taco, you always post useful info. Sincere thanks. I would like to add my personal experience...

The 13th-gen, 2015+ m.y. aluminum trucks weigh +/- 680 lbs less than the all-steel pre-'15s. Since I'm in earthquake country, I like to keep a few things with me in my truck in the event I become stranded due to road closures if I'm two hours from home when target shooting in the Mojave desert, for example...

My lightly-optioned 4 X 2 2016 5.0 SuperCrew XLT is indeed, as OldElectric notes, a heavy duty car with a bed (and a 2" level using beefy Bilstein 6112/5160s), but with the gear I've organized and stashed the truck, the truck now weighs 5700 lbs instead of it's 4800 lbs curb weight with nothing in it.

We're all aware of the somewhat soft-ish rear spring weights used in these modern 1/2-tons due in part to "consumer demand for better ride quality"... I find the addition of the Roadmaster Active Suspension three years ago to be a great enhancement to the rear suspension of my truck.

You do make a good point of how the leaf pack is perhaps unequally stressed front-to-rear when using the RAS, perhaps that is why Roadmaster's suggested installation preload falls within a narrow range. If the rear spring needs more help then it's time for either an Add-A-Leaf or an HDPP truck or even a 3/4 ton rig...

I intend to hang just 75 - 100 lbs tongue weight from a 3000 lb small camp trailer on the receiver and am looking to maintain my truck's rear ride height as it is without adding any more rear spring assist of any kind. I will have to reduce the weight of the gear I permanently keep in the bed by a similar amount, though, to do so.

Between the Bilstein dampers and the Roadmaster Active Suspension (and in spite of the additional 900 lbs) I have a great-handling (for it's weight!), great-driving "heavy duty car with a bed". I have often called it a Coyote-powered Crown Vic with an open trunk, but, I digress...

 

*not all of the additional 900 lbs is solely placed in the bed... there is much weight under the rear seat and also centered behind the center console... tools, tow chain, straps, HiLift jack accessories live in the cab and are securely stashed. Trying to keep the heavier items well between each axle, and it pays off when I hit the scale. When loaded for a long 2000-mile road trip three summers ago my front axle weight was just 20 lbs heavier than the rear... that's near 50/50 weight distribution, a lucky result from some small effort.

 

no its not. You can't get a lariat HDPP in Canada. XLT only.

As much as I'd love to have all the goodies the higher trim models have, all those take away from the payload the HDPP offers.

 

Now this sounds like we're comparing Apples to tacos....

 

It's a bit odd to call the modern F150 a car with a bed when you can get these trucks equipped with a ton and a half of payload, and they average 3/4 ton.

Yes, they ride softer than the trucks of the 80's and 90's, but that's not a defect. I think we are just a whiny bunch that want things to feel firm and not have a droopy ***.

I made changes to my truck so it rides a bit more firm than it did when I bought it, but nowhere near the rough ride of just a handful of generations back. Go far enough back, the trucks rode like stonk, and the seats were just an inch or two from having the spring of an air ride seat. It's much easier to control the truck at 75mph in heavy traffic with one finger from an arm propped against the window than it used to be.

Cush for great safety!

 

I have the HD RAS on my 2020 2.7 screw 145 wb 2wd, PPAA spring code. I've commented on it before in several of my posts. They are a major improvement to tow quality. I eliminated 1.5" of squat at my ~1.2 mm spacer setting (a bit past the 1mm spacer guide). Between the RAS and my cheap Husky WDH dialed up I now have a truck that is level or even has 0.5" of rake when towing my ~6500lbs GrandDesign 2400BH travel trailer. Porpoising is greatly reduced on bumps and road resonances. Steering control feels better (I suspect mostly due to better levelling). In no scenario does the RAS make anything worse when towing, it's either neutral or better. Unladen RAS adds around an inch to my rake. Suspension is considerably more firm but not harsh, I like the feeling but for others they might miss the pillowy rear suspension. I've got the upgraded front-stabilizer bar with my 53a tow package. RAS improves my trucks' leveling on corners, feels like a stabilizer bar in the back. If I punch it from a stop or low speed I experience less rear wheel hop, nothing major but can be noticed if you test before you add RAS and test again immediately after (which is what I did). Not having ever tried upgraded bump-stops or add-a-leafs I can't compare RAS to those solutions. But overall I am very happy with what RAS did to my truck.

 

I'm still curious how it works with the on board scales

 

Some of it. But a loaded lariat or Platinum with 2100 lbs of payload and a 4800 lb rear axle would tow many trailer well. While also giving great comfort. Instead we get 1500 lbs because options would “take away the payload.”

 

I don't think its quite that simple, but yeah, I do believe they'd rather push towards a F250 at that point

 

Now I do believe that, but SDs aren’t much more expensive than F-150s with equal options.

I also believe they didn’t want the 3.0 diesel to succeed. And the reason they won’t put an Ecoboost in the Superduty. It would dry up diesel sales.

The 7.3 is so close to killing diesel sales now. If it was 600/600 HP/Torque very few would buy a diesel.

Toyota offers a supercharger from the factory. Why? Because they don’t have HD trucks. A 7.3 supercharged from the factory, warrantied and designed to tow would be unstoppable. But they like the diesel up charge.