011 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2500 HD 4WD LTZ

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What is it?
The 2500HD is the smallest of Chevrolet Division’s heavy-duty truck line. But don’t let that “smallest” qualifier trip you up. This truck is a monster.

It is the starting point for a group of trucks that can be configured for virtually every possible need that occurs in a workplace from a regular standard cab model, to a heavy-duty four-wheel-drive, four-door crew cab vehicle that can haul a goose necked trailer and a load of supplies to boot. General Motors has configured 18 different boxed-steel frame styles that can accommodate various beds, and boxes as the owner may need to outfit his or her truck. Oh, and that’s another thing: Big trucks aren’t just for boys anymore.

What’s it up against?
Two’s company, three’s a party. With that, the Silverado has two realistic competitors (for simplicity’s sake we are omitting the Chevy’s identical twin son from a different mother, the GMC Sierra): The Ford F-Series Super Duty and the Dodge Ram 2500.

As is the case with the Silverado, these adversaries can also be configured for virtually any job necessary. All three keep upping their game with new, more powerful diesel engines.

Any breakthroughs?
Let’s see. Where do we start? How about the big stuff first? In-the-bed cargo payloads weigh in at a maximum 2,792 lbs. and the ball hitch will handle up to 13,000 pounds. Trailering with a fifth-wheel brings trailering capacity up to 16,700 lbs. A new 6.6-liter Duramax eight-cylinder diesel is good for an additional 11-percent increase in fuel economy, while a larger fuel tank extends the range of the 2500HD to 680 miles. A urea-based additive is used to “scrub” the emissions out of the huge exhaust pipe in back. As the additive reservoir gets low, speed is restricted until the user refills it. GM says to expect about 5,000 miles between refills, about the same as rivals.

Then there is the new “smart exhaust brake,” which according to Chevrolet, offers enhanced braking while trailering and reduced brake pad wear. Trailer sway control and hill start assist round out just a few of the new offerings. Finally on the technology side, is an available mobile WiFi, which creates a hotspot within the cabin. Also along for the ride are Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, as well as XM satellite radio.

How does it look?
In a word, massive. Outfitted with enough bulges, flares, and power domes, the Silverado 2500 HD looks like a kid’s Tonka toy on steroids. The only thing missing is the flashy yellow paint job. It derives its basic look from the standard Silverado, but every design element from the cab forward has been enlarged – and not just for style.

Our test model was equipped with the high–zoot chrome grill featuring a Chevrolet bowtie that would look right at home on a shiny big Texas rodeo belt buckles.

Chrome front and rear bumpers, along with chrome plated side running boards helped to give our test Silverado driver the look of a gentleman rancher. As if!

Extendable rear view towing mirrors were part of the available options that our vehicle was equipped with, along with polished 20-inch aluminum wheels. A rear vision camera option was included, which enables one-man trailer hitching to speed up the tasks at hand.

And on the inside?
Our Silverado was equipped with a fairly straightforward dashboard trimmed out with faux wood veneers, which set off the doors and center stack as well. Although not as nice as the wood found in the Infiniti QX56 for example, this is still a work truck. The cab feels wide enough to accommodate the Chicago Bears’ offensive line. Well, at least the back seat. The front seat is a two-bucket affair covered in heavy-duty and easy-to-clean leather, although a bench is standard. Between the two seats is a storage bin that swallows a small laptop computer, gloves, radar detector, iPod, phone charger, what have you. We love the dual power ports that enable the use of a radar detector and phone charger simultaneously. The only thing this crew cab was missing was a household power supply for the odd tool or electronic device.

The rear seat was limo-like in its legroom. It did feel as though its seatback rake was a little too upright. It should be fine around town, but might become trying on a cross-country trip. The seat bottom is equipped with a 60/40 split that allows it to flip up for larger or bulkier items that shouldn’t be exposed to the elements in the cargo bed.

Featuring oversized “grab handles” throughout, the Silverado HD could accommodate nearly every gloved hand it encounters. We were curious, though, as to why GM chose to eliminate the grab on the driver’s side A-pillar, when clearly the addition of the one on the passenger’s side shows it can be done. Perhaps the driver is supposed to grab hold of the steering wheel instead.

GM’s interior isn’t as fresh as what you’ll find in a Dodge or Ford, but it still looks good in a conservative and simple sort of way. Materials are a step below Dodge but still manage to one up Ford, even if the Blue Oval boasts the most truck-like design of the trio. That’s normally not a good thing, but it is in this class.

But does it go?
The base Silverado 2500 HD is equipped with a 6.0-liter Vortec V8 engine and Hydra-Matic 6L90 automatic transmission. But that’s only if you do namby-pamby jobs.

Bearing in mind that the HD stands for “Heavy Duty,” our 2500 HD was optioned out with the direct-injection 6.6-liter Duramax diesel, and an Allison 1000 six-speed automatic transmission. Producing 397 horsepower at 3,000 rpm and 765 lb-ft of torque, it is majestic piece of machinery.

Equipped as ours was with the 4×4 control dial rather than a floor mounted lever, we set it on four high, which automatically moved torque around as needed for off road use. The Allison is equipped with tap-up/tap-down shift controls on the gear selector stalk that enables gear changes on the fly for trailering. It works seamlessly, but there has to be a more elegant solution than a little toggle switch sticking out of the stalk handle.

So stout is this Duramax Turbo Diesel that it gets from naught to 60 mph in less than 9 seconds, and trips the quarter mile timing lights in slightly less than 16 seconds. No top fuel dragster, mind you, but it is still plenty quick…for a truck and managed to show up a few “wimpy” half tons at the stoplight.

The newly designed fully boxed frame assemblies are strengthened for higher towing and payload capacities. As a result of the improvements, the torsional stiffness in the 2500 HD has been increased by a factor of five over the previous model.

The rear suspension kit on the 2500 HD featured a new asymmetrical two-stage leaf-spring design with unequal rear spring half-lengths. The new design supports the gross axle weight rating of the 2500 HD up to 6,200 pounds. The bouncy-bouncy feel that was associated with trucks is mostly gone. Vibration and noise suppression is up, aided in part by hydraulic body mounts to secure the crew cab to the frame.

The independent front suspension has undergone strengthening as well, seeing a 25-percent increase in front axle weight rating. As a result, the HD is able to handle larger snowplows with all 4WD packages. With new forged steel upper control arms and cast-iron lower arms, the handling is more precise and apparently adjustable, via five different torsion bar rates that are adaptable to the front load that is at hand. Seeing that we don’t live in a snow belt, we did not have a chance to try out the plow on the neighbor’s driveways or ours. But the end result is a much better handling truck.

Tooling around in South Florida’s agricultural community, this writer experienced a degree of what this truck is really built for: Hauling people and cargo to jobsites, docks, ranches, and back home again at the end of the day. It’s clear from the start that this is no car. Heck, it’s not even car-like. But that doesn’t mean it’s not comfortable. At least it was, once we found the switch for adjustable pedals at the base of the center stack.

We have come to expect a racket-y noise coming from underhood, but this rig is so refined that any diesel rumble is gone by the change from first to second gear. As we continued up through the cogs, the ride quality became smoother and smoother, all the way up through the Silverado’s two overdrive gears.

At that point, the HD was almost as quiet as Mom’s Cadillac CTS sedan. Well, not quite, but you get our drift. Long hauls back and forth on the highway were kid’s stuff, and handling was so precise requiring little in the way of driver input through the leather-wrapped steering wheel.

We could get used to this sort of thing.

Why you would buy it:
You like big trucks. And this one is so big you can look down into the interior of most everything else on the road, save a Peterbilt.

Why you wouldn’t:
You swear allegiance to the Blue Oval or the Ram Man.

Leftlane’s bottom line
Cruising through the pastures at Jeff Thomas’s ranch in Jupiter, Florida, had us negotiating through ruts, small hills and gravel roads on our way to tending to his cattle. But not in a jarring sense. At the end of a workday, it’s good to know that the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD was up to the task but still allowed a chance to decompress during the ride back home. This heavy Chevy did everything we asked of it, and then some.

Leftlane would like to thank Jeff Thomas and Mike Courson for the ranch location, and Chuck Russo of the Palm Beach County Cattleman’s Association for logistical assistance.

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD 4WD LTZ base price, $44,645. As tested, $57,199.
LTZ Package, $725; Duramax Turbodiesel, $7,195; Allison six-speed automatic, $1,200; Destination, $995.