Chevrolet knows that the truck market is a petty game. Right before Ford’s set to unveil a new Super Duty, GM has tried to steal some thunder with this, the new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD.
Let’s start with what isn’t new. The 6.6-liter gasoline V8 stays completely unchanged for 2024, still making 401 horsepower and 464 lb.-ft. of torque. However, the gasoline engine is now mated to the same 10-speed Allison automatic gearbox as the diesel. Gas-powered models get a 3.73 axle ratio while diesels get a 3.42 axle ratio, and cheap and cheerful way of maximizing component sharing. As for that 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V8, its output jumps to 470 horsepower and 975 lb-ft of torque, giving a properly-equipped Silverado 3500 2WD regular cab diesel a maximum gooseneck towing capacity of 36,000 pounds. Handy if you need to move, say, a moon.
If you need to move something that’s more of an object and less of a location, the standard gasoline V8 should do nicely. A crew cab 4WD 3500 with the gasoline engine and the standard bed has a fifth-wheel towing capacity of 21,600 pounds, which is plenty. What’s more, maximum base payload on a gasoline-powered three-quarter-ton dually clocks in at an impressive 7,290 pounds. Can someone say ramp truck? If you don’t want a truck that’s 96.75 inches wide but still want a diesel engine and need to tow a lot of stuff, Chevrolet now has a max towing package for diesel 2500 models. A properly-equipped three-quarter-ton can tow 22,500 pounds, not bad for long-haul towing.
There’s good news inside the new Silverado HD as well. A brand new dashboard takes this truck’s interior from a fairly rugged design to a space that should make foremen across America very happy. There’s a new dash pad, a new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 13.4-inch infotainment system to compete with Ram’s accouterments. It’s largely similar to the interior in the half-ton Silverados, save for some minor details like console configuration.
Of course, with a facelift comes new tech, and the new Silverado HD aims to make towing easier. For starters, adaptive cruise control is now available and will work when pulling a trailer. Blind-spot monitoring will also adapt to suit trailering, while a camera system can now stitch together an image to make your fifth-wheel trailer essentially invisible. Speaking of trailering, the new Silverado HD will alert drivers when they’ve exceeded gross combined weight limits.
Oh, there’s something else that’s new for 2024, but we don’t exactly know what it’ll look like yet. Chevrolet’s bringing its macho ZR2 off-road trim up to the heavy duty pickups, which should pair luxury with performance enhancements. The obvious target for the ZR2 is Ram’s Power Wagon, but we’ll have to wait and see whether the ZR2 will be made for forest crews or desert runners.
Unfortunately, there is an elephant in the room here. At some point, every Silverado HD owner will need to look at the hideous front end of their truck. While the facelift includes a new bumper, new headlights, and a new grille, it still doesn’t make for a handsome truck. Instead of looking like a pile of scrap metal, the Silverado HD now looks like something Optimus Prime would use for manscaping. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely an improvement over the old truck, but it still looks a bit unfortunate.
Overall, I quite like the changes Chevrolet’s made to its heavy-duty pickup truck. Downloading the diesel’s ten-speed gearbox to the gas model should keep that 6.6-liter naturally-aspirated V8 in the powerband more of the time, the interior looks to be a wonderful improvement, and adaptive cruise control should make towing a breeze. I’m still not a fan of the truck’s appearance, although it’s difficult to sculpt an absolute brick wall of a front end. However, if the new Silverado HD doesn’t tickle your truck fancy, don’t fret. Not only is the current Ram heavy-duty pickup truck brilliant, the new Ford Super Duty will be unveiled later today.
The average 3/4 ton truck today has a GVWR of just over 10k with a towing capacity around 15,500 keeping under the 26k GCWR for commercial towing. (With a 4.10 rear end you get a little more up to maybe 17k depending on manufacturer.)
If you are commercial towing, GCWR is the key. If you hook a 16.1k GVWR trailer EMPTY behind a 10k GVWR truck (26.1k GCWR) you are illegal without a CDL even though the trailer is unloaded… Now if you are not towing commercially, ie Pop’s (75 yrs old with no medical card) truck and travel trailer you can tow whatever the truck is rated for without a CDL.
Most of my drivers have 3/4 ton trucks (with DOT number and medical card) pulling 15k GVWR trailers which is legal without a CDL.
This was a reply to “Drive by Commenter” FYI
They need to tax the fuck out of these for the damage they do to our infrastructure
Sniff my farts
I don’t understand? Can anyone in USA legally hook up a 16 metric ton (36,000lbs) trailer onto the back of their truck and drive? Because in most places you’d need a truck drivers licence… some perspective, thats 4 Asian elephants, or 6,500 chickens!
You can haul up to about 18,000 lbs without a commercial driver’s license in most states. Assuming the truck and driver weighs about 8000 lbs, that leaves just under 18k lbs to fit under the 26k lb limit where a CDL becomes mandatory.
Ok so thats still 12 metric tons. Where I am the maximum weight you can drive on a class 1 (standard car) licence is 6000kg… this kinda blows my mind, not to mention it sounds kinda dangerous that in theory an 18 year old working his first job at Bob’s lumber and Axe company can hook up a truck with a combined mass of 12 tons and head off onto a highway at 70+mph!
Until of course the cameras get dirty dusty or wet.
“something Optimus Prime would use for manscaping”
*chef’s kiss*
Although I’m starting to feel like a fanboy with all this praise for Thomas’s turns of phrase lately. 🙂
Obligatory point: a CDL is necessary for towing 26,000 lbs or more.*
*There may be an agricultural exemption depending on state.
While these trucks are amazing, I still expect to see most of them hauling air in traffic.
Commercial only with DOT number. The average Joe or Jill with a 1 ton dually and big fifth wheel camper does not need a CDL. same for any big motor home. Although they should… Now the transport hauling that same fifth wheel behind the same dually from manufacturer to dealer needs both the CDL and the DOT number.
Some states have exemptions for noncommercial use allowing you to tow +26,001 lbs.
Washington does not.
Am I wrong or does the picture at the top have too much weight on the hitch?
Depends on the hitch. Add weight distribution systems into the equation and it’s even more complex.
It does appear to be squatting pretty far in the back, although I suppose it’s possible that’s a trick of the camera perspective.
The interior looks so much better. It finally seems like GM is catching up a little bit on the truck interiors. Last year, after 20 years of only buying GM vehicles, I bought a RAM 1500, and it was all about the interior. The Chevy and GMC interiors just felt severely outdated compared to the RAM. Also, the heated seats and steering wheel in the RAM weren’t waiting for chips and actually worked. I’ve been happy with my choice, but would have given the GM more consideration with this interior.
As a European (Netherlands) I’m not at all used to seeing mammoth trucks like this, so the word “invisible” in the title combined with the photo had me make a very different connection. Here is my question: doesn’t this design, with its almost ridiculously high and bulky hood, make everything completely _invisible_ that’s right in _front_ of you? Things like a massive stone bollard, or even worse, a child? How on earth can anyone drive this in a safe way? Does it have something like a front camera that permanently shows on the dash what’s right in front of you? If not, I don’t think I myself would even dare to drive this thing (more or less blindly) on a crowded city street. If you think this is no problem actually, then I’d like to hear why you think it’s not a problem?
1. You get used to driving them very quickly.
2. Most people who buy these are not taking them on crowded city streets. Some city people buy 1/2 ton trucks as daily drivers or lifestyle vehicles, very few are doing so with HD trucks that are worse to drive in every way. The buyers of these are suburban and (more likely) rural.
3. Yes, they do have front and 360 top down view cameras as options, plus parking sensors.
Yes, they are ridiculous unless they are trailering a Bobcat small tractor or 7 rolls of hay. And unlike v10omous, I see them quite often in my urban part of the country. Those arguments have been lost in the U.S. And, yes, they are far more dangerous to pedestrians.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/suvs-trucks-killing-pedestrians-cyclists/621102/
There are several stories of people running over and killing their own small children in trucks like this. I see them in the city all the time.
Weirdly, I was in the Faroe Islands and came across a Dodge Ram 3500 dual rear wheel truck. Probably the only one in the whole country. Of course, it was on a one lane road with a cliff on one side. There was just enough room for me to get into a little pull-off for him to pass.
These things are a nightmare to be around on the road and they typically aren’t driven safely. The people who drive these don’t respect things like proper following or braking distance. The headlights completely blind you if they pull up behind you. It’s causing a lot of people to feel like they need a bigger car to be safe, so every fucking car is getting bigger. Our infrastructure can’t handle stuff like this; it should not be legal for someone with a standard driver’s license to tow 36k pounds. WTF.
Yes, indeed, this does create a huge blind spot that problematic everywhere people are walking, and yes this is a problem. There is no front view camera.
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/the-hidden-dangers-of-big-trucks/
That pickup trucks have front ends that are this massive and obstructive of visibility is basically down to style (I even remember hearing that trucks should look macho from an instructor when I was at CCS many years ago). There is no functional reason they have to be this massive, and they didn’t use to be – not even 4wd one-ton trucks.
I thought one of the makers (Chevy?) had mentioned several years ago that as engine output increased, the grill opening needed to grow for cooling capacity. And of course, whether they admit it or not, big brawny style is a marketing point.
You can’t. But that’s everyone else’s problem
And then they lift them and nobody can see because there are a few small suns pointing straight into everyone’s eyes!
There is no such thing as a “three quarter ton dually”.
Also, those plastic side steps are ugly in any trim, but look ridiculously cheap on the $70-90K High Country models.
Nice looking interior though.
Yeah, he seems to have had some confusion between the 3/4 ton and the 1 ton models and the tow ratings of each.
The inside looks a LOT better than the outside.
Funny thing about Chevy trucks of late… the lower the trim level, the better it looks. The current 1500 and HD models have the least offensive “faces” in WT trim. Same seems to carry forward for 2023. The WT looks pretty good, Custom trim looks okay, and after that it just keeps getting more gaudy.
As a pure tow rig, looks are secondary to useful. In this case it is not terrible and will pull heavy stuff with ease.
I expect a near 100k price tag, add that to the 5th wheel cost and I might as well just get a motor home.
Yep, but then you’ve got the added cost and length of a toad, unless you already own a vehicle you can flat-tow easily. Because nobody is taking a Class A motorhome through a McDonald’s drive-thru 🙂
Typically a trailer can be added and easy to move around, I have seen battery operated trailer moves for cheap. I could put my CrossTrek on one for short money.
Or I could buy a cheap Jeep which can be flat towed for under 10k. I don’t care if it get trashed at that point.
In the end, it evens out and down to how you want to travel. I like the closed nature of a Class A or Super C. No need to constantly move people between the tow rig and trailer. Plus a A/Super C is designed to be used with the slides in for rest areas/overnights in parking lots, etc.
Or a vacation home
If there was one place I wanted to be, that would work. The motorhome/RV gives you the mobile option. Also a good backup if the house loses power or in FLA you need to get out NOW! Talladega has opened up as a evac site for example.
Unpopular opinion I’m sure, but yay for the return of fake wood dash trim!
It gives it a proper almost retro domestic feel IMO and makes the overall cockpit look a little less homogenous.
Hark! Behold, the Kia Silverado 2500!
https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/133GM/s1/2022-kia-sportage.webp
Thats Orrible.