Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab Truck Review
Truck Reviewer
If you need a truck with big capacities, the heavy duty Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab is close to an ideal solution. The revised chassis has been seriously beefed up and is now a fully boxed steel construction. Suspension has been uprated too, with bigger control arms on the front and 20% larger springs on the back. The upshot is that depending on configuration, maximum payload is up to an impressive 6224 lbs. When it comes to trailering, the Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab will now pull a seriously heavy 14,000 pounds. It might surprise you to know then, that fuel consumption from both the gas and diesel-fueled motors is actually better than before. What’s more, even at it’s longest and widest – with 8 foot bed and twin rear wheel setup (which they call “Big Dooley”) – it’s a remarkably good pickup to drive. The new suspension not only enables some considerable weight shifting, it also keeps everything nice and tight on the road. The front setup also means that the 4×4 model can easily handle a snow plow (courtesy of an optional Snow Plow Prep Package). The torsion bars even allow you to re-adjust it to normal ride height without actually taking the plow off! Strong? Yep, and then some.
The Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab is no lumbering brute though. When you’re driving along it feels much smaller than its physical size. It is well-mannered and inspires confidence. It also has an array of safety features like driver and passenger air bags, ABS and disk brakes that are standard on even the lowest WT trim level. Performance is tremendous, from either the 6.0 liter V8 gas engine or the 6.6 liter V8 turbo-diesel which puts out an eye-popping 765 lb-ft of torque. No wonder it pulls! The diesel also helps you slow down too, thanks to a clever exhaust braking system. You have further choices of 2 or 4-wheel drive, standard (78 inch) or long (97 inch) bed, and then three trim levels: the aforementioned WT, LT and LTZ. If you opt for the long bed you can also choose those dual rear wheels with each. Inside the cab you get anything from basic AM/FM radio to up-market Bose stereo. The seats get better as you go up the scale and there’s all manner of powered this and electronic that including MP3, Bluetooth and rear parking assist. With the Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab interior you don’t really get surprises, you get what you need and a few extra niceties if you’ve got slightly deeper pockets.
All in all the Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab is a fabulous pickup. It has enormous capacities whether you want to throw a huge pile of gear in the back or tow around a sizeable trailer. It’s more than tough enough to cope with a heavy workload, it’s fun enough to take to the hills for the weekend and it’s refined enough for long road trips. Difficult to think what else you’d need.
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