You'd think that this would be a biased review of two trucks that are 4 years apart. you'd be surprised how dated the 2007-2011 Silverado's are, in looks and performance. the '05 FX4 SCab is mine, the '09 Z71 LT Excab Chevy is my brother's.

Looks:
My F150 is 6 years old, and i think it looks just as good as a Chevy. The Chevy seems like it belongs in the 6 year old range in terms of "boldness", the two trucks are equal in this category.

Interior:
GM's interior in lower trim levels is made for those with gloves, and otherwise has a fairly dated design. it seems like a smoothed version of the 1999-2007 models, still using flat black plastics with not really any leather or vinyl to spit up the plastics on the dash. There is attractive silver though, which improves overall look, however the F150's interior has a grown up, symmetrical look, with big, simple controls, and a little soft vinyl and silver, as well as some attractive glossy sporty grey trim around the stereo. The seats in the Chevy are fairly comfortable, and for the first 5000 miles they are, but quickly begin to sag, and the cloth material attracts dog hair, dirt, and scratches/tears easily. Ford's cloth material has a tough but soft feel to it, and has good bolster support, but are disappointingly flat. GM is still using column shift on all models, and Ford has used console shift for 7 years now, which is a classy and unique feature on the F150.

Handling:
This is where it gets interesting. GM's steering feel is constant and numb, using an old style steering system, and can be difficult to steer when moving slowly. Ford's steering feel is unique for a pickup, and is a breeze to turn at slow speeds, and tightens to a sporty feel with plenty of feedback, which will persuade you to take advantage of the F150's surprising cornering abilities. In summary; the Silverado feels like a truck, and the F150 feels like a car.

Visibility and Usability
both trucks are the same configuration; extended cabs with medium beds. Visibility is on par in terms of blind spots, however the Ford's dip in the door-sils helps see the mirrors well. in terms of turning radius, i don't know what GM was thinking, because parking the F150 is easy to say the least, and parking the Chevy, from experience, is ridiculously difficult.

A review of similar years of truck will follow soon.

 

It sounds like the Chevy is more of a truck and Ford more of a car according to your review, reality for most, but goes against the "tough" image that the marketing people try and project. Console shift makes the width of a full size cab totally useless. Give me a bench seat for three and column shift, now that automatics are mandatory.

Styling is of course very subjective. I dont care for either, but the last generation F-150 has a slight edge. A 1967-72 style GM truck with a modern powertrain is my ideal. For Ford, its the 1992-96 look, inside and out, 1988-1998 for the last GM bodystyle I actually liked and bought.

 

Don't get me wrong, i like Chevy, i enjoy taking my brother's out for a drive every so often, but it seems as though both trucks were designed for different purposes.

The Chevy uses tough, hard plastics on the interior, for guys with gloves, which would mean it's meant for the working man. GM has a good fleet program, i would know because my dad owns a company and buys his worker's trucks in bulk from GM's fleet, and each $24,000 truck works out to about $9000 each if they are bought in "bulk". I can see the appeal in that. It just seems like there is no trim level in between a basic work truck and a luxurious family truck. Ford's trim level, FX4, is the bridge between work truck XL/STX/XLT and luxurious Lariat/Platinum/KR/HD/Limited trims. With GM, you get basic WT, a little less basic LS, and least basic LT, then it jumps about $7000 to a high tech LTZ. there is nothing in between.

On the other hand, Ford's concept seems to have focused on daily usability and car-like quality, rather than a truck based for workers. Don't get me wrong, Ford's truck can still handle alot of abuse and work, it just seems to me that GM has a more thorough focus on jobsite usability, while Ford has a more daily usability objective.

 

Did GM stop using LT1, LT2 and LT3? Just a couple of years ago it was WT, LS, LT1, LT2, LT3 and then LTZ. If you want anything like a Platinum F150 then you would have to get a GMC Denali but they're both abominations if you ask me, won't haul anything more then golf clubs.


Both trucks use rack&pinion so I wonder why you saw such a huge difference in steering? I hate the console shift so I can't relate to that, the column is where the shifter belongs. I noticed you didn't really mention the engines, I guess the Chevrolet spanked your truck?

 

Not in Canada, it's just WT, LS, LT, LTZ (Denali) actually in a race the Ford and Chevy were pretty close, but considering the age difference the Chevy had the edge. 5.3L vs 5.4L. The steering may have a problem in the Chevy because it's hard to steer when stopped or slow maneuvering.

 

Its been a long time since I bought that Chevy pickup. The trims in 1993 were:

Cheyenne (W/T package: regular cab only, radio, spare tire and rear bumper delete, limited colors and options at a lower MSRP)
Scottdale
Silverado

Thats right, Silverado was the top trim level only, "C-" or "K-" was the equivalent of "F-".