Hey camaro, I dont know if you have seen what I did but I went thru my truck front to back and spent about 7k because I dont want anything newer.
Case in point, we have 8 new f150's
at work, I set a 6cyl diesel smaller than a 6bt in the rear of the bed, tied it to the factory "tie downs" in the bed corners, slowed down from 55 to 35 for a small town and watched the engine slowly fall forward, thought dang the strap slipped. Much to my surprise the tiedowns held to the metal and RIPPED the rear corners out of the box, wish I had pics.
The moral is .NO thin new truck for me, I haul an 11 ft camper and I would like it tot stay in the bed
Good luck with any decision you make.
I have the ability to do all the work myself so that saves tons on labor
my 2c
Russ