vs. 2021 F150

[TAL2GK]

Ive posted a few other times about payload concerns with Ram, but everything else about the truck is the best i’ve seen in the market. Along comes Ford, though, and performs a major update on what I see as their biggest weakness - interior quality and fit & finish.

Id be ordering either in 2021 model years. According to at least one fleet guide (attached) 21 Rams start ordering next week! Ford supposedly not long after on July 15.

Comparing Ram 1500 Longhorn with 3.92, air suspension, ORG, 33-gallon tank, Longhorn group 1, safety group, and moonroof with F-150 Platinum with same basic equipment (minus air ride, of course). Give me reasons why you chose the Ram:

 

[TAL2GK]

I should point out i’m looking Hemi vs Coyote and will be adding Borla’s midrange exhaust got either. I’ll be towing a 6-7,000 lbs enclosed car hauler 6-10 times per year for 4-10 hour drives each.

 

[Neurobit]

The new F150 is very nice indeed. The interior specially, which needed a serious update.
The exterior I’m not so excited about, but I’d have to see it in person to know for sure.

I just love my RAM’s air suspension, and was reminded how awesome it is on a trip for Florida I just came back from yesterday. The plushness and comfort are unequaled. The 2021 F150, in contrast, decided to stick with rear leaf springs, so I doubt the ride will be any different than the 2020s, which I hear are really rough when compared to similar spec’d RAMs.

I’d love to hear from someone that test drives one when they come out. Curious to see if they have improved in that area.

Cheers,

 

[troutspinner]

If I had to go out and choose one today, it would be the Ford, since Ford has redesigned the interior. I’ve owned a couple of F150s and 3 different Rams, the most recent, a 2019 that has already left my driveway.

The airbags are hard to deny so you can give a plus to Ram on that for sure but when it comes to my personal experience on initial quality and reliability, Ford has treated me much better than Ram, whether that was my 96, 2014 or 2019 Ram. All 3 had issues, the two Fords however, the most recent being a 2011, had none, period. I moved over to Ram in 2014 as they just became nicer than Ford and then of course, when the 2019 came out it was heads and tails above the rest.

I do worry that the new Fords will introduce new issues with their new tech but I would feel MUCH more confident in Ford than what I would with Ram to actually fix the issues, once again, based on personal experience.

FWIW, I have no bias any way. I am member of this forum, another Ram forum and 2 F150 forums. I don’t think you can make a mistake in either choice, I’m just giving a personal opinion based on my personal experience, I have no skin in the game as I just don’t have a need for a full size truck anymore.

One more FWIW. I think you should at least look at the 3.5 Ecoboost if you are going to tow. When we had our 7k lbs travel trailer, the Ecoboost was a hands down beast vs any 8 cylinder available at that time, including the Hemi. I know some people just hate the thought of a turbo or even a V6 but go pull with that engine and then go back to a standard V8. It is a night and day difference.

 

[User_3336]

Question is . . . Will they have fixed/addressed the excessive oil consumption in the Coyote V8 5.0?

How many long blocks has Ford replaced since this started in 2018 because of the Plasma Arc Technology as cylinder liners?

 

[flyingpoint]

2021 F150 does look very nice in and out, but not the rear seat comfort which is still not competing with Ram reclining rear seats. My family will not get the same comfort level as in Ram's with F150's vertical rear seat in a long road trip.

 

[Runagun]

I'm so disappointed in this "new" F150. I thought they'd really do something different. All they did was put lipstick on a pig and call it Brand New. And Im A Ford shareholder. Theres a reason why this company is in a shyt position. If they dont bring in new blood they"ll be in where GM and Chrysler was in '08.

 

[Grape_Ape]

So, I chose the Ram over the 2020 models but Ford was actually my first choice. I had decided I was definitely going Ecoboost and max trailer package. However, I grew impatient trying to get exactly what I wanted, walked up on my Ram, and fell in love. I actually just left the Ford dealership where I test drove an F150 w/ the 5.0 the day I bought my Ram. I was very underwhelmed with the power and responsiveness of the coyote. I didn't check the gearing so it could have played a factor but compared to the Hemi and Ecoboost the coyote didn't hold a candle. I didn't find the Ford interior to be that bad. It definitely wasn't as nice as the Ram but I felt it was plenty good enough. So I'd imagine the 2021 is going to be right up there with it.

I truthfully believe that with today's trucks you need to just go drive them. Pick whichever you like best and go for it.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Wouldn’t know till we can see/drive the Ford. You can bet a new/redesigned model won’t be getting discounted much at all though.

Drivetrain/payload I’d say Ford (3.5), but ride and interior likely still RAM, and pricing would probably favor the RAM as well.

I’d have been in a 19’ F150 but basically the same trim level (Lariat to Laramie kinda’) was 10K higher for the Ford. Even though the residual value would be higher as well, I just couldn’t pay the extra 10K at the time.

 

[Neurobit]

I do love the new Ford interiors, at least from what I can see here. Once they come out, I really would like to see one in person and test drive to see how they ride:

 

[SCasey89]

I’m just not a fan of the new front end on the F150. I like the front end on the outgoing model much better. The outgoing design with the new interior...that would have been a good combo in my book.


Not to sidetrack, but let’s not forget about the GM twins. They’re supposedly getting a new interior for 2021...along the lines of the new Suburban/Yukon interiors, which are pretty nice. It’ll be interesting to see what they bring to the table. I’d take the exterior styling of either the Sierra or Silverado before the new F150.

 

[Grape_Ape]

I’m just not a fan of the new front end on the F150. I like the front end on the outgoing model much better. The outgoing design with the new interior...that would have been a good combo in my book.


Not to sidetrack, but let’s not forget about the GM twins. They’re supposedly getting a new interior for 2021...along the lines of the new Suburban/Yukon interiors, which are pretty nice. It’ll be interesting to see what they bring to the table. I’d take the exterior styling of either the Sierra or Silverado before the new F150.

Pretty much in agreeance. I dislike how the LED DRLs look on the outgoing F150. Can't stand that you can see the individual LEDs but otherwise really like those front ends.

The Sierra AT4 still makes me turn my head everytime I see one. May be a killer truck when they fix that interior. Although I'd have to get the 6.2. The 5.3 felt lifeless to me.

 

[Scram1500]

The coil spring rear in the Ram is a selling point for me. I'm sure the F150 is more capable with a leaf spring rear end but the ride on leaf springs is not worth the trade off

 

[Willwork4truck]

We felt the f150 ride was fine but then when she rode in the air ride Ltd, it was done... there is a noticeable difference.
Now if we ever get another travel trailer I’d have preferred the Ford for payload and power.

 

[J-Cooz]

The ram is just such a refined nice ride, it's much less "truckish" than other brands, which is good for me but to some they may not like.

My dad was a 42 year employee of FCA in management and he was blown away by the ride and interior comfort of my 2020 EcoDiesel.

The best test it to go drive them all, I'm sure you'll get a better deal on a Ram than the new Ford.

 

[silver billet]

I heard they were having problems with the 5.0 Ford in recent trucks. I may be wrong (and I have an issue with my Hemi too so there's that) But wouldn't catch me in an ecoboost, despite the obvious power it has. Even Ford doesn't put turbo's in their "real trucks" (ie, work truck), depending on a brand new 7.3 gas engine to do base engine work. Think the reason for that is obvious.

Suspension/ride is better in the Ram. Towing might be better in the Ford. (2 sides of the same coin.)

Exterior on new Ford's is pretty yawn inducing, nothing really offensive but it's like I've already seen those trucks on the road since 2010. I suspect new owners will tire of the update very soon as there is nothing really new other than making it a tiny bit more curvy. Ram and GM put some effort into their exterior but Ford didn't want to rock the boat, so you get "been there, done that" styling for another 5 - 10 years.

Interior is catching up or equivalent to Ram, nothing there exceeds the Ram (especially the Ford in lower trims with the 8 inch screen in a puddle of plastic molding, the Ram makes their 8 inch look great still).

Not a fan of the Ford, but their faithful customers will lap it up.

 

[ny2az]

never owned a chevy truck ... had a few ford's ... but when l test drove the new limited...l was sold ... everything from the interior to the air ride ...

 

[PorBoy]

If the 2021 interior is great and I’m in need of a new project truck, I’ll add that to my driveway. I’m not brand loyal, I want what I want when I need it.

 

[Maconi]

I was wondering if I would regret getting a 2019 Ram when I knew Ford would be redesigning the F150 for 2021. I made the right choice.

That redesign is disappointing. It looks like they tried to copy the Ram's interior and failed horribly. The exterior almost seems to have gotten worse (I'll reserve exterior judgement until I can see it in person though).

Feature wise, I'd be willing to bet the safety stuff is superior on the Ram. Can't beat the air suspension either. Ford also doesn't have anything that competes with the Ram/GM tailgates, do they?

 

[dandar]

Air ride in the Ram is phenomenal however I doubt it's a game changer. All new pick ups are extremely comfortable. Even the 15 year old (design-wise) Tundra is a comfy highway cruiser. I would know since that's what I switched from to the Ram.
I would most likely pick the F-150 for the horizontal screen, better infotainment system with no BS SiriusXM fees after one year of ownership and that very cool on-board power generator. That's not to say I'm unhappy with the Ram. I actually just came back from a long road trip and the truck was amazing. But these trucks are so damn close you have to nit-pick. Last generation F-150 was already comfortable and this one will be even better. Uconnect 12 is a downgrade compared to 8.4 in terms of smart-phone connectivity and was already behind GMC's and Ford's options which are by the way free. The new F-150 gets an improved Sync too so the Ram falls further behind.