Full-size General Motors and Ford pickups dominate auto-industry sales lists. For the past two decades, the Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra have combined to sell well over a million trucks each year. In fact, if you were to do the math, Ford's 800,000-plus yearly F-Series sales come to more than 60,000 units per month.
So, it's a no-brainer that this segment is a competitive one, and the full-size truck makers know this quite well. Furthermore, the heavy-duty three-quarter- and one-ton trucks make up a sizable portion of the sales pie. Ford's Super Duty F-series trucks were new in 1999 and Dodge's new Ram will be out soon. The GM heavy-duties we're examining here — in the form of a Chevy Silverado LS 2500 HD crew cab — are the other major players in this group.
As is always the case with Chevy and GMC trucks and SUVs, everything we say here applies to either make of truck, the Chevy Silverado or the GMC Sierra. With that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, let's take a thorough look at this freshly redesigned truck.
Looking to overtake Ford in the heavy-duty pickup segment, GM's new trucks are offered in Regular Cab, four-door Extended Cab, a four-door Crew Cab (like our test truck) and Chassis Cab configurations. The Crew Cabs offer more head-, shoulder- and hip-room than the previous generation, and all models also have longer, wider and deeper cargo boxes.
The all-new chassis is designed to meet higher strength and durability limits, and the Silverado has a multi-section modular frame, with a rigid "hydro-formed" front section to improve front-end alignment and body fitment.
A revamped torsion-bar front suspension is used on both two- and four-wheel-drive models, which Chevrolet says gives added durability to the two-wheel-drive trucks. The front lower control arms are made of forged steel, while the uppers are stamped-and-welded, box-section pieces. In the rear are semi-elliptical multi-leaf springs and gas shocks.
For the first time, four-wheel discs are employed on all heavy-duty Chevy and GMC pickups and ABS is also standard on all models. GM's Hydra-Boost system sends stopping force through twin-piston calipers, and now features dynamic rear proportioning, which helps to maximize the rear brakes' effectiveness. The combination of larger front rotors and larger brake pads (a 36 percent increase in pad surface) means a substantial increase in normal brake life. At the test track, the truck stopped from 60 mph in 142 feet.
The Silverado 2500 HD is available with any one of three engines, a 6.6-liter Duramax diesel, an 8.1-liter gas-powered Vortec V8 and a 6.0-liter Vortec base-level V8. There are also four transmission offerings, depending on engine choice and model: an Allison five-speed automatic, a ZF six-speed manual, a GM Hydra-Matic 4L80-E four-speed automatic and a New Venture Gear five-speed manual.
Our truck was equipped with the gasoline Vortec 8100 V8 and the Allison five-speed automatic. Replacing the 7.4-liter V8, the 8.1 makes 340 horsepower at 4,200 rpm and 455 foot-pounds of torque at 3,200 rpm. The output of this new engine exceeds that of either V10 offered by Ford and Dodge. Both the Dodge 8.0-liter pushrod V10 and Ford 6.8-liter overhead cam V10 make 310 horsepower, with the Dodge churning out 450 foot-pounds of torque and the Ford making 425.
The heritage of the new 8.1 dates back to the '65 396 cubic-inch big-block. But that's where the similarity ends. This completely updated version of the big-block Chevy features coil-near-plug ignition for each cylinder, an engine-oil-life monitor, a coolant loss-protection system, and a dual-belt accessory drive for reliability.
Inside, there are further updates like new cylinder heads that have carefully replicated intake ports, meaning each port is precisely equal in diameter and length. This improves air/fuel distribution and reduces cylinder-to-cylinder variations in torque output. Operating smoothness and efficiency are also improved. External engine items like stainless-steel exhaust manifolds help the Vortec 8100 attain a 200,000-mile operating life durability rating.
Also new and worth noting on these big engines is a fly-by-wire electronic throttle control that meters intake air more precisely. It enhances reliability and durability by replacing the previous 7.4-liter (the classic 454) engine's mechanical hardware with electronic sensors, wires and actuators and integrating functions such as cruise control, brake torque management and traction control into a single controller.
Behind this engine in our truck was the Allison 1000 five-speed automatic transmission — the first five-speed automatic in a full-size heavy-duty pickup. GM's Allison division is a major supplier of automatic transmissions for large-application commercial truck and bus markets worldwide. The 1000's five forward speeds provide a 30-percent increase in ratio coverage for better launch, grade-climbing and towing ability than a comparable four-speed automatic. The smaller gear splits also minimize changes in engine speed and torque for smoother operation.
This transmission has full electronic control of shift timing. Its transmission control module (TCM) automatically selects a gear for each drive range and engages the torque converter lockup. In the normal mode, the converter's clutch locks up in fourth and fifth gear. In the tow-haul mode, the torque converter remains locked in second, third, fourth and fifth gears to avoid heat build-up.
Programmed into the transmission's processor is a new Engine Grade Braking feature. If the driver is descending a hill, the TCM senses the weight of the load, the truck's speed and the deceleration rate. Based on these calculations, the transmission will downshift to a lower gear to facilitate slowing the truck. This prevents overheating the brakes and extends brake life. In its normal mode, it will downshift from fifth to fourth gear when required. In the tow-haul mode, it will do multiple downshifts, from fifth to fourth, then from fourth to third to help slow the truck on steep declines.
GM's tow-haul mode provides shift stabilization, reducing shift "busyness" during hill-climbing or heavy towing by selecting and holding the right gear, based on throttle position, engine speed and other factors. The Allison trans is available in the new trucks, because even the relatively bulletproof 4L80-E automatic isn't rated to handle the 455 foot-pounds or 520 foot-pounds of torque generated by the Vortec 8100 and Duramax diesel V8s, respectively.
Besides its evenly spaced gear ratios and engine grade braking, the Allison trans also offers a bolt-on power take-off feature that allows owners to run PTO-driven equipment such as a hydraulic pump on-site via instrument panel-mounted PTO controls. A power take-off is a device mounted on the side of a transmission or transfer case used to transmit engine power to ancillary components such as the aformentioned hydrualic pump or other equipment used on construction sites.
Of course, the main point of all this heavy-duty hardware is to facilitate towing. And best-in-class trailer-tow ratings were the goal for GM engineers. They accomplished that goal as, depending on configuration, the Silverado equipped with the base 6.0-liter engine will tow from 9,200 up to 10,500 pounds with its standard 4.10 rearend gear ratio.
Stepping up to the Vortec 8100 motor with either 3.73 or 4.10 gears (our tester had 4.10s) nets an impressive 12,000-pound towing capacity for all configurations, regardless of cab style or bed length. The diesel is rated to tow the same amount in all configurations with its standard 3.73 rear axle ratio.
With a Fifth Wheel trailer, the numbers go even higher; our truck would be able to tow a 15,500-pound trailer of this type. That rating goes down 2,000 pounds with the taller 3.73 ratio. The truck with the highest Fifth-Wheel towing-capacity honors goes to a regular-cab long-bed Silverado 2500 HD with the Vortec 8100 engine and 4.10 gears. It'll tow a whopping 15,900 pounds — more than any of the one-ton trucks or even any of the diesels.
We drove the Silverado two ways: unloaded on streets and highways, as well as towing a boat and trailer. With an empty bed and no trailer to tow, there were no huge revelations in the overall driving experience. Even after driving several much smaller cars, it still doesn't take very long to get used to the Silverado's considerable Crew Cab size. What does take some getting accustomed to is the rather unpleasant ride on certain stretches of highway. Like our long-term GMC Sierra, this Silverado would bounce on freeway undulations to the point of making the ride downright uncomfortable. And it's likely that because our Sierra was a four-wheel-drive truck, it magnified the issue. But the bouncing up and down in this two-wheel-drive test truck was worse than what we experienced in our long-termer. Admittedly, this issue is something we've experienced to some extent in most of the full-size pickups we've driven recently, including the last two Ford F-150s that we have tested. But those two trucks — one of them a two-wheel-drive extended cab and the other a four-wheel-drive Super Crew — did a better job at quelling the bumpy ride than the two GM trucks.
Otherwise, the driving experience in the new Silverado is quite manageable. The steering provides adequate feedback for a full-size truck, the burly 8.1-liter motor gets you up to speed quick enough (our tester accelerated to 60 mph in 9.2 seconds) and all the truck's features combine to deliver a truly state-of-the-art heavy-duty pickup package.
We became a great deal more impressed with the Silverado once it was hooked up to a trailer. The weight of the load seemed to calm down the ride quite a bit, and the engine pulled the load like it was barely there. Sure, our wooden speedboat and trailer barely taxed the truck with their approximate 3500-pound weight, a fraction of the Silverado's 12,000-pound towing capacity. It was an interesting experience, though, to look back at the boat and realize that this truck could tow three of them and not even break a sweat. Powering up hills at 65 to 70 mph was an exercise in effortlessness. The only downside of the experience was our 10-mpg fuel consumption. The available Duramax diesel will definitely produce better fuel-mileage numbers in all situations.
Clearly GM's line of heavy-duty pickups has the most powerful engine offerings — gas or diesel. And GM has put together a top-notch package that, at a minimum, matches or surpasses Ford's F-Series Super Duty trucks in every category. Clearly, General Motors has a chance to overtake Ford in the full-size pickup sales race now that its entire line of Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups are all new and considerably improved. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen.
So, it's a no-brainer that this segment is a competitive one, and the full-size truck makers know this quite well. Furthermore, the heavy-duty three-quarter- and one-ton trucks make up a sizable portion of the sales pie. Ford's Super Duty F-series trucks were new in 1999 and Dodge's new Ram will be out soon. The GM heavy-duties we're examining here — in the form of a Chevy Silverado LS 2500 HD crew cab — are the other major players in this group.
As is always the case with Chevy and GMC trucks and SUVs, everything we say here applies to either make of truck, the Chevy Silverado or the GMC Sierra. With that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, let's take a thorough look at this freshly redesigned truck.
Looking to overtake Ford in the heavy-duty pickup segment, GM's new trucks are offered in Regular Cab, four-door Extended Cab, a four-door Crew Cab (like our test truck) and Chassis Cab configurations. The Crew Cabs offer more head-, shoulder- and hip-room than the previous generation, and all models also have longer, wider and deeper cargo boxes.
The all-new chassis is designed to meet higher strength and durability limits, and the Silverado has a multi-section modular frame, with a rigid "hydro-formed" front section to improve front-end alignment and body fitment.
A revamped torsion-bar front suspension is used on both two- and four-wheel-drive models, which Chevrolet says gives added durability to the two-wheel-drive trucks. The front lower control arms are made of forged steel, while the uppers are stamped-and-welded, box-section pieces. In the rear are semi-elliptical multi-leaf springs and gas shocks.
For the first time, four-wheel discs are employed on all heavy-duty Chevy and GMC pickups and ABS is also standard on all models. GM's Hydra-Boost system sends stopping force through twin-piston calipers, and now features dynamic rear proportioning, which helps to maximize the rear brakes' effectiveness. The combination of larger front rotors and larger brake pads (a 36 percent increase in pad surface) means a substantial increase in normal brake life. At the test track, the truck stopped from 60 mph in 142 feet.
The Silverado 2500 HD is available with any one of three engines, a 6.6-liter Duramax diesel, an 8.1-liter gas-powered Vortec V8 and a 6.0-liter Vortec base-level V8. There are also four transmission offerings, depending on engine choice and model: an Allison five-speed automatic, a ZF six-speed manual, a GM Hydra-Matic 4L80-E four-speed automatic and a New Venture Gear five-speed manual.
Our truck was equipped with the gasoline Vortec 8100 V8 and the Allison five-speed automatic. Replacing the 7.4-liter V8, the 8.1 makes 340 horsepower at 4,200 rpm and 455 foot-pounds of torque at 3,200 rpm. The output of this new engine exceeds that of either V10 offered by Ford and Dodge. Both the Dodge 8.0-liter pushrod V10 and Ford 6.8-liter overhead cam V10 make 310 horsepower, with the Dodge churning out 450 foot-pounds of torque and the Ford making 425.
The heritage of the new 8.1 dates back to the '65 396 cubic-inch big-block. But that's where the similarity ends. This completely updated version of the big-block Chevy features coil-near-plug ignition for each cylinder, an engine-oil-life monitor, a coolant loss-protection system, and a dual-belt accessory drive for reliability.
Inside, there are further updates like new cylinder heads that have carefully replicated intake ports, meaning each port is precisely equal in diameter and length. This improves air/fuel distribution and reduces cylinder-to-cylinder variations in torque output. Operating smoothness and efficiency are also improved. External engine items like stainless-steel exhaust manifolds help the Vortec 8100 attain a 200,000-mile operating life durability rating.
Also new and worth noting on these big engines is a fly-by-wire electronic throttle control that meters intake air more precisely. It enhances reliability and durability by replacing the previous 7.4-liter (the classic 454) engine's mechanical hardware with electronic sensors, wires and actuators and integrating functions such as cruise control, brake torque management and traction control into a single controller.
Behind this engine in our truck was the Allison 1000 five-speed automatic transmission — the first five-speed automatic in a full-size heavy-duty pickup. GM's Allison division is a major supplier of automatic transmissions for large-application commercial truck and bus markets worldwide. The 1000's five forward speeds provide a 30-percent increase in ratio coverage for better launch, grade-climbing and towing ability than a comparable four-speed automatic. The smaller gear splits also minimize changes in engine speed and torque for smoother operation.
This transmission has full electronic control of shift timing. Its transmission control module (TCM) automatically selects a gear for each drive range and engages the torque converter lockup. In the normal mode, the converter's clutch locks up in fourth and fifth gear. In the tow-haul mode, the torque converter remains locked in second, third, fourth and fifth gears to avoid heat build-up.
Programmed into the transmission's processor is a new Engine Grade Braking feature. If the driver is descending a hill, the TCM senses the weight of the load, the truck's speed and the deceleration rate. Based on these calculations, the transmission will downshift to a lower gear to facilitate slowing the truck. This prevents overheating the brakes and extends brake life. In its normal mode, it will downshift from fifth to fourth gear when required. In the tow-haul mode, it will do multiple downshifts, from fifth to fourth, then from fourth to third to help slow the truck on steep declines.
GM's tow-haul mode provides shift stabilization, reducing shift "busyness" during hill-climbing or heavy towing by selecting and holding the right gear, based on throttle position, engine speed and other factors. The Allison trans is available in the new trucks, because even the relatively bulletproof 4L80-E automatic isn't rated to handle the 455 foot-pounds or 520 foot-pounds of torque generated by the Vortec 8100 and Duramax diesel V8s, respectively.
Besides its evenly spaced gear ratios and engine grade braking, the Allison trans also offers a bolt-on power take-off feature that allows owners to run PTO-driven equipment such as a hydraulic pump on-site via instrument panel-mounted PTO controls. A power take-off is a device mounted on the side of a transmission or transfer case used to transmit engine power to ancillary components such as the aformentioned hydrualic pump or other equipment used on construction sites.
Of course, the main point of all this heavy-duty hardware is to facilitate towing. And best-in-class trailer-tow ratings were the goal for GM engineers. They accomplished that goal as, depending on configuration, the Silverado equipped with the base 6.0-liter engine will tow from 9,200 up to 10,500 pounds with its standard 4.10 rearend gear ratio.
Stepping up to the Vortec 8100 motor with either 3.73 or 4.10 gears (our tester had 4.10s) nets an impressive 12,000-pound towing capacity for all configurations, regardless of cab style or bed length. The diesel is rated to tow the same amount in all configurations with its standard 3.73 rear axle ratio.
With a Fifth Wheel trailer, the numbers go even higher; our truck would be able to tow a 15,500-pound trailer of this type. That rating goes down 2,000 pounds with the taller 3.73 ratio. The truck with the highest Fifth-Wheel towing-capacity honors goes to a regular-cab long-bed Silverado 2500 HD with the Vortec 8100 engine and 4.10 gears. It'll tow a whopping 15,900 pounds — more than any of the one-ton trucks or even any of the diesels.
We drove the Silverado two ways: unloaded on streets and highways, as well as towing a boat and trailer. With an empty bed and no trailer to tow, there were no huge revelations in the overall driving experience. Even after driving several much smaller cars, it still doesn't take very long to get used to the Silverado's considerable Crew Cab size. What does take some getting accustomed to is the rather unpleasant ride on certain stretches of highway. Like our long-term GMC Sierra, this Silverado would bounce on freeway undulations to the point of making the ride downright uncomfortable. And it's likely that because our Sierra was a four-wheel-drive truck, it magnified the issue. But the bouncing up and down in this two-wheel-drive test truck was worse than what we experienced in our long-termer. Admittedly, this issue is something we've experienced to some extent in most of the full-size pickups we've driven recently, including the last two Ford F-150s that we have tested. But those two trucks — one of them a two-wheel-drive extended cab and the other a four-wheel-drive Super Crew — did a better job at quelling the bumpy ride than the two GM trucks.
Otherwise, the driving experience in the new Silverado is quite manageable. The steering provides adequate feedback for a full-size truck, the burly 8.1-liter motor gets you up to speed quick enough (our tester accelerated to 60 mph in 9.2 seconds) and all the truck's features combine to deliver a truly state-of-the-art heavy-duty pickup package.
We became a great deal more impressed with the Silverado once it was hooked up to a trailer. The weight of the load seemed to calm down the ride quite a bit, and the engine pulled the load like it was barely there. Sure, our wooden speedboat and trailer barely taxed the truck with their approximate 3500-pound weight, a fraction of the Silverado's 12,000-pound towing capacity. It was an interesting experience, though, to look back at the boat and realize that this truck could tow three of them and not even break a sweat. Powering up hills at 65 to 70 mph was an exercise in effortlessness. The only downside of the experience was our 10-mpg fuel consumption. The available Duramax diesel will definitely produce better fuel-mileage numbers in all situations.
Clearly GM's line of heavy-duty pickups has the most powerful engine offerings — gas or diesel. And GM has put together a top-notch package that, at a minimum, matches or surpasses Ford's F-Series Super Duty trucks in every category. Clearly, General Motors has a chance to overtake Ford in the full-size pickup sales race now that its entire line of Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups are all new and considerably improved. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen.
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