leikos

Hmm. Most posts that I've read say that the FX4 is the softest ride of the bunch. I know I drove one and I thought I might get seasick the way the front end wallowed around.

Rontbeamer

Not sure where you got that information but it's wrong. It's cited in just about every review of the truck and I can confirm it having purchased it as well as test driving several non FX4 trucks. Of the four I test drove it by far had the stiffest busiest ride and was my single reservation about buying the truck but in the end I decided I liked the interior layout more than I disliked the stiff ride. I live in the Pittsburgh PA area and our roads are crap. It doesn't take long to figure out which suspension gobbles up and smooths out crappy pavement and which does not.

leikos

Just from FX4 owners complaining about too much roll, squat and dive and of course my own experience. I didn't drive a non-Fx4 back to back, so I can't say for myself how it compares to other F150s. I can say that the F250 which I did drive back to back did have a much better ride. More truck like, but also much more direct. The F150 I drove felt vague in comparison. I'm coming from an X5, though, so I could say the same about a lot of vehicles.

Swapping the shocks and adding a sway bar to the back seems to help, from what I've read from FX4 owners.

The suspension is designed to be softer, so it doesn't make any sense that it would feel stiffer.

AbitaPro

I noticed you joined the forum in April 2015, do you know what makes someone a senior member?

Nighthawk87

I don't care.

Velosprout

No one can answer the question you pose, as nobody has got their hands on a 2015 or 2016 Heavy Duty Payload package yet. Members of this forum have only found two that have been built; one in Canada and one in a magazine article about Lance truck campers. No owners of these rare trucks appear to have joined these forums.

However, the purpose of the Heavy Duty Payload package is to be able to carry more weight. To accomplish this, the frame is thicker/heavier, springs are heavier, axle and rear differential is heavier, and commercial, less flexible tires are added. So, yes, the Heavy Duty Payload Package truck had durn well better have a rougher ride when driving without cargo, or I will be extremely disappointed. The ride should be theoretically be somewhere between a standard F150 and a Super Duty F250 in ride characteristics. Since I have one ordered, I am anxiously awaiting the ability to give you the opinion you desire. These are a late availability option vehicle and won't likely be delivered until spring.

If, however, you are inquiring about the 2.7 EcoBoost Payload Package, the purpose of this option is to bring the payload capacities of the 2.7 powered trucks to roughly the same payload capacity of the standard (non-Heavy Duty Payload) 3.5 EcoBoost and 5.0 V8 powered trucks. I would assume, then, that the ride should be nearly identical. I have test driven a 2.7 EcoBoost, but not with the payload package.

Ricktwuhk

Sounds like a familiar question... https://www.f150forum.com/f118/paylo...e-ride-314723/

Rontbeamer

No its not roll, squat, or dive, it doesn't do any of those things. The suspension is busy, That is an accurate description. You know how big trucks chew up the right line on the interstate? In the FX4 trucks you feel every but of it. In the XLT, the three I tested smoothed it out. Pavement is buckled a bit going down the road, the FX4 you are going to feel it, the XLT suspension smooths it out. How I would describe it is it feels like they took the old FX4 suspension from the steel bodied trucks and didn't adjust it for the lighter weight of the new aluminum trucks. It feels a bit over sprung. That being said after two weeks of driving it, it doesn't bother me. It has a very truck like feel to it. The FX4 suspension is stiffer than the standard XLT suspension by quite a bit.

camperboy

FX4 only has Rancho branded shocks- no other suspension changes. And the shocks are Ford shocks with just the Rancho name so why would it ride any different?

Rontbeamer

No they do not say they have Rancho shocks, they say specially tuned shocks, that's it. I asked the dealer about it and they said yes the the FX4 suspension is stiffer for off road use. Ford does not say that. At minimum the shock valving is different but it makes the suspension feel less forgiving and busier on the road. I don't know with any certainty exactly what they did other than what Ford states. The point of the FX4 package is that the truck is supposed to be factory ready for off road duty, some truth to it and some of it is marketing. It has skid plates on the underside, a different suspension, and interior. When they first started the FX4 package it did come with Rancho shocks but I don't believe that has been true for a very long time.