Ford fans probably scratched their heads when they found out that the latest F-150 Raptor does not have an independent rear suspension (IRS). Of course, this made the transition from leaf springs to coil springs, which led many customers to believe that IRS would be a piece of cake. However, this is not the case because the new Raptor has the same solid axle design as the previous model.
As disappointing as it may be for many Ford purists, it saddens us not to mention that the Ram TRX uses a very similar setup; both have a very similar configuration with five links with the Blue Oval, offering extra long trailing arms, a Panhard bar and 24-inch coil springs, a mere .378 inches longer than that of the TRX if you keep count.
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While many people would argue that a solid rear axle would be a major drawback to the F-150 Raptor, it could not be further from the truth. The new rear suspension design also offers more towing and loading capacity; It also allows for better articulation over obstacles, reduced friction and leaves the scales much lighter than any leaf spring setup.
Aside from the semantics, Ford’s new configuration can leave 15-inch rear suspension if fitted with 35-inch tires. It may sound like a jumble of numbers, but for some perspective, it’s 25 percent more than the first F-150 Raptor and a whole two inches more than the Ram TRX offers.
However, the most important advantage of coil springs – per kilometer – is the excellent ride quality. Therefore, it is very likely that this configuration will drop to other F-150 models in the not so distant future.