Yes, those are genuine Rancho shocks underneath the F-150. Part of the FX4 package, they did a good job of absorbing big impacts but didn't handle the small stuff as well.
To get to the trail to see how the FX4 package worked, we first had to endure plenty of highway driving. Here we discovered that the Ford has an amazingly stiff ride. The Rancho shocks did not have the ability to absorb the small bumps, ripples, and expansion joints that litter the roads of Southern California. Every flaw in the pavement made its way to the driver. The only reward of the stiff suspension was an improvement of the F-150's ability to handle twisty roads. With little body roll, the FX4 Ford could be pushed faster through the corners than the standard F-150.
Also helping the F-150's pavement manners was its steering, which was amazingly responsive. Just as important as the ability to steer around something rather quickly is the capacity to stop in a hurry. Found at every corner of the F-150 are disc brakes that did a good job of stopping the big Ford, but which lacked pedal feel. Modulating the brakes is difficult because of this lack of information to be gained through the pedal.
But enough about the pavement manners of the Ford. If you are going to opt for an FX4 packaged F-150, you would probably take it in the dirt, right? Unfortunately, the F-150's suspension performed much the same way in the dirt that it did on the street. Graded dirt roads made for a teeth-shattering, vision blurring, internal-organ liquefying experience, as the shocks didn't want to absorb the washboard bumps at all. Larger impacts were handled well, however, and this helped the Ford at speed in the dirt and in the rougher and much slower sections of the trail, where the shocks absorbed the impact from bigger bumps quite nicely.
Another drawback our Ford F-150 possessed was the lack of a limited-slip differential. Available as an option, a limited-slip would have helped the Ford find traction and expanded its off-road capabilities. Without one, the F-150 often hunted for traction without results. A truck equipped with an off-road package, but without a limited-slip, seems like a very strange package.
Aiding the Ford on the trail is its height. The F-150 is one of the few remaining pickups that you actually have to step up into rather than just get in. This extra height gave the Ford plenty of clearance in the rougher sections of the trail. Never once did its underside scrape or drag on anything.
So does the FX4 package make the F-150 into a better truck for the trail? Unfortunately, for now, the answer is no, it doesn't. However it is a good start and with the F-150's strong foundation to build upon, it is bound to become a popular package that will benefit from a little more work.