Photography by David S. Wallens
“Bro, $72,000 and the passenger doesn’t even get a power seat!?
“For something so big, the interior is cramped, too.
“And the stitching is all off.”
At first hello, my friend was not a fan of the latest Chevy Silverado LT Trailboss.
He didn’t hide his feelings. I still drove us to breakfast. He paid.
Can't argue with his points, though. If I’m spending close to three-quarters of six figures–technically $72,395–power seats for both front seat passengers would be nice.
And if a truck is going to be this big, can the interior feel a bit roomier?
Not the purpose, right? This is an off-road special fitted from the factory with a 2-inch lift kit, knobby tires and a locking rear diff. It even gets a heavy-duty air filter.
But the crew-cab truck also stretches some 242 inches in length. Not sure that’d be ideal for trail bossing.
My friend’s YJ Jeep, one that regularly gets thrashed on the trails, measures close to 150 inches in length. Even tidier? A classic Mini, a car with a solid record of thriving off-road, checks in at about 120 inches long.
This truck is big. Really big.
So I drove it like the typical customer.
Fine on the highway. Commanding view of the road. Powerful. No side-to-side wandering. Not much wind noise. The back seat is huge. It’ll tow whatever you throw at it.
Parking? Well, I admit, it sometimes took a few attempts. It’s kinda big.
The 360-view cameras work, so an idea for Chevy: Don’t hide the button in the center screen’s menu. Place a button–a physical button–center on the dash.
Or, even better, maybe turn them on when speeds fall beneath, say, 15 mph. Rolling to a red light in traffic? Cameras. Pulling into a parking spot? Cameras. They automatically turn on when shifting into reverse, but that hood is just a bit tricky to see around.
Others noted the size, too. That’s quite a rig you got there, said the lot attendant when pulling up to the Greek restaurant, let me find a spot for you.
He had me back into the loading zone.
We know these trucks can tow–that’s a given. But is it your ideal off-road vehicle? And, for those who have one, how do you like using it as a daily?
Nightmare, more like. If I cared about off-roading, it would be in something far smaller and lighter. Which pretty well sums up my attitude on vehicles in general.
I think I'm at the point where I have a hard time taking a "full-size" truck (and the owners) seriously these days. They're really just for people who want to be seen. The only off-roading that will be done with most is a gravel parking lot. The loading height is too high. Its just performative masculinity, in my opinion. An 80's C-10 is the size of a previous generation Colorado. I can put a standard pallet between the wheel wells in my Frontier and will tow more than most will ever attempt with their full-size.
If your truck has 4 doors and a 4 foot bed you don't need a truck, you need a minivan but you're too much of a coward to admit it.
Christ, are we seriously doing the "nobody needs a truck" thing AGAIN?
You know what else nobody needs? A berkeleying sports car. Stop judging other people's choices.
Yeah IMHO the wheelbase is just too long at 157" for anything much more challenging than a forest service road. Our 100 series Land Cruiser is downright compact at 112" comparatively and it doesn't exactly feel small on the trail. For reference a modern 4-door Wrangler has a wheelbase of 118", but also has much shorter overhangs than just about anything on the market now and definitely shorter than the badonka-donk rear end on our Cruiser.
Is a crew cab pickup my dream off roader?
yup
I have spent most of my "motorsport" times offroad. Trails and 4x4 stuffs was and still is my interest. Most of the time I was in one of a few different "small" nissan trucks. Crew cab and extended cab. Same wheelbase so not a huge difference. All reasonable capable with good driving. Later I got to use a 4x4 tundra. Not massively larger than the "small" trucks but certainly noticeable, not in a good way. Mostly the weight difference was noticeable. Turning radius not as good.
After the Tundra i used a f-150 crew cab 3.5 ecoboost 4x4(which I loved driving). Bigger than the tundra, heavier and way too bouncy off road. Its hard to negate the weight when you are bouncing around and have it feel good.
for my wants offroad, its gonna be a smaller, lighter vehicle.
I also feel small is better for off roading; that' why I have a dirt bike.
As for the truck in question; I still can't wrap my head around a 70K pick up truck. Whenever I've had a truck it's been a workhorse and I expect it to get dings and scratches.
I like the idea of full size trucks off road. I often dream of getting a copart F150 and adding a Factory Five XTF Stage 1 kit.
I second the Factory Five XTF package for the F-150 as well.
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