We are used to cargo/towing capacities set by Marketing dept's. Now it's set by the JSAE tests. So maybe now they are actually less bizarre. It will just take some getting used to the existence of a real standard. Also, the applicability of the test differs for different folks. There isn't a real mountain w/in 1000mi of me. I don't care about launch and acceleration up an 11% grade, nor do I care much about cooling capacity up a long grade. IMO people get way too excited about the "rated" capacities.
That said, I had to put airbags in the rear coil springs of my truck. Cheap and easy, but needed to be done. The soft springs that provide the "class leading ride" allowed 3" of rear droop and 1" of front lift with my trailer hooked up. With the airbags inflated that 4" of delta was reduced to 1".
Lots of folks have pointed out over the last year that the average full size sedan has a cargo capacity in the same ballpark. But of course that's not JSAE cargo capacity. Marketing dept's set the capacities of the sedans, while a more "standard" standard now exists for 1/2ton trucks.
