I'm a Ford guy through and through when it comes to trucks. That said, it looks like the 2011 GM trucks are pretty impressive from the following article. Granted, I'm not buying one but it looks like GM has improved their capabilities to some degree. Not bad...

2010 Chicago Auto Show: 2011 Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty First Look, Part 1 - PickupTrucks.com Special Reports

At the bottom of the article, there's a link to the other part of the story as well.

 

Interesting. I suspect Ford will probably up the ratings also. I see GM went with a fully boxed frame and the article seems to imply a fully boxed frame is better. A fully boxed frame shure is stiffer but I don't think it is better than a C channel frame. If class 8 trucks had fully boxed frames they would probably crack them. I'm interested to see how a fully boxed frame holds up when it starts getting flexed a bit.

 

is that front suspension out of the corvette, or their NEW HD truck ??

looks just as weak as every other front end they have offered since losing the solid axle..

NO sale...

 

That front end is for soccer moms, not construction workers.

 

I didn't see where they listed the torque/ horsepower differences between Chevy and Ford. Wonder why?

I guess that's what makes the free market so great. Chevy is trying to build a better product and will force the rest of the industry to keep up.

 

No "Official" announcement yet.

HP/torque numbers is a big game of chicken. They can tweak them within a limited range. So everyone waits for the other guy to announce its numbers, then "tweak" - "we beat that by 5 hp and have the highest HP available".

The puny little 310 HP in my 06 CTD yanks the crap out of my trailer already. I would rather see a MPG tune rather than a tune for a "Mine's bigger than yours" advertising number.

 

I agree with the HP numbers game. I like it when Howie claims that Chevy has the highest HP of all the trucks, but forgets to tell us that you have to be at 5600 rpms to achieve it. He also never mentions torque in the commercials (I think). I like Howie, but I think Mike Rowe is way better for advertising.

 

Chevy also does not tell you that the computer mapping has a built-in time delay.

You can't just punch it and get those revs and HP. You have to hold the pedal down for several seconds before the ECU lets it reach its full HP (verified on a dyno by one of the magazines).

So, pulling up a long hill, you can get the advertised HP and torque. But a few blocks from stoplight to stoplight, the engine will not go that high.

An MPG thing.

One of the magazines (maybe Popular Mechanics?) tested pickups a year or two ago and the Chevy had the greatest difference between published EPA MPGs and real world MPGs by a large margin.

Chevy is all about making things look good on the EPA cycle, which does not reflect how people actually drive their trucks.

 

Still looks like there playing catch up. Can't wait for the #s to come out and compare.

 

Is this a boxed sheet metal frame you are talking about ? If it is, the Mercedes chassis uses that in Europe in order to provide a better GVW, or so they say. The main problem is that it flexes when you go over a speed bump and a sidewalk. But you are right, once you start loading that or want to build a conversion on it. you start getting into real trouble and it needs to be reinforced. At the end, what Mercedes only won is that with a structural reinforcement built in by the conversion company, you get the same GVW than a C-frame. Too bad. And it's still not as solid IMO.