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Looking like a trio of big rigs at a truck stop, our all-American lineup of heavy-duty trucks proved more than capable when it came to handling heavy loads.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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They're as big as pickups get and the best tools for the job when serious towing or hauling is involved.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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We made the contest as even as possible, but when the numbers were crunched the Chevrolet Silverado pulled ahead.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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Road Test: Comparison Test
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2006 Heavy-Duty-Truck Comparison Test
Introduction
By
Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor
Date posted: 06-07-2006
Turn on ESPN any weekday afternoon and you can't miss it. Squeezed in between the National Chainsaw Championships and the fourth rerun of SportsCenter, you'll find the World's Strongest Man competition. It pits neckless giants from various Eastern European countries in a contest to see who can pick up boulders the size of big-screen TVs and pull Volkswagens up hills like human John Deeres.
It's bizarre, pointless and strangely appealing, so much so we decided to conduct our own World's Strongest competition. Rather than scouring the Ukraine for guys who can bench-press BMWs, we used the vehicles themselves as contestants. And not just any vehicles: the biggest, strongest, most abnormally pumped-up pieces of street-legal machinery you can buy without a special license.
We're talking about heavy-duty trucks, and the bigger the better. There were no rules against foreigners, but it was an all domestic field consisting of the 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 3500, the 2006 Dodge Ram Mega Cab 3500 and the 2006 Ford F-350 Super Duty.
Like the bald-headed big men on TV, these trucks would be subjected to plenty of heavy lifting. Most of it came in the form of towing a trailer up the steep Jacumba grade near the U.S./Mexico border in Southern California. There would be no cheering crowds and no prize money: only the distinction of being crowned the World's Strongest Pickup. Let the grunting begin.
Battle of the big three
Since this was going to be a test of serious hauling capability, all three of our 1-ton trucks were equipped with dual rear wheels and four-wheel drive. An extra set of wheels in back helps stabilize loads when you're towing, while the ability to send power to the front wheels is added insurance when the pavement ends.
We also specified crew cab body styles and the longest beds possible for maximum passenger and cargo room. The Chevy and Ford trucks were your standard crew cabs, while the Dodge was a super-sized Mega cab. The extra-large Mega Cab adds serious passenger room, but reduces the bed length to 6 feet, 4 inches. Both the Chevrolet and the Ford had full-size 8-foot beds.
Our final criteria were diesel engines and automatic transmissions. With their massive amounts of torque, diesels are the ticket for heavy-duty hauling, and although all three trucks come standard with manual transmissions, we tested automatics since they're easier to live with on a day-to-day basis.
Going with diesel power isn't cheap. On the Chevrolet Silverado, the Duramax V8 is part of a $6,705 package which, along with a few other extras, boosted our test truck's price to $48,855. Ordering Ford's Powerstroke V8 and Torqshift automatic for our F-350 tacked on $6,240. It also had the King Ranch appearance package and several stand-alone options that upped the total price to $52,575. Our Dodge Ram Mega Cab came standard with a 5.9-liter Cummins inline-six turbodiesel, but when combined with a long list of additional options, the final price topped out at $55,715.
Real test for real trucks
Although many full-size trucks are used as day-to-day commuter vehicles, these types of trucks are bought primarily for heavy-duty towing and hauling, so we tested them accordingly. This involved calculating each truck's Gross Combined Weight Rating, then loading them up to 81 percent of their maximum before heading for the mountains.
For weight, Axis Wheels in Santa Fe Springs, California, was kind enough to lend us its 30-foot, three-axle racecar hauler. Usually it carries the company's Super Unlimited 350Z drift car, but we pulled the car out to keep the trailer weight down to just over 8,600 pounds. Any extra weight required was added by stacking retaining-wall blocks in either the beds or the trailer. Since they won't always have a trailer hitched to their backside we also drove each truck empty, as well as testing them at the track and otherwise driving them around town like most pickups.
More truck than you'll ever need
After putting all three trucks through the ringer for a week, it was clear they're made for work and little else. Without a couple tons of something holding them down, they're miserable on the highway. They also suck down diesel at furious rates, and they're so loud your neighbors will think you're a UPS truck every time you turn the corner.
Although all three rigs were similarly equipped, each truck had a very different feel on the road. With its living-room-sized cab and well-laid-out controls, the Dodge Mega Cab is the truck to have if your family is bigger than your trailer. High-grade interior trim, a huge center console and the only navigation system in the test made it the most comfortable and convenient vehicle in the test. It has a formidable engine with competitive ratings, but when you go with an automatic it's only a four-speed — a disadvantage against the five- and six-speed transmissions offered by its competitors.
Between the chrome exterior trim and the Castano brown leather seats, the Ford F-350 looked like the most expensive truck in the test. Too bad the rest of its interior is so dated. It detracts from what many editors considered the most refined package of the three. But this was a test about brute power, so when the Ford lagged up the grade and made a huge racket in the process, the Super Duty lost points.
That leaves the Chevrolet Silverado, the oldest truck of the three. It hasn't received many styling updates since its introduction in 2001, but the engineers in the powertrain department have been working overtime. Consistent improvements to the Duramax diesel engine, along with the segment's only six-speed automatic transmission, proved hard to beat. It handled heavy loads better and more efficiently than the other trucks and was comfortable along the way. Throw in the fact that it was also the cheapest vehicle of the three, and our choice for the World's Strongest Truck was an easy one.
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