that can't/won't understand how to use that Methanol/water Injection kit that was REQUIRED to run the amount of supercharger/boost he bought for his new truck.

[Cooter]

They make trucks smaller than 1 tons? Why?


If it has spark plugs, it's not a truck.  

Well, that would be because many of us refuse to spend as much for one of those as some of us have in our homes. Now that means one of two things, either we have one helluva cheap home, or they have one helluva expensive truck. However you want to look at it, but I refuse to pay three prices just so I can say I have a 1 ton truck. I have a 3/4 ton, 4WD and works for me. I have about 1/100th of that trucks cost as far as money is concerend. IMO, it's kinda like a HEMI VS a Stroker wedge. All braggin' rights. Their are those that will pay for them, and those that refuse.


Again, beg to disagree. I have a truck with plugs that suits my needs just fine.  Practicality over pride, and I don't need a fifty acre field to turn mine around in either. "If it costs more than $40K, someone got f*cked"....

[440]

You can't beat a 73 - 79 Ford F Series Truck.

[rebby]

They make trucks smaller than 1 tons? Why?


If it has spark plugs, it's not a truck. 

Well, that would be because many of us refuse to spend as much for one of those as some of us have in our homes. Now that means one of two things, either we have one helluva cheap home, or they have one helluva expensive truck. However you want to look at it, but I refuse to pay three prices just so I can say I have a 1 ton truck. I have a 3/4 ton, 4WD and works for me. I have about 1/100th of that trucks cost as far as money is concerend. IMO, it's kinda like a HEMI VS a Stroker wedge. All braggin' rights. Their are those that will pay for them, and those that refuse.


Again, beg to disagree. I have a truck with plugs that suits my needs just fine.  Practicality over pride, and I don't need a fifty acre field to turn mine around in either. "If it costs more than $40K, someone got f*cked"....

I know what you mean. My comments were largely tongue in cheek. There are a lot of legitimate uses for smaller trucks, I've owned them before myself. I strongly prefer a diesel though and will continue to drive them as long as I can. Although, it looks my 2012 might be my last "new" diesel, it was a big headache dealing with all the garbage that Dodge was forced to include this time around around. I have a feeling that's only going to get worse.

As for the price of a new truck... I couldn't agree more. The prices of these things has become outrageous! The only reason that I got my 2012 is because I was able to negotiate the price down below net (it's a 6-speed manual in an auto market so it had been on the lot for quite a while) and I was able to sell my 2003 Cummins for quite a bit more than I thought that I'd be able to. Those two things combined allowed me to keep the price of 2012 down to a manageable and comparatively reasonable price. Just like with my 2003, I plan on keeping my 2012 for a long, long, long, long time. I would have kept the 2003 even longer than I did but, with 3 kids, I needed more room than the quad-cab interior was giving me. I don't foresee that being an issue with the new crew cab.

[Troy]

Sorry, I haven't had time to keep up but it looks like you guys derailed my thread...

Any way, Steve, I've also been drooling over the 3.5 Ecoboost in the F150s. Around here they are blowing out the 2012 models for $7-10k off. That means you can get a pretty well loaded XLT crew cab for $31-34k. With the 3.73 gears it will tow 11,300 pounds and many road test have them pulling down 20+ mpg on the highway. I rented one a few month back for a trip to Michigan and got just under 19 mpg at a bit over 75 mph. It was amazingly quiet inside the cab and passing slower traffic was a blast. When the Ecoboost first came out, it was only available in XLT or higher trim but now I see some base model trucks with it. It was also a $4k+ option but not it's only about $900 more than the 5.0 (which is only about $1k more than whatever the base engine is). One thing to note, all the other F150 engines are "Flex Fuel" (E85 compatible) but not the Ecoboost. It was designed, however, to run on 87 octane.

It is incredibly easy to find a 1/2 ton (are they even called that any more?) pickup for nearly $50k these days. That used to be the realm of 1 ton diesels and luxury SUVs.

Troy

[Tilar]

Hasn't it been illegal to modify or disable emission control systems for a very long time already?

Only in certain states, and even then it might only be in certain counties. This one is federal though, not state.

[rebby]

Hasn't it been illegal to modify or disable emission control systems for a very long time already?

Only in certain states, and even then it might only be in certain counties. This one is federal though, not state.

Correction, it's a federal law so, yes, it's always been illegal if you operate the vehicle on public roadways. However, only certain states (or even counties) actually check for compliance. Even in those cases it's almost always a scheduled inspection. People that I know who live in states like this simply delete their emissions "accessories" for day to day driving only to reinstall them for the inspection to get the "pass".

[Steve P.]

Sorry for the theft, Troy.

From what I understand, and this may only be in part, but FLEX is 1) using fuel lined that can handle the ethanol. 2) the capability of reading the amount of ethanol and adjusting the timing to better utilize it. I believe everything produced today can handle the ethanol as far as fuel delivery, but being a TURBO motor I don't get why it wouldn't already be capable of a timing change?? Has to be something more to it or maybe they are waiting for that for next years teaser like buying computer crap..

So was there anything you did NOT like about the 150 with ECO?

And I agree on ARE THEY 1/2 ton or WHAT anymore. The new closed chassis and closed double welded cross tubes are straight out of drag racing and safety cages. When do you think they will come up with a removable steering wheel and drop flat seats to make bedding?? hahahaha....