[jwm]

Hello All,

My wife and I (we live in Madison, WI) are picking up a new 2018 Lariat tomorrow. It's been quite an adventure arriving at that decision. I had been out of the truck world for over 25 years until about two months ago, when we decided to buy a small travel trailer (a Little Guy Mini Max with a dry weight of 2000 lbs), which meant we first needed to get a truck to tow it. Based on specs and reviews, we went with a lightly used 2018 Honda Ridgeline. On paper (5000 lbs towing capacity), it should tow the trailer just fine. However, it is clearly not up to the task (tranny fluid was getting too hot) on our 300-mile tow to some land we own in the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) and then again on the drive home. So we realized we needed to buy a half ton truck, but I had no idea that there would be some many choices--wow. We looked at and drove everything but a Nissan. We ultimately decided on the diesel F-150 because we will drive about 18,000 miles a year with 90% of that on the highway.

We are super excited to pick it up tomorrow. It is a loaded Lariat package--502A, towing package, technology package, power-deployable running boards, moon roof, and others. The price was $49,300.

I'll post a mileage report soon and will likely have some questions as well. Cheers.

jwm

 

[KR2018]

Great, you will love it.

You won’t even know your trailer is back there.

I tow a 2500 lb boat weekly. Getting about 18.6 at highway speed limit.

You might want to search the forum for some forescan modifications to customize your truck.

kR2018

 

[Dunrollin]

Sounds great! Throw up some pictures if you get time.

 

[kdjasper]

Congrats on your new 2018 3.0 Lariat. The 18,000 miles/year makes the baby Power Stroke a good choice for you.

Welcome to the forum! You will find a lot of useful information here on learning the details on operating your new truck as well as a lot of info on customizations you can consider. All the forum members are a very supportive community to each other, which is what makes this site great!

 

[ThreeO4Me]

Hello All,

My wife and I (we live in Madison, WI) are picking up a new 2018 Lariat tomorrow. It's been quite an adventure arriving at that decision. I had been out of the truck world for over 25 years until about two months ago, when we decided to buy a small travel trailer (a Little Guy Mini Max with a dry weight of 2000 lbs), which meant we first needed to get a truck to tow it. Based on specs and reviews, we went with a lightly used 2018 Honda Ridgeline. On paper (5000 lbs towing capacity), it should tow the trailer just fine. However, it is clearly not up to the task (tranny fluid was getting too hot) on our 300-mile tow to some land we own in the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) and then again on the drive home. So we realized we needed to buy a half ton truck, but I had no idea that there would be some many choices--wow. We looked at and drove everything but a Nissan. We ultimately decided on the diesel F-150 because we will drive about 18,000 miles a year with 90% of that on the highway.

We are super excited to pick it up tomorrow. It is a loaded Lariat package--502A, towing package, technology package, power-deployable running boards, moon roof, and others. The price was $49,300.

I'll post a mileage report soon and will likely have some questions as well. Cheers.

jwm

I so envy you and your wife, but congrats! I’m looking at about a 5 month wait before I make the jump to the baby PS. There just aren’t enough YouTube videos to get me through until i buy. 🙈

 

[Shookj95]

I think that move is a solid one, you will love the baby PS. I really think this truck / engine is one of the most underrated options out there, especially with the deep discounts going on! Post some pictures and ask any questions!

 

[martinbrown9843]

I am willing to buy ford raptor for personal use and also use for emergency roadside assistance service, so which model will you suggest to me? we have other options also like Ram and GMC any recommendation plz.

 

[jwm]

Hey Martinbrown984,

I am no expert, as I did not really know the first thing about 1/2 ton trucks until about 10 days ago. We looked at everything except the Titan (mainly for lack of time). To us, the F150, especially the diesel, made the most sense. There were other things we liked about the Sierra (ride quality, slightly bigger bed in standard box), Ram 1500 (ride and interior design), and Tundra (ride and reliability) somewhat more than the F-150. We also looked at a diesel Canyon but wanted something just a bit bigger. In the end, the combination of the diesel efficiency, towing capacity, and a sweet price were the difference.