As a consequence of my truck being in the shop I have rented a 2004 Silverado. The Silverado is a well engineered truck with cool options but is much lighter in the rear end and IMO the ride isn't in the same class as the new F-150.

It's been raining here the last few days and I've had to adjust to rear tires spinning when accelerating. My F-150 almost never does this. One explanation is I have limited slip on my truck and I don't know if Silverado has this feature.

 

Rented ones rarely will have limited slip in them....

 

I too had a 04 Silverado for a service rental. The only things I liked better were the seat comfort, and the cruise is a single button push, where the ford has the window washer button. I was happy to get back into my 04 ford!

 

I believe Chevy uses a LOCKING DIFF. not a limted slip. My wife's 04 Trailblazer 4x4 is a locking diff. and off-road when the rear end thinks about slipping it locks. I must say I really like it, and in fact I have decided to go with a locker in my 86 F250 4x4 rather than limted slip. I was impressed.

 

Lockers own, the only bad part about them is when the road is slick and you're driving on the highway around curves, they tend to get a little squirrely.

 

I have always had Fords, and currently, I have an 04 F150 scab. Prior to getting this, I did test drive the Dodge 1500 with the Hemi and the Chevy Silverado. Wasn't impressed at all with the Dodge and thought for the price-the interior was a zero. I did though like the Silverado....loved the comfortable seats (hate my uncomfortable leather seats which are rock hard!) and thought it drove smoother....BUT....I also had to look at the reliability factor with the Chevys, which to me isn't very good. I see more old Ford trucks on the road than Chevys...which to me, is important since I tend to keep my vehicles till they die (well...sometimes).

Also, I have State Farm for my insurance and the insurance is more with them for the Chevys and Dodges vs the Fords. Is it because the Ford parts are cheaper?

 

...probably because the Fords usually weigh more, having more metal worked into them...

If the differences are not that great, I say choose on looks:

*The new F150 is drop dead gorgeous!!

* The Silverado is uglier than sin!!

 

No-State Farm is less for Fords than Chevys and Dodges. I asked my insurance guy and he didn't know why that was. I just thought it was cheaper to insure Fords due to it being cheaper to repair than the other brands (????)


I have an 04 F150 and I still have to get used to it, even though I have had it for severeal months now. I really like the rounded F150s from last year personally and LOVE the looks of the 01-03 Screw. I wouldn't have traded mine in (03 Screw) had it not been for the massive vibration, the smaller V8 and no tow pkg that I wanted and needed.

Yeah, I do agree with you on the looks of the new Silverados.......don't care for the front lights actually.

 

I also had a rental 04 Silverado while the dealership was buffing the raildust off of my FX4. Needless to say I always thought that Chevy ruined the 1500 when they went to the slanted headlights. They're even uglier when you look over the hood and see the "W" on the hood. Nasty!!!

 

Before i bought my 02 F150, I drove a Silverado and a Dodge, both roughly 01/02 years. The Ford was the best riding hands down, and i have been a GM guy my whole life. Almost got disowned by my family when i came home with a Ford product.

 

Same for my insurance too. He said a full size Ford is the cheapest to insure. Possibly might be from it's crash rating too.

Figure this one out. I traded off an '00 Ranger Supercab 4x4 4.0L for an '02 F-150 FX4 with a few more options the Ranger didn't have, and my insurance dropped by $60 a year. I called my insurance agent when I was testing out the FX4 and I was shocked to hear that. That was one of the reasons that helped close the deal for me buying it. The dealer not having any new or used Rangers around and an abundance of F-150s helped too.

Getting back to the Silverado vs the F-150. My buddy had an '04 Silverado before he totaled it and now doesn't have a new truck yet since he's still on crutches. I drove it quite a bit. I never really felt comfortable in the truck. It always seemed like I was in a car, and I would cramp up after a long roadtrip. Not sure which engine it had, but it didn't seem to have any more power than the Ranger I had at the time did. My dad has an '04 F-150. It wasn't even comparable to the chevy. I could ride in his truck all day long and not get all cramped up, plus it rides better too. I never thought twice when I traded in my Ranger. I new I was gonna get an F-150. I couldn't afford a new one, but the '02 I got is a great truck. The power driver seat is better than my recliner. I can adjust that thing and stay there all day. The truck rides much smoother than the '04 Silverado, and when I'm sitting in there, I feel like I'm in a truck, not a ground scraper.