The Chevy Silverado 2500 HD scoffs at limits. This powerful heavy-duty workmate is as faithful and reliable as your favorite steed but much more capable. Whether it’s on the farm, on the worksite, or on the back quarter of the ranch, it doesn’t play games—unless the game is “Who can tow more?” Its initials “HD” bake “heavy duty” right into its name, so even the basest trim at your local Chevy Silverado 2500 dealer is one tough pony that doesn’t mess around.
Yet when the weekend rolls around and it’s time to head for the camp or the lake, the Silverado 2500 HD shows its more civilized side. Its Double Cab and Crew Cab configurations can double as family haulers in your downtime. Optional premium leather seating, heated front and rear outboard seating, and a positively astounding amount of interior space make the Silverado 2500 HD comfortable for drivers and passengers alike.
So whether you’re hauling concrete, towing livestock, or pulling your fifth wheel camper to your favorite secluded wilderness, the 2500 HD has your back. With a range of beastly engines, advanced trailering tech, and features to make hauling and towing easier and safer, Chevy’s engineers have anticipated your every need. This truck is like your friend who always shows up when it’s time to move house, complete with a cheerful attitude and a box of pizza. (Pizza sold separately.)
What Makes It Go
For 2024, the Silverado 2500 HD offers two engine choices—one gas and one diesel. That’s it. When your base engines offer class-leading horsepower and towing capacity, there’s no need for a confusing array of different powerplants, with some only available with a particular feature and others claiming other features for themselves. Chevy built the 2500 HD to do it all.
The Silverado’s 6.6L gasoline-powered V8 delivers 401 hp at 5,200 RPM and 464 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 RPM. Featuring a 3.73 rear axle ratio and mated to the extremely durable Allison ten-speed automatic transmission, the gas V8 can tow up to 19,090 lbs. This engine powers both two-wheel and four-wheel drive models.
For some serious heavy-duty towing, step up to the famed 6.6L Duramax V8 Turbo-Diesel. This engine pumps out 470 hp at just 2,800 RPM, and it delivers a stump-pulling 975 lb-ft of torque at only 1,600 RPM. Talk about low-end grunt! In fact, Silverados with this Duramax Turbo-Diesel can pull over 30,000 lbs. In the Crew Cab configuration, with certain towing equipment opted for, the 2500 HD can pull a segment-leading 22,070 lbs. This diesel powertrain is also available with two-wheel and four-wheel drive layouts.
Paired with the Allison ten-speed, the Duramax includes a range of professional-grade features designed for safety and heavy-duty use in any condition. For instance, Duramax-equipped 2500 HDs use a 3.42 rear axle ratio to improve low-RPM towing capacity; an exhaust brake keeps things safer going downhill while pulling or carrying a heavy load; and an engine after-run feature allows post-towing cooldown.
Furthermore, an engine block heater ensures easy starts on the first try, even in frigid climates, and a winter grille cover speeds up cold-weather heating and improves fuel economy by avoiding wasting diesel fuel on extended warm-ups; it also protects the engine from salt, sand, and other snowy-weather contaminants. A capped fuel fill likewise keeps dirt out of the powertrain. There’s a Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) fill port in the fuel door as well to keep the Duramax’s emissions low.
High-Tech Towing
Towing is the toughest part of a pickup’s job. It can be tough on the driver, too. However, Chevy’s engineers have designed the Silverado 2500 HD to make it easy. For instance, eight cameras along the exterior offer a total of 14 views.
There are four views of the trailer hitch alone, ranging from a close-up of the hitch to a rear top-down view. Gone are the days of getting out of your truck, checking the hitch’s alignment with the trailer, getting back in to adjust it, and getting back out to recheck the alignment; now you can stay in the driver’s seat and back right up to the trailer. It’s a piece of cake.
The cameras offer six driving views, too. The front camera view with optional guidelines makes maneuvering in tight spaces easier. The picture-in-picture rear-side view and rear trailer view cameras keep you aware of surrounding traffic, so say goodbye to blind spots, even with large trailers! The rear trailer view also offers two sets of guidelines: one that shows where your trailer is going when you back up and one that shows where it will go with your steering inputs.
New for 2024 is the Transparent Trailer View. When this is activated, your screen shows you what’s behind you, as if your trailer isn’t even there; we’d think it was witchcraft if we didn’t know about AI. There’s an enhanced version of this feature for fifth wheel and gooseneck trailers, too. In case there’s something precious inside that trailer, there’s even a view you can install for your trailer’s interior, which would be great for keeping an eye on horses!
For parking, a rear-side view provides a split-screen view of what’s on either side of your truck and trailer. A turn signal-activated version of this feature will even project a trailer-length indicator to show you if there’s traffic beside your trailer in adjacent lanes. Finally, a front-side view and a front-top-down view help with tight parking maneuvers.
Not Just a Pretty Face
The Silverado 2500 HD wears basically the same body style that it’s had since its last redesign in 2015, but for 2024, Chevy significantly refreshed it across the whole HD model range. A redesigned grille gives the Silverado a more commanding presence than ever; the front bumper also gets a new look. Where the rubber meets the road, Silverado 2500 HD shoppers will find new 18-, 20-, and 22-inch wheels and tires to choose from.
New LED lighting options include animated headlights and tail lamps; the animated sequences illuminate your path as you walk toward or away from the truck. When you engage the turn signal, animated “wiping” motions let other drivers know which way you’re turning. These new lights not only modernize the 2500 HD’s appearance but also boost safety.
For the first time ever, the Silverado 2500 HD’s High Country trim offers a Midnight Edition. This truck feels as much at home during a night on the town as it does on the job site. With an appearance that’s black on black on black, it truly lives up to its name. The grille is painted in Black Ice; the badging, door handles, and bumpers are all black, as are the side mirrors, hood vent, and even the skid plates. Power-retractable assist steps are also painted—yup, you guessed it—black. The two available aluminum wheel options, 20 and 22 inches, are also high-gloss black.
Also, for the first time ever, this year brings us the Silverado 2500 HD ZR2 off-road trim. In keeping with the theme of updated appearance, the 2500 HD ZR2 looks rugged to the point of intimidating with a 1.5-inch suspension lift and 35-inch mud terrain tires on blacked-out wheels. Multimatic DSSV dampers give the ZR2 true off-road prowess, yet the ZR2 gives up none of the towing and payload capacity that has made the Silverado 2500 HD legendary.
