Showing posts with label Jason Gunderman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jason Gunderman. Show all posts

Friday, October 9, 2020

Towing Wars: 2021 Chevy Silverado Flexes Its Muscles

Jason Gonderman's October 7 article at TruckTrend.com about the towing wars between the big three U.S. diesel truck manufacturers is a fun read. In racing, it's about speed, but when it comes to diesel power, it's about muscle. Gonderman's story is about how Chevrolet has re-asserted its power with the 2021 Silverado 3500HD now boasting the capability of towing 36,000 pounds. Yes, that is 18 tons. 

That's 2 tons more than the song "16 Tons" and topping the 2020 F-350 Super Duty by 250 pounds, the average weight of many heavyweight boxers.

Gonderman notes that Ford does have an even mightier breed of diesel potency in the F-450, max rating of 37,000 pounds of towing capacity. He disqualifies the F-450 as being in a different class. To use the boxing metaphor again, it's like comparing middleweights and welterweights. 

To learn what Chevrolet did to get the extra 500 pounds of towing capacity over its 2020 offering, the author spoke with two engineers from GM, then converted their answers to layman's terms. They explained that the 2020 truck wasn't "fully optimized" for extreme towing. Thus, they left room for incremental improvements.

In addition to swapping out the wheels (yes, wheels helped make a difference) they made adjustments in the suspension and shock absorbers. The towing capacity actually has a test designed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and this truck's towing capacity has indeed been certified.

The article highlights additional announcements from GM for their 2021 trucks, specifically related to trailering. You can read the full story here: http://www.trucktrend.com/news/2021-chevrolet-silverado-3500hd-tows-best-in-class-36000-pounds

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REMINDER: Beans' Blackout in the Country diesel event it postponed to October 24. 

Photo Credit:  Wolfgang Rottmann courtesy Unsplash.


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