Christian Wardlaw of the New York Daily News
wrote a feature this past week on the coming 2020 Chevy Silverado HD,
and the exciting changes made to the towing capacity and payload rating.
Everyone on staff here at Chuck Hutton grinned a little bit in agreement when he playfully
stated that many customers who buy a light-duty truck would never need to tow
or haul anything nearly as hefty as their vehicles can actually handle. While
it's true that many customers of today buy a half-ton truck because they want
one instead of truly need one, the push to up the figures for ratings has
always been a ferocious one!
The maximum towing and payload 'arms race' within
the heavy-duty segment truly matters to many riggers, ranchers, and other
hard-working truck owners, and that's why Chevy says it is working to increase
capacity and payload rating for future models. The 2020's styling is very
unique to this truck: only the roof panel is shared between the Silverado HD
and 1500, and Christian was particularly drawn to the blunt and forceful
appearance it has. There are bed steps just ahead of the rear wheels, situated
there to make any fifth-wheel trailering tasks a bit easier.
Selection of higher trim levels provides the
addition of extra chrome, and what appears to be LED forward lighting adds some
good depth to the truck's appearance, along with the integrated air intake. You
can check out photos here that provide a clear idea of what the upcoming
model will look like, and be amazed at the raw and menacing stance the truck
evokes, while poised to haul, tow, and conquer various obstacles that a day's
work may throw in its path. As far as what will be placed under the hood, there
are currently vague details about a standard direct-injected gasoline engine
paired to a 6-speed automatic transmission, as well as the option of the more
muscular turbo-diesel V8, which cranks out 910 lb-ft of torque.
The staff on duty at Motor Trend claims
in a feature found here about next year's Silverado that on board may be
a small-block derived 6.6-liter gas engine, producing 401 horsepower, and 464
lb-ft of torque, with the towing rating hovering at around 18,200 pounds, and
payload around 7,630 pounds. This particular blog does a great job of
highlighting what Chevy truly wants as a brand: for our prized truck line to be
easiest to live with: easy to load, to hook a trailer to, and to maneuver the
trailer with. For the task of loading, there's the industry's only
power-up-and-down tailgate, new bedsteps at the front of the bed, and a lift-in
height that is now dropped by 0.9 inch. There's also an available 120-volt
outlet, 12 tie-down rings, and the option to add nine very useful accessory
tie-downs.
The Advanced Trailering System on board puts to
use accessory cameras that are connected by coaxial cable to offer up to 15
camera views. Among these are the bull-view hovering in front of the hood, bed
and bumper hitch views, shots of tires while you are making turns, and the
revolutionary “transparent trailer” view that shows the entire scope of the
rear-view as if the trailer was invisible. The system even has the ability to
monitor the pressure and temperature of up to six tires, and is able to be
programmed to compile the all-important pre-trip checklist!
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