Ford 3.5 v6 turbo

Is anyone towing a boat 19 ft or larger with this motor? If so, what are your thoughts? I'm old school and I am used to a Chevy 5.7 V8. Don't want to take a chance and be disappointed. I'm looking at a 2015 model with just over 100k miles and I just want to use it for towing my 19.5 bass boat. Most trips are 30 miles round trip, but I like to go to Falcon 2-3 times a year and it's a 1000 miles round trip. Any feedback would be great.

I did post this under the tow vehicle section, but just wanted to get as much feedback as possible.

I have a 2019 F150 with the 3.5 - pull a 21'Legend and it does very well - much better at towing than my previous 5.0 liter F150's much more power for entering highway speeds, far less down shifting on hills when in cruise control.

I have a 2016 F150 3.5 Ecobeast...it not only tows my Ranger Z518 but I tow a 25' travel trailer and utility trailer loaded with tree remnants with ease.

This 3.5 turbo motor is all they stated it would be, power when you need it, ability to move the 12K lbs with the Max Tow package I have.

Towing my boat, I see on an average of 12 MPG...while combined city / towing, I'm at 14.5 MPG.

If you stay out of boost, which is addicting, you'll save a little at the pump.

I have the 2.6 ecoboost and tow a 21', no problem. You'll be fine, they are much stronger than you think with these low displacement, high output engines.

No substitute for C.I. s

i have a 2014 3.5eco 150... pulls my zx225 no problem... Does get pretty poor gas mileage at 10-11mpg

Old school thinking...These new turbo motors are damn nice motors.

Now I do miss the sound of a beefy V8

The current Ford engines really are very good. You will have all the power you need for towing with the 3.5 turbo.

my 2015 pulls my 20' boat better than the 5.4L I had prior. One thing I find highly annoying, if you hit the brakes too long or too hard, It automatically downshifts to assist.

While I have a supercharged 5.7 Tundra, I sure do wish I had ecoboost fuel mileage. I think the 3.5 Ford is a good compromise between power and economy.

I have a 2019 with the 3.5 v6 turbo. It pulls my Ranger as well as my previous V8--and it gets better milage. Go for it.

2020 3.5 ecoboost and as others have said, lots of power, more get up and go than the V8, gas mileage is about 10.5mph on highway, maybe a half mile better if you switch it into eco mode so it lays off the turbo a little bit. This is my third ecoboost. Only issues I had was 2010 (first year that offered it), past two have been very reliable

I had a couple of the earlier 3.5 ecoboosts. One in an F150, and the other in an explorer sport, both 2013 models. I had problems with both and will never own another one.



I agree.

I have a 2015 2.6 Ecoboost. I pull a 18.7 Nitro and it's pretty much like it's not even there. You'll have no issue.

10-11 MPG towing 21'. I've had 3 of them and they are awesome. Just got the 21 which adds a few HP and a little more torque, I believe. Get the 35 gallon or whatever fuel tank and you can cover some distance!

Had a 2012 and a 2015 3.5TT. Both towed like a diesel. The 2012 had some intercooler issues which were fixed under a recall. They reflashed the ECU when swapping out the intercooler and it felt like I lost 50 hp. The 2015 was amazing, got 14.5 towing my BassCat and 18-21 non towing. Currently driving a 5.3L GMC which does fine, gets 13.5 towing and averages 18-19 and can squeak 21+ highway if I keep it under 75. I do miss the low end torque of the Ecoboost

Good little motors

Owned a 2011 with the 3.5 Ecoboost. Man that thing towed great but I ended up having tons of turbo problems at about 160,000 miles and decided to trade it in. Now I have a 2016 with the 5.0 and it is a complete dog compared to the Ecoboost. Probably going to trade this one in for another Ecoboost.

Tow my 22ft bay boat. With no issue

i have a gas 6.3L F250. I drove an eco boost loaner for a week. I prefer my big truck hands down, I was not that impressed with the eco boost

Had a 2015 F150 with a 5.0L and it pulled my 19ft boat fine. I now have a 2017 F150 Ecoboost with the 10 speed and it is a night and day difference. I probably won't buy another 5.0L F150 to tow after having this truck.

I have a 2015 3.5 eco boost and a 2020 5.0 V8. Both motors are great and will do the job just fine. The biggest improvement I've seen has been the transmissions. The 10 speed is a night and day difference from the 6 speed. If you can find a slightly newer model in your price range with the 10 speed you'll be much happier, with whichever motor you go with. I personally will be sticking with the 5.0's moving forward. Lots of folks happy with the eco boost reliability but not me. We've got a dozen or so in our fleet and they really nickel and dime us past 100k miles. I'm talking about 2015-2017 3.5's....

The loaner fleet is usually the 2.7L Ecoboost which is not the same as the 3.5L Ecoboost

+1 on the 10 speed transmission. I have a 3.5 twin turbo Raptor. Towed my 21’8” z521L from Atlanta to Dallas at 80 mph no problems. Make multiple trips to Rayburn.

If you think the 10 speed is impressive in the 1/2 tons you should see it in the Power Stroke.

I had a 2014 F150 with Ecoboost. The supercharger came apart at 80,000 miles causing major damage. I had it fixed under warranty then immediately drove to the Toyota dealer and bought a 5.7L Tundra. The independent mechanic I use showed me page after page of service bulletins related to 2012-2015 ecoboost models. Small displacement engines putting out high HP require parts spinning at very high RPMs. When they fail, it’s bad. I won’t own another one.

The 2.7 will pull a 21' bass boat easy. In 0-60 tests the 2.7 hangs with the 3.5.

Hope your maintenance was better than the knowledge of your trucks engine... The ecoboost is forced induction by twin turbos... not a supercharger.

The only difference is belt vs exhaust driven. Essentially the same thing.

Me too!

Thanks to everyone who shared info on this thread. Your insights will help me in my decision. Thanks again.

as long as you don't plan on keeping them for years!!
replacing twin turbos, the extra high RPMS needed to run them turbos!!
got friends with them that like them, got friends with them that wish they had stayed with v8!
i still get 12 mpg pulling the boat at 80mph with a Hemi with 165000 miles on it, and won't
have to replace turbos etc!
in fact, a water pump is all that's ever been done to it!
just my 2 cents, and everybody has their opinion.

Same here David, tiny tows just as well as 5.7ltr tundra did

I'm gonna disagree, not the same

Same function to force air or air/fuel into the combustion chamber depending on the type of fuel delivery system. But, the way they do it as it relates to engine performance is quite different.

Everyone in their brother pulls their rig with an F150 EB

Look up timing chain rattle for that motor. At that mileage and being used, you don’t know the maintenance history unless they have it and it’s credible. The weakness is timing chain stretch in the earlier 3.5’s. Don’t know if it was fixed with the 2015’s. If not, I would be leary at that mileage. I had one and went to a GMC with the 6.2.

Tjbev13 my maintenance was on schedule and as it should have been. Thanks for pointing out that I chose, in your opinion, the incorrect of two basically interchangeable terms in lay conversation. It doesn’t change what I said, which is, the junk came apart and caused major damage. As such, I won’t own another one.

The 2015 models and newer are the Gen 2 3.5L EcoBoost models.

In 2017 the 3.5L EB's got the 10 speed transmission and in 2018 all of the F150's got the 10 speed except for the 3.3L Ti-VCT V6 engine which still had the 6 speed in it.

There are several guys that are on the RV Forums that deliver travel trailers with their 3.5L EB's and at least 3 of them have over 250K miles on theirs with no problems.

Ours only has right at 50K on it now as it is my wife's daily driver and she has been working from home for 9 months.

She get 20-21 back and forth to work and we have gotten 24 on trips and 15-17 pulling the Ranger according to which lake we are going to.

If you like small turbo engines then it is a great choice.

If you like the sound of the V-8's or you are worried about the Turbo's then buy a not-Turbo engine.

I only have two buddies who have had that motor and both of them have blown the motor prior to 150k. I’m a die hard Ford guy and would NEVER buy one.

3.5 Eco is a beast. Plenty of power. Great mileage without the boat. 21 mpg all around mileage. Pulling a 22 Majek Extreme gets about 11 mpg. Get the big gas tank. Pulling isn’t the issue. Stopping it quickly without trailer brakes is the issue.

So far 145K miles. Only issue was $800 for a new throttle body.

Wish they would put the turbo on the 5.0. That would be super beast.

You got to worry about the suspension long before power, I towed a 38’ RV with mine. Power was not an issue, suspension was, I trade up to a 250

I decided to get a new F-150 in 2018 and went thinking I was definitely going to purchase the V-8. The salesman really thought I should at least test drive a 3.5 EcoBoost just to compare. I am glad I did as the low end torque simply was incredible (and I needed the full 12,700 lbs towing capacity for a large travel trailer). This thing actually accelerates going uphill pulling the RV...

While I have had no problems at all (currently have 45K miles), the one thing that always sticks in my mind are the many YouTube videos where a Ford dealer sales person actually walks around their own service department asking ALL the technicians which motor THEY would choose if buying a F-150 today. A few years ago, it was unanimous for the V-8 (the techs just didn't like the complexity and amount of additional plumbing in the engine bay). Their opinion in the last vid I saw a couple months ago hasn't changed by much... the majority of the Ford techs still would choose the V-8 over the EcoBoost....

2017

2019

2020

Food for thought...

That would be so awesome. I have a 5.0 with 250k on it. Only thing I have replaced is the throttle body as well.