chevy avalanche vs. ford f150 ecoboost

Just curious.

I have an Avalanche and like it. That said the Ecoboost seems to be a much better tow vehicle, and that was your question. I like the Avy because it rides like a car with it's rear coil springs. I spend too much time driving to suffer the washboard bouncing of a truck with leaf springs on the highways on my routes.

Avalanche. The Ford has more HP and that is pretty much it's only advantage.

I towed recently with an Avalanche ('09 Z71) and was not very impressed. It struggled to keep speed on any sort of incline. I like the fit and finish of the Avalanche though. It was very comfortable in the cabin and rode very smoothly.

I have no experience with the Ecoboost, but from reports of others on here it tows very well.

While I loved the mid-gate and side storage compartments on my Avalanche, the Ecoboost is top on the list to replace my Silverado when the time comes.

F350, 3500, 2500 and 1500 owner or former owner. the powerstroke was the best tow but the Silverado was much better on the fit and finish, comfort which was important to me. I did two with the avalanche (buddy owned) and didn't like the ride or the exterior plastic look. given your choices, I'd go with the eco.

I loved my Avalanche but it just didn't have the towing power for my Tige RZ2. Awesome truck when you're not towing! I would get about 6mpg towing my boat. I got 10mpg with my 19' Rinker and it actually towed that pretty well. I voted Ecoboost.

get a diesel... but my vote is for the Avy.

What are you going to be pulling with it? That's a huge factor. If it's a newer 22'+ boat then I would steer you away from the Avalanche like I posted above. Also, what kind of distance?

I have towed over 6000lbs with my 02 Avalanche (lowest HP year) with no issue. My guess is some of you drove 03+ models that had a crappy gear set. 02 only came in 3.73 and 4.10. Newer models came standard with lower sets (3.42 or worse if I recall correctly) and had to be optioned with better gearing. Or you can buy the 2500 and have the big block under the hood (well for 2002 - 2006 at least). Need more power then you can get an Escalade EXT...over 400hp for the 07+ and can be had in the mid 20's if you look.

I had an '03 with the 3.73's in it and I live in the Denver area. If you live anywhere near hills trying to tow 6,000lbs, good luck to you!

Originally Posted by timmyb

What are you going to be pulling with it? That's a huge factor. If it's a newer 22'+ boat then I would steer you away from the Avalanche like I posted above. Also, what kind of distance?

I don't know yet what I'll be towing. I need a tow vehicle before I buy a boat. I would guess I'll most likely end up with a 21' boat.

The eco and avy are at the top of my wish list, but I could end up settling for something else due to price. The avy is probably already more than I want to pay for, so I'll probably end up with a 1/2 ton of some kind.

I've been toying with the idea of a Toyota Tacoma (v6 with tow package has a 6500 tow rating). The huge upside would be that it could be parked in my garage and parking in general would not be such a huge hassle as it is with the size of 1/2 tons these days. The downside is that I don't think the Taco's towing would be very satisfactory. An SUV like the Chevy Tahoe would fit in the garage and tow better with a v8, but the cost is much higher. So it seems like I'll end up with a 1/2 ton in order to get a reasonable balance between price and towing performance, and it'll be a pain to park (and I'll have to widen my driveway).

I have an 05 Avalanche with 4.10s in it. We towed the Vride, fully loaded with 4 people in the truck, to Hells Canyon last year. I believe there is about 3000 - 4000 feet of elevation change from Pendleton to Hell. The Av pulled it without much of a problem. Plus it regularly pulls the big hill up from Banks Lake to Davenport without much trouble. It's no powerhouse, and drops down to 3rd on the big hills, but I don't get the RPMs over about 3500.

Love the truck for the removable bed covers & rear window..... I haven't had the window in it in almost a month now. Or I can close it all up & I have the largest locking trunk in the business. All that said there are a bunch of people who own Avys & never open the bed up. In my book, if your never going to open the bed up, then why own the Avalanche? A Silverado will be less expensive. And the Ford may be a better tow rig. But the Av is the only transformer truck in the biz...... they remind me of my old Bronco or 4'Runner, all grown up.

Transmission went out on my Avalanche pulling an Enzo through Tennessee. I doubt that I’ll every buy another Chevy of any type.

That was after only 67,000 on my Avalanche!

The ecoboost motor was designed specifically for towing. If you look at the torque curve it resembles that of a diesel and makes more torque at 2500 rpm than the avalanche will at any point in it's rpm range

They (GM) refused to cover an issue i had with my 08 towmax crewcab when it was still under warranty. I have owned 7 chevy trucks and several other gm vehicles. I now am a proud oner of a 2011 ford Raptor. It tows my malibu lsv like it is not back there! It gets about 11.8 mpg towing, but that is still better than the 9 my 6.0 chevy got.

If you own a Chevy with a 4 speed trans don't tow in overdrive, NEVER. That's what kills these trannies. I wish my Av had 4.10 gears, with the 3.73's I get into 2nd whenever I need to go over any challenging hill but it pulls my 5,000+ boat/trailer over them at 55mph+ running under 4k rpms. Combined non-towing mileage is averaging right at 16mpg.

The ecoboost is a towing machine. We pulled my buddies x45 with 5 guys and gear up the canyon from salt lake city to park city 8 percent grade. Put the cruise control at 75 mph, and never got above 3200 rpm. It acted like there was not even a boat on behind us. It truly felt like a very strong diesel pulling it. Another plus is that it easily gets 24 mpg on he highway when not pulling the boat We get about 14 pulling. And the ride is unreal, go test drive one and see for yourself. The proof is in the ride.

Yep I've been looking at them Dave, sorry I missed you on your last FL trip!

Originally Posted by desotodave

It acted like there was not even a boat on behind us. It truly felt like a very strong diesel pulling it.

F-150 pulling an x-45 up an 8% grade hill and it felt like a diesel pulling it..

This is my heavily modded Duramax. It's a beast and would still be grunting pulling that boat up that hill.

Planning on trading my Sequoia in for an F150 Ecoboost on Monday!!!

I have a 2011 150 Ecoboost and it does a great job pulling but I only get around 12mpg pulling an 04 VLX. I get about 15mpg in the city and about 18mpg on the freeway. And that's driving like an old lady. Still love the truck though. Way better than my Silvarado.

Originally Posted by desotodave

It acted like there was not even a boat on behind us. It truly felt like a very strong diesel pulling it. Another plus is that it easily gets 24 mpg on he highway when not pulling the boat

With what gear ratio?

3.73 gears

Originally Posted by mikeski

If you own a Chevy with a 4 speed trans don't tow in overdrive, NEVER. That's what kills these trannies. I wish my Av had 4.10 gears, with the 3.73's I get into 2nd whenever I need to go over any challenging hill but it pulls my 5,000+ boat/trailer over them at 55mph+ running under 4k rpms. Combined non-towing mileage is averaging right at 16mpg.

No, what kills these trannies is heat. A decent tranny cooler (my B&M was a whopping $40 dollars and has lasted for years) will save it. I tow in overdrive all the time, and mine has 134k on the clock now and shifts perfectly. My big complaint was it downshifting too soon and not holding gear when I wanted it to when in tow mode; a simple re-flash with HP Tuners fixed that ($100 license add on to what my buddy had for his Vette).

I have an '11 Ecoboost. 3.55LS rear end, supercrew. The motor tows awesome! Blows always all halftone motors I have towed with before. (chevy 5.3, ford 5.4, chevy 6.0).

I can second the guy above... I was towing a 6,000lb load up an 6% grade (~20mi long) in 110F. Cruise control at 75MPH, and the truck held gear at ~2800-3000rpm (don't remember exactly). No gear hunting. I easily could have actually accelerated up the grade as well

unloaded I have been averaging 16.5-17MPG city, 21PG HWY (75mph)

I've towed 7,000lbs with both of them.

For towing, hands down, the EcoBoost. No question.

Fit and finish comes down to the trim levels of each truck. But I prefer the ride height, seat height of the Ford's over the Chevy's. So I did enjoy the Ford more. The Avalanche LTZ was definitely plush though.

Nitrousbird suit yourself. I have had 5 trucks with these trannies, towed will all of them, never use overdrive (the 5.3L won't maintain highway speeds in OD anyway), three of my previous trucks were sold with over 150k on the clock, never had tranny issue with any previous or current truck. My buddy a mechanic at a GM dealer told me NEVER run them in OD (you might be OK if you had the 4.10 gears but not with the more common 3.73s).