Today’s heavy-duty trucks are built from sterner stuff than the average pickup. Designed with towing, hauling, and other power-hungry applications in mind, trucks like Silverado 1500, 2500 HD, and 3500 HD give drivers all the muscle they need to haul trailers, boats, RVs, and whatever else is required to get the job done. While this type of raw power is all well-and-good, it’s the Silverado’s advanced design and trailering technology that truly set this award-winning truck apart from the competition.
Drivers seeking a new Chevy Silverado for sale will immediately be drawn to the pickup’s wealth of cutting-edge trailering tech, which includes a full suite of cameras, custom trailering profiles, and an industry-first parking brake assist feature. For those eying some lighter-duty hauling, the Silverado’s bed is purpose-built to maximize functionality with a reinforced bedliner, ample tie-downs, and an innovative multi-function tailgate that can accommodate larger loads, improve bed access and even serve as a workstation. Join us as we dive into some of the features that make the Silverado such a standout in its class and discover why so many drivers have made the pickup their go-to choice for all their towing and hauling needs.
The Ins and Outs of the Truck Bed
Durabed
Originally debuting on the 2019 Silverado, the Durabed is Chevy’s homegrown solution to providing the most rugged, versatile truck bed on the market. The Durabed’s main advantage comes down to its unique construction. Unlike many other pickups that use aluminum in their truck beds, the Silverado’s box is built from high-grade steel that’s above and beyond the industry average. This approach gives the bed of Chevy’s flagship pickup a rating of 500 megapascals, which is a unit of measurement that describes a material’s resistance to concentrated impacts. This sort of strength could make all the difference when it comes to loading heavy equipment, construction materials, and other potentially damaging payloads into the truck bed, giving drivers some valuable peace of mind and allowing the Silverado to live up to its well-earned workhorse reputation.
Tie-Downs
The introduction of the Durabed didn’t just address the truck bed’s resilience against heavy impacts; it also saw a substantial improvement in the truck’s tie-downs. Sure, the Silverado is equipped with a segment-leading 12 fixed tie-downs, but it’s the strength of those anchor points that caught our attention this time around. While the Silverado’s tie-downs had previously been rated to take 250 pounds of force without bending, that figure doubled to 500 pounds with the debut of the Durabed design. With 12 tie-downs each able to accommodate 500 pounds, the Silverado’s bed is only limited by each model’s payload capacity.
Size
Size is another important consideration when weighing the merits of competing pickups. Chevy has a decided advantage when it comes to pure volume with the Silverado besting Ford and Ram’s offerings by a considerable margin. The Silverado tops all competition when it comes to cargo volume, box depth, and length, with its best-in-class dimensions giving it a marked advantage in the ultra-competitive segment. The pickup’s Standard Box option is 14 percent larger than the Ford and Ram’s most popular pickup models, and the difference is even more pronounced when it comes to the 89.1-cubic-foot Long Box, where the Silverado offers 12 additional feet over the Ford F-150.
Easy Access
The Silverado is packed with features that make the pickup’s bed more accessible than ever. From a first-of-its-kind power tailgate and CornerStep rear bumper to retractable BedSteps, you’ll never have to strain to load gear in or out of the pickup’s bed. The Silverado is also available with Chevy’s six-position Multi-Flex Tailgate, which, in addition to improving ease of access, also has a few handy tricks up its sleeve.
First off, a tailgate load stop gives driver’s the ability to accommodate longer loads without having to worry about anything spilling out of the back. A foldable inner gate allows better access to the bed, while a full-width step makes entry and exit easier than ever. The Multi-Flex Tailgate’s most novel feature might be its inner gate work surface, which provides the perfect platform for reading plans, completing paperwork, or spreading out for a quick lunch while on the job site. For those who like to whistle while they work, Chevy has also integrated an optional built-in Bluetooth speaker right into the tailgate itself.
Towing Tech to Make the Job Easier
Hitch Cameras
When it comes to safely towing and trailering, a good view is essential. To that end, Chevy has included an array of cameras throughout the Silverado. These eight cameras can provide drivers with four different hitch views, which takes a lot of the frustration out of tasks like hitching up your trailer. For example, a close-up Hitch View makes it easy to align the receiver hitch to whatever you’re towing while the Rear Top-Down View widens the angle a bit, allowing you to navigate any nearby obstacles while you’re getting the truck into position to haul a boat, trailer, or RV. The most innovative camera feature might be the HD Surround View, which stitches together the feeds from multiple cameras to give drivers a 360-degree top-down view that feels a little bit like your own private satellite view. Like the Rear Top-Down View, it allows you to steer clear of any obstacles that might surround the vehicle and is particularly handy when trying to park in a tight spot.
Driving Cameras
In addition to the hitch cameras, the Silverado is also available with six additional driving views. Some, like the rear backup camera, are almost expected at this point, but others truly bring something new to the table. The Transparent Trailer View, for instance, gives drivers the ability to see through a compatible trailer, which essentially becomes transparent as the Silverado combines the live rear view with a feed from a camera mounted on the back of the trailer itself. An Inside Camera View offers similar functionality, allowing drivers to monitor the feed from inside a compatible trailer so they can keep an eye on precious cargo like horses, other livestock, or delicate equipment. While most of these POVs can be monitored from the Silverado’s dashboard display, the Rear Camera Mirror view turns the rearview mirror itself into a live video feed, displaying everything behind the vehicle without the distortion or obstructions that one might face with the old analog method.
myChevrolet app
Chevy is making towing easier than ever with the addition of two apps. Included on all Silverado 1500s, the myChevrolet app gives drivers a handy checklist that covers all the tasks, terms, and procedures they should be familiar with before setting off with a heavy load. The smartphone-based app takes the guesswork out of the towing process, providing drivers with step-by-step instructions that touch on everything from a trailer load calculator and glossary of common trailering terms to a trailer light test that remotely actives the trailer’s brake lights and turn signals so you can make sure everything is in working order. In addition to its trailering-specific duties, the myChevrolet app also includes a remote start function, vehicle location, and real-time diagnostics such as tire pressure, fuel level, and oil life.
Advanced Trailering System
Available on some of the Silverado’s higher trim levels, the Advanced Trailering System (ATS) is an in-vehicle app that includes a few neat additions to the pickup’s bag of towing tricks. The ATS allows drivers to not only track their mileage, fuel economy, and transmission temperature while towing but also lets them create up to five different trailering profiles for quick setup. Towing the boat to the lake for some weekend fun? Simply save the trailering profile for next time, and you’ll be able to beat the crowds to all the best fishing spots. These profiles also extended to the ATS’s Integrated Trailer Brake Controller, which lets users tweak the system’s brake gain settings for every type of trailer stored in the system. It’s not only a great time-saver but can go a long way in improving safety.
Other features of the ATS include a Trailer Theft Alert system, which activates the Silverado’s lights and horn if the trailer is disconnected, a Trailer Tire Pressure Monitoring System, and an industry-first Auto Parking Brake Assist. That little bit of movement after you set the vehicle in park can make the perfect trailer connection difficult to achieve, but with Auto Parking Brake Assist, the brake is automatically applied when the Silverado is put into Hitch View, making those frustrating micro-adjustments a thing of the past.
The Silverado Has Earned Its Place at the Top
When it comes to towing and hauling, the Chevy Silverado has earned its place as one of America’s best-selling pickups. Never content to rest on its laurels, Chevy has continued to up the bar when it comes to integrating the latest in vehicle technology and functional design into its pickups. The Silverado 1500, 2500 HD, and 3500 HD are great examples of this commitment to innovation, giving the Chevy trucks a marked advantage in the highly-competitive full-size pickup market. From advanced camera systems that give drivers a 360-degree view of their surroundings to best-in-class bed size and durability, the Silverado brings more to the table than just pure power. Any automaker can build a brawny truck, but with the Silverado, that power is made all the more useful thanks to the sort of advanced technology that allows drivers to truly harness all that the Silverado has to offer.
